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