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The four, newly-hatched bluebirds, all bulging eyes and fat abdomens, opened their mouths in a blind reaction to instinct. I glanced up at the elegant male that watched anxiously from a close perch while I, and my friend, looked into the nest box. “How can one of those,” I pointed into the nest box, “turn into that?” I gestured toward the adult.
The transformation from blind, featherless pink blob to adult is sort of miracle: as much of a miracle as an acorn becoming a massive oak. The oak miracle can take 100 years whereas the bluebird transformation occurs in two months or less.
Bluebirds, like robins, cardinals, wrens and, indeed all our song birds, are altricial. When the young hatch after 14 days of incubation, they are still embryos. Constant feeding and warmth are essential for their development into adults. The transformation is rapid.
Once the male establishes territory, and after courtship, and nest construction, during which the mating has occurred, the female lays an
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