That’s four weeks old. Juvenile plumage is starting to show through and the nestlings are doing a lot of preeing to remove the secondary down. We are now sure we have one male and one female nestling and the size difference is quite clear. They are also starting to sleep and move separately, although still like to pile up in the corners between feeds. They are getting four or five feeds a day and Marri, the female, is grabbing the prey from Xavier and self-feeding. Barru is getting plenty to eat as well, but often has to wait his turn as is normal for the smaller male. The juvenile starlings have obviously started to fledge and are appearing commonly now on the menu, along with eastern rosella, red wattlebird, pigeon, galah and various unidentified passerine.
In the screenshot, you can see Barru asking not very politely for more food from his father Xavier and the much larger Marri on the right who has already grabbed the prey. At this stage, the adult males tends to drop the food off and scarper as the chicks are now so big and can be aggressive. Diamond is more tolerant of the bites and kicks and will usually stay to ensure both are properly fed.
