They hatched, those chickadee babies, last Saturday, or at least that was the first time I could hear them as I sit on my back porch.  By Monday, their requests for 'I need that bug much more than my brother does, Mother'  were clearer and more insistent.  Today, Thursday, it's a regular cacophony when they hear one of the hard-working adults come close to the box. 

Got me to asking some questions:

• Do those parent birds eat any of the bugs for themselves and not regurgitate or poke them in those huge baby beaks? Or are they on a starvation diet from the time the shells split to the time the chicks flop out of their nest?
• The adults are constantly feeding these guys.  I timed it last evening...every 2.5 minutes one of them is diving in to bring a happy meal.  How do they keep that pace up?  Where do they find that much food so quickly?
• Is this the same pair that comes each year, or are these last year's chicks who remember this porch, this set of humans and animals, and know our harmlessness?
• Do the parent birds sleep with the chicks at night? All's quiet if I go out after dark, but I can't tell who's home.
• Some years there will be a second batch when this one's done...I get exhausted thinking about it!

And first and foremost--how long does it take to grow a feather?  It must not be like growing a hair, because that takes a relatively long time.  If these hairless ones on Saturday are going to fly before the 4th of July...how fast those feather cells must be multiplying.  It's dizzying to think about.  

And then...the deeper questions creep in:

• Why do I get exhausted?  Is it because I'm thinking about so many things at once?  If I  only thought about one thing, The Chickadee Effect, would I be able to accomplish more of the real goals?
• How much does a body really need to survive?  Are the birds in 'the zone' and surviving on doing their duty?
• How do these birds get so smart?  Is there more to instinct than strictly survival?  There has to be more to human basic need procurement than just gimme.   Maybe not.   But those parent birds are getting more than just procreation out of this endeavor, I'd imagine.  Maybe they sleep well at night--in the box or out, dreaming of a future of free flying and plenteous birdseed for their babies.  What do they know--not just on a physiological level, but on a connected one?  They seem tenuously connected to me, the Giant Keeper of the Porch.  What do we share?

That's about all I know for today; obviously all I know are questions.  Love to hear your thoughts or your own questions!

Photo from All About Birds.  I will add a photo of the nesting box when I can get my LiveWriter to do it correctly!