Parenting

I have spent a lot of time over the last week watching the blackbirds caring for their two offspring. At first they seemed to feed one chick each. The chicks were hidden under the hedge, from where they shouted loudly and continually to be fed, alerting all to their whereabouts. For a couple of days the female took her chick behind the hedge and I didn't see them. The male worked hard to feed his, visiting the bird table and taking bread, fat and apple, as well as catching the usual worms. Before long the chick began to follow him, pestering him for more and more. Then the second chick appeared and joined its sibling. The father's efforts were doubled. He began to look very harassed, but he stuck at it.

Yesterday he changed his tactics. He went to the bread and took some down to the ground beside them, but instead of feeding it to the chicks he ate it himself. He fetched a beak full of apple and, fighting off the clamouring chicks, he ate it. This sort of behaviour went on for most of the day, but he did feed them in the evening. The lessons have continued today. In this shot he has them in the plum tree where the fat is tied. A couple of days ago he would have been feeding it to them, but now he was pecking the fat and teasing them with it. This blackbird has a scar or an injury around his right eye, but the eye itself is bright. I have been wondering if he has been banging his head against a brick wall.