Fecundity is Fun!

I love chicks. Everyone knows this. That is why I am delighted to report that I have squeezed many this summer.

Biology types are always saying kittiwakes are “boom or bust” breeders. Don’t believe it. My experience is that they are usually neither. This year, for example, is a mixed bag. Some plots are dripping with chicks while others have nothing to show but fading streaks of white poo. Still, any time you can get a picture of four fledging-age chicks in one frame you can’t call it a “bust.”

This relatively high fecundity has lead to a successful chick growth study. Today I realized that I am pretty much done with this study, so I reflect on my month and a half of squeezing chickens.

It was very rewarding to see so many chicks reach fledging age. I enjoy watching them grow up. The young chicks are, well, there really is no word for them but “cute.” Then they go through quite an awkward stage. They are gawky and messy, covered with feather dandruff and other birds’ excrement, unsightly feathers poking through damp matted down. Just when you think they can’t get any worse-looking they become beautiful. The last of the down is replaced by sleek contour feathers as the birds reach an age where they can properly preen and keep themselves clean. Their large, dark eyes are enhanced by a gentle circle of black.

Today when I reached for the remaining chicks they flew away, ready to try the vastness of the non-nest world. I wish them well.

And by the way, we tend to call any hands-on work with large bird chicks “squeezing chickens.” I don’t know why. That’s just how it is.