A Fledge Amidst Chaos!

[KarenB]

That's exciting, watching them fledge! I had been watching my owl finch babies for fledge moment on the last day that I would have expected them to, fingers drumming. I walked away for just a moment, then....BAM....out of the nest. I turned back around to see, and they were already out, just like that. The first day they only stayed out for about four hours before going back into the nest, gradually increasing their time out each day.

Today I got to witness them taking a bath with the parents. They may have taken one before now (they are a week out of nest) but this is my first time to see......and so cute. They were watching the parrot finches bathe, and trying to get in with them, but they were taking up all the space, and then one of them finally went over to the other pool where mom was and shared one with her. It was so cute that I forgot to video it, dang.

[MiaCarter]

Aw, that's adorable getting to see them take a bath for the first time! I bet that was sweet!

Mine are dirty birds. LOL Most don't really use the bath -- just Molly Sue, sometimes Priscilla.

[MiaCarter]

Well, it took 3-4 days, but Squeepers finally figured out how to perch! (The lowest perch is about 3 inches off the floor, so she didn't have far to go.)

She can fly short distances too!
She could fly short distances previously, but it was totally out of control. She didn't get the steering down until today. LOL
In fact, this morning, when she left the nest, she flew across the cage and landed on the opposite wall. She climbed on top of the nest to sit with her parents and after a while, she climbed inside for a bit. (Thankfully, it's unoccupied.) It was cute.

I've been putting her back into the nest at night, as she can't make it up there on her own yet.

@KarenB - Have yours figured out how to perch and fly yet?
Do they go into the nest at night on their own or do you help?

[MiaCarter]

As an aside, I'm now wondering if Squeepers will turn out to be a boy afterall!

She's all white with grey on her head. But in the last day or so, I've noticed she's formed definite cheek patches - a different shade of white from the rest of her. So I wonder if those will turn into boy cheek patches when she has her first moult?
It will be interesting to see!

[MiaCarter]

Here's a pic (at right) with the odd cheek patches mentioned above, plus a funny pic on the left.
They're white, surrounded by greyish feathers.



It will be interesting to see if those turn into orange when she gets older! (Thereby rendering her a him! LOL)

[Takoda]

Squeepers is adorable!!!

[delray]

Very cute.

[MiaCarter]

Thanks!
She's doing wonderful!
She's starting to eat the millet on her own; I think she may have also eaten some eggs today (or just mouthed them.)

She's still not a very good flyer, so I admire those who fledge and fly on the same day!
To get to the nest, she'll fly and land as high as possible on the cage side (about 2/3 of the way up), then holds on and flutters and sort of walks her way up the side. Very inventive! (And all that fluttering is building her muscles!)

I still take her out daily to keep her hand friendly.
She went through a phase where she just wanted to go back into the cage. She'd stay out for a couple minutes and then flew right back home. (Repeatedly if you took her out again). You could tell she was frightened.
But now, she's starting to get more interested in exploring me and the world around her.

So fun watching her grow up!

[CommaHolly]

this was so much fun to read!!!!!! thanks for sharing!