Steller’s Jay feeding 6-day-old chicks near our window today. Juneau, Alaska. The chicks lie silently in a pile at the bottom of the nest (see my gallery for photos of just-hatched chicks).

When the adult arrives at the nest, it gives a sharp chirp.
Suddenly the open mouths of the chicks appear above the rim of the nest cheeping for food.

Steller’s Jay feeds 6-day-old chicks

I’ve been very surprised that both parents forage for fairly long periods of time, leaving the nest unattended for 5 to 15 minutes or more.

The adult regurgitates food that it has eaten, often crushing it into smaller pieces, and then distributing.

The nestlings are extremely competitive and insistent, cheeping and jostling each other.

But the nest is deep, so at least for now, they don’t seem to in danger of falling out.

They continue to beg with upturned heads and cheeps after the adult is gone, so I don’t think their eyes are open, or at least that they have good sight. Then they settle back into a silent amorphous heap until the next food arrives.