June 2, 2003 -- Ten Days Old
Shadow's feathers are quickly unfurling as the feather tubes break off of them.
Small feathers are growing in thicker on his head, and the fuzz atop his head
and back has diminished somewhat. He badly wants to move around on his own,
and he can scramble up my shirt when I am holding him. He has decided that he
likes to hear our hookbills whistle and chatter, and he will grow very still
as he listens intently to them.
This afternoon
I again held him up next to Stormy's and Sunshine's cages. Sunshine froze and
watched the baby anxiously, and when Shadow hollered and gaped at him, Sunny
jumped like he had been shot. Stormy was not at all amused by this tiny, noisy
interloper in her home, and she stood in a threatening stance right next to
her cage door while clicking and saying her name and angrily yelling the words,
"No, whatta bird, no!" We intend to do our best to introduce both
older starlings to Shadow gradually, and we hope they will learn to accept him.
For now, Shadow couldn't care less about either of them since they made no move
to feed him when he gaped at them.
My wing
feathers are over halfway unfurled now, displaying a pretty chocolate brown
color.
Lots and
lots of new feathers! See my longer tail, too.
