The bird

fights to emerge

from the egg.

It is his world.

He who would be born

must destroy

a world.

–Hermann Hesse

Who can guess whether the brooding bird is surprised by the first sensation of soft, wriggling life beneath her? It’s known that the young can begin peeping when they’re still in the egg, ofttimes as soon as two days before the hatching. The older bird replies to the egg. Some believe this might even arouse the feeding instincts in the parents. I read that rails have been seen trying to feed their egg.

Once they hatch the eggs the real work begins for the parents must not only feed the young but protect them as well.

The young fledgling can walk from day one though progress might be slow at first. They’re able to peck for their own food once it’s been pointed it out to them.

Late nestlings appear totally helpless in comparison. They may be blind and naked when hatched. Amazingly, no matter how clumsy they seem (or funny to our eyes), they become independent sooner than those early fledglings. These latecomers included all songbirds, woodpeckers and crows, birds of prey, herons and pigeons. What then defines an early fledgling? Its ability to swim or to run great distances, even if only in a real emergency.

A throat of unbelievable dimensions, an opening with vividly colored, bulging edges are the most prominent features of a new nestling. Those unfamiliar with the sight might find it preposterous to believe that their tiny limbs will turn into legs and wings within two or three weeks or that those ugly little bodies will soon be covered in feathers.

The parents of course immediately react to that gaping throat, flying off again and again without a break. With some small birds the offspring must be fed up to twenty times an hour.

The adult songbird can carry great amounts of caterpillars, spiders, worms and insects.

See BIRDS, Page E2

Otherwise they would wear themselves out quickly because their hungry kids need so much food. Two hundred trips a day have been recorded.

It’s hardly surprising then that a nestling might double its weight by the finish of the second day, increasing it by thirtyfold within two weeks.

The number of eggs and, among some birds, the number of broods may vary by climate conditions and available food supply. I read of some birds who abandon some of their eggs simply because the first four or five chicks that hatch create so much work that there is simply no time left for brooding more.

An earlier column reported on mourning doves’ production of milk to feed their youngsters.

I’d like to close with quotes from Hans D. Dossenbach’s “Family Life of Birds” from which I gathered much of my information.

“Once more we are confronted with that great mystery, the origin of life — the beginning of all things. We look at the egg in amazement, and somewhere within us, it must inspire again the great realization: there is no end. The individual is expendable, mortal. But the species will continue to exist, if radical changes in the environment do not stop the natural processes of reproduction. The bird lives on — in the next generation and in all those which are yet to come. It will continue to court, to mate with passionate gestures, to construct a nest with more or less ingenuity, and to turn its eggs cautiously and regularly, hatching them with a patience that is phenomenal in such a lively creature. It will sacrifice itself for its offspring, devotedly looking after the survival of its family, as long as its small bird’s heart continues to beat. It will pass on life. It will continue to use its eyes to see and all its senses to receive stimuli from the outside world. And within those mysterious glands will be at work which designate its tasks, arouse its passions, and give it the commands to mate, to build, to brood, to feed.”

Here’s to all the devoted mothers everywhere.

Susan Crossett has lived in Arkwright for more than 20 years. A lifetime of writing led to these columns as well as two novels. Her Reason for Being was published in 2008 with Love in Three Acts following in 2014. Both novels are now available at Lakewood’s Off the Beaten Path bookstore. Information on all the Musings, her books and the author may be found at Susancrossett.com.