Yellow-shafted Flickers update

It is heartening to find that there are still at least two chicks alive in the Yellow-shafted Flicker nest. We saw two sets of beaks in the videos from today. Yay! I was getting worried...(By the way, all the photos on this post are screen grabs from the daily videos we took between July 4 - July 7.)

Here is the alpha male chick on July 4th. He is beginning to get a bit more brown coloration around his eyes.

Red squirrels are among many predators of baby birds. Luckily, on this encounter (on July 6th) Alpha Chick was able to be aggressive enough to keep the squirrel at bay. He pecked at the squirrel sending him on his way.

Mama Flicker has become more attentive to the food needs of the chicks over the last couple of days. Up until now, we rarely saw her feeding the chicks.

Here is Alpha Chick using his tongue for the first time (on July 6th). Soon he will be using it to gather food from ant hills.

As of July 7th, Alpha Chick has developed more of the typical male coloring, especially around his eyes. The feathers are more brown than grey as they had been up until now. He is one good looking chick!

Alpha Chick is also aggressive. Here he is pecking at his papa's chest and pulling feathers from it when he feels that he isn't getting fed fast enough! Papa bird is not amused! (July 7)