Society finch chick hatched 10-29-2008! UPDATE 11-7-08: RIP

I have several Society finches, and one named Baldwin (so named because she has no feathers on the back of her head, and I kept calling her "the bald one") was laying lots of eggs. It's far too hot here in the summer for chicks, so I would pick up the eggs every day. She was determined, however, and when the weather finally broke, I decided to let her keep her eggs.

Baldwin, a fawn pied Society finch, on eggs

photo by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

After about three weeks of eager anticipation, the single egg remaining finally hatched on 29 October 2008! The chick is so tiny; note the sunflower seed in the foreground for size comparison:

Society finch chick, hatched 10-29-2008

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

I happened to catch Baldwin in the act of feeding the chick, but I was too slow with the picture. But here is a shot of mother and baby:

Baldwin with her first chick, 10-30-2008

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

I hope to update this blog with new pictures each week to track the progress of my little finchy baby! Come back next week to see how big it is!

*UPDATE: 11-3-2008*

I was able to get a couple of pictures of the baby yesterday, so I thought I would share them!

Society finch chick, hatched 10-29-2008

Note sunflower seed for size comparison; compare to

the photgraph taken 10-29-2008

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

And another shot of the mother with her chick...she is extremely attentive, as are all five of the other Society finches in the aviary! I don't think I'll ever know which is the father...

Baldwin, a fawn pied Society finch, with her first chick, hatched 10-29-2008. Note the full crop (the yellow bulge on the side of it's neck).

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

*UPDATE: 11-5-2008*

Today the little finch is one week old! That's a pigeon feather in the nest with it...

Society finch chick, hatched 10-29-2008

One week old

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

Little Finch is continuing to develop, as you can see in the picture below. The eyes will not open for a little while yet, and fuzz and feathers will not show up yet, either. However, under the skin, you can see that the feather follicles are forming! It's not the clearest picture but...if you look on the edge of the wing, you'll see a dark line. That is where the first feathers will come in! Look at his tiny foot!

Society finch chick, hatched 10-29-2008

One week old

Photograph by Delphia Janiszeski, copyright 2008

*UPDATE: 11-7-2008: RIP*

It is my sad duty to report that the little finch chick, who was to be named Edie or Eddie, has not survived. I suspected that it had a crooked neck the other day, a defect which can not be fixed but also is not always fatal. It would appear that, for this little one, it was.

This chick certainly did not want for food, water, attention, warmth -- and least of all, love.

-- Delphia, aka Bird Girl

Harris' hawk release video

On 1 October 2008, my rescue group Fallen Feathers released four Harris' hawk juveniles back to the golf course from which three of them had come. Near the 16th hole of one of the many courses in Sun City West, our four charges took their first flights up into the surrounding trees.

This video is very short, and doesn't really show you as much as it could considering we were there for over an hour watching the four released birds and two resident hawks who came by to see who the new neighbors were. At least there's *some* video!

Here is the link:

http://tinyurl.com/4pmr83


Or you can find it by going to: http://www.yourwestvalley.com, look in the Local Video and Promotion section.