The 2020 story of the bluetit in Théding:
Beginning of the nest construction ... carried out as a couple?
This year, construction of the nest began on March 14 (compared to March 06 in 2019). The start is slow. In this short video, we can see a first bird which brings moss, and a second which also arrives with materials in the beak ... Is it a second female who wishes to acquire the nesting box? Or is it the male who wishes to help the female?
The laying of the 1st egg.
1st egg on April 11. In this video we can watch the female laying eggs, her breathing quickens, then we see a pretty egg appear! An egg will be laid early in the morning and expecting in total 7 to 12 eggs. Brooding will begin when the count is good!
A hornet at the nesting box!
During a break in the incubation of 10 eggs a hornet has entered the nesting box. On her return, the female is not happy!
7 births in 1 day!
On May 2, births followed from morning to evening: 7 newborns in total out of the 10 eggs laid. The next 3 should arrive soon ... The male has been absent since the start of the brooding, so the female is alone to feed all those hungry beaks ... Will she succeed ?
2 chicks died
10 chicks, that's a lot of work! Even with 2 parents, little ones can die (from hunger, malformation or disease). Less than a week after their birth, 2 chicks are already evacuated because they were lifeless (May 05 and 07). A 3rd dead chick was taken out of the nest box on May 08.
A 4th dead baby’s evacuation is difficult.
A 4th baby bird died on May 13. Because of its size, it will take 10 minutes for the female to evacuate it through the flight hole. A 5th chick died on May 14th, it will be removed quickly.
A 6th dead baby bird
Alone, the female has difficulty feeding the chicks who always ask for more. A 6th lifeless body was evacuated from the nest box on May 15th. There are 4 little chicks left full of life.
A 7th and 8th dead baby bird
On the morning of May 19, two new chicks died. The corpses will not be evacuated. There are 2 chicks left in the nest which are fed by the mother.
The flight of the 2 chicks
On the morning of May 20, the first baby bird climbs on "the balcony" to look out "the window". Very quickly, it will fly away. 2 hours later, the second one sets off. The little blue ones spent 18 days in the nest (compared to 22 days in 2019). The nest box was cleaned a few days later in order to get rid of the 2 corpses and allow a possible second nesting for this year again.
Video review of the 2020 Théding bird season
Kestrel, blue tit, great tit, redstart, pigeon and barn owl made the show in front of our cameras in 2020. Here is a recap of this year rich in emotions!