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Common Blue Tit feeding ten chicks

on 21st June 2017

Lynette Lim-Teagle’s post on a pair of Common Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nesting in Oxford, UK can be viewed HERE.

Chicks with oral flange (video grab)
Chicks with oral flange (video grab)

The female blue tit usually lays a clutch of up to 13 eggs. In this case 10 eggs were laid. All 10 eggs hatched. Imagine the feeding frenzy that occurs when the adults arrive at the nest to fee the hungry chicks – see webcam clip below.

Note that all the chicks have thick, light-coloured oral flanges surrounding their mouth cavity – HERE. The oral flanges help the adult to zero in on the gaping mouth during the feeding frenzy. The flanges will gradually disappear, as the chicks grow older.

Lynette Lim-Teagle
Oxford, UK
14th June 2017

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

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