Come Fly With Me

Today when I came home from work, I saw three birds in the nest and one on the bottom of the cage... but the one at the bottom of the cage was yellow ... which meant that Lucky (one of the babies) fell out of the nest and  Lucy was in the nest with the other two babies.  Lucky was scurrying around at the bottom of the cage when suddenly, he flew up to the branch.  He looked rather pleased with himself and, I must say, I was impressed too!  What a nice surprise.  I hope to get video soon.... here's a video of all three getting ready to fly:

Getting Stronger Every Day

The little canaries are two weeks old and their feathers are coming in ... it's amazing how much they change in one day.  They are starting to look like birds now.   All three sit up and look out of the nest...so cute!  Lucky is the oldest and the only yellow canary.  The other two are red factors.  One is Rosie and the other is Leon Redbone.

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

We had to separate Lucy and Louie today.  Louie won't leave Lucy alone and will do anything to get to her... including landing on the babies in the nest and constantly chasing her.  After they both tumbled to the floor of the cage, we decided that was it ... Louie is on his own again.

It was a tough decision as Louie helped with much of the feeding and was very protective of the babies.  (Whenever we try to shoot pictures, he tries to get between the camera and the babies! They both stop feeding when we start watching ... freeze like statues.) We kept him close by so he won't be lonely.

I See Your True Colors Shining Through....

What a difference a day makes.  Just yesterday, I noticed feathers becoming more noticeable on Lucky.  Today, you can clearly see the feathers and the coloring of those feathers ... on all three birds! Lucky is the one to the far left - the yellow one.  The younger ones look like they will be red factors. It's hard to believe that these little birds fit in a tiny jellybean-sized egg just 12 days ago.  Now they are as long as my index finger when cuddled up in the nest.

Take a Look at Me Now

Look how big they have grown ... and they are only 7 or 8 days old!

Good Partnership

Lucy and Louie are such great parents.  It's a blessing to be able to watch them feed the little babies ... how patient, gentle and caring they both are.  Louie feeds the babies just as much as Lucy.  It's amazing how they know how to do all this by instinct.

Second and Third Eggs Hatch

Today, the second egg hatches as expected and hours later... Bob notices the third baby pecking his way out of the egg.  Three little babies are now in the nest.  Lucy is such a good mother ... and Louie is a great father as he feeds Lucy and the babies too.

Our First is Lucky

Canary chicks are supposed to hatch 14 days after the egg is laid.  Well, that proved to be true as we spotted the first baby on this morning around 8:30 am!  The little one has no feathers and its eyes are closed.  Surprisingly, its beak is wide open waiting to be fed just hours later.

We decided to move the cage into the family room as it is warmer and we could more easily watch the progress of the babies.  After moving some furniture around, we found a great spot for the cage that would give Lucy privacy yet allow us to view the nest.

About an hour later, we were in the kitchen talking when we heard Louie chirping.  He was clearly chirping very loud to get our attention.  Bob gets a look into the nest and notices that the baby is not there!  He had fallen out of the nest onto the bottom of the cage.  I quickly got a pair of spoons and Bob scooped up this fragile little body and put him in the nest.  We secured the nest with cardboard so no more babies would spill out of the nest. Soon after, Lucy was back on the nest and feeding him.  He was a lucky bird, so that's the name we gave him.... Lucky.