NZ Song Thrush

Peter found a nest with a clutch of little blue eggs in a nest in our potting shed. We knew they were Song Thrushes by the type of nest, the little blue eggs with the distinctive spots at the broader end of the shell.

Song thrushes are territorial and nest as solitary, monogamous pairs, breeding from August to February, peaking in September – November in most localities. They nest in the forks of shrubs or trees several metres above the ground and usually well concealed by foliage. The nest is a tightly woven bowl of grass, small twigs, lichen, wool, dead leaves and lightly lined with mud.  Two, three or more clutches of 3-4 (sometimes 5-6) eggs may be laid during a season especially if an earlier clutch is lost. The eggs are light blue-green or pale blue with tiny dark spots at the larger end. Incubation is mostly by the female and takes 12-13 days. Young are blind and naked when hatched and open their eyes after 5-6 days. They are well-feathered 12 days after hatching, and fledge at 12-14 days. Both sexes share feeding, including of fledglings.

- extract from NZ Birds Online

You can hear their lovely song here.

So we decided to take little clips every couple of days of their progress. This is day 1 (after all the eggs had hatched)...

We were amazed at how fast they grew. By day 3 or 4 their feather quills were quite developed and their body tone was strong...

By day 6 or 7 they still had their eyes closed, but had got used to keeping their mouths open for feeding...

By day 9 or 10 they were used to opening their mouths to be fed every time you ventured close to them...

and by day 14 they we know that they had already ventured out of the nest as we found it empty in the morning and full again in the evening...

Soon they will have flown the nest, growing up to look like this...