Four Chicks, Maybe Five

Day one for the chicks. The female sat through the night without leaving the cup, the male picked up his new provisioning rhythm at first light, and the count came into focus through the day. The cleanest end-of-day cup-view at 16:51 — zoomed and contrast-enhanced from the Tapo close-up — shows at least four distinct pinkish chick-bodies piled together in the dried grass, possibly five. The Gemini classifier capped the count at three because it defaults to conservative when chicks are piled, but the pile is denser than that — the in-person look I took at 17:50 lined up with four-or-five.

At least four chicks piled in the cup, 16:51 PT — zoomed and CLAHE-enhanced from the Tapo close-up

06:11. First female-off moment of the day. The Tapo’s pre-dawn IR catches the cup with the chicks visible underneath. Hard to count from this angle in IR — pinkish chick skin reads dark in monochrome — but at least two distinct rounded forms are picked up. She returns within minutes.

07:48. Cleaner morning view, full daylight. The female is fully off the cup for a stretch and the close-up shows two chicks in the dried grass. They’ve grown overnight — they look slightly larger than they did at 18:35 yesterday, slightly more upright. No eggs visible in this single frame, though the cup’s geometry hides the back third from this camera angle.

Two chicks in the cup, 07:48 PT — first clean morning view

07:48 PT — female off briefly. Two chicks visible.

11:14. A clip catches one egg sitting beside a chick when the female shifts. So at this point in the day, the cup state is at least 1 chick + 1 egg visible — the fifth from the original clutch is still around in some form. Whether the egg here is intact or already cracking, the camera can’t tell.

11:36. First clear gape moment of the day. The male arrives, the female lifts to make room, and two chicks are visible right at the front of the cup with their mouths wide open and necks extended. Bright pink gapes — necks too weak to fully hold the head up but the begging reflex fully dialed in.

Two chicks gaping for food, 11:36 PT, with both adults at the cup

11:36 PT — chicks gaping while both adults are at the nest.

13:01. Last clip I have showing an egg. After this, every clean cup-view is chicks-only. Either the fifth hatched in the early afternoon (without my catching the moment) or it’s hidden behind the others or it’s been removed. I can’t tell from any single later frame.

16:51. Cleanest count of the day. Female is off, cup is fully exposed, and the pile of pinkish chicks is right there in the foreground. With the cup region cropped and CLAHE-enhanced, I count at least four distinct chick bodies — and a fifth is plausible inside the cluster. The classifier didn’t claim higher than three because it backs off on piles, but the visual count is at least four. The fifth original egg may already be a chick I can’t separate out; it may still be intact behind the others; today’s frames don’t fully resolve which.

Cropped zoom of the 16:51 cup view — at least four chicks visible, possibly five

16:51 PT — clean cup view, no adults. At least four chicks in the pile.

17:50. I went out and checked on them in person. The Reolink picked up the back of an orange-cased phone and a hand at the nest rim — that’s me. The female stayed put through most of the visit. The chicks were gaping when I leaned in.

Casey’s phone at the nest rim, 17:50 PT

17:50 PT — me at the nest, chicks gaping, female holding her ground.

18:36. Male back for one of the busiest feeding clusters of the day — both adults at the cup, chicks gaping, multiple frames of food handoff. The male is positioned at the front of the cup now rather than at the rim above; the geometry of provisioning a brood is different from courtship feeding.

20:07. She settles for the night. Cameras switch back to IR. From here through dawn she’ll be on the cup the whole time — the chicks can’t yet thermoregulate, so even on a 20°C night she’s keeping them warm under her brood patch.

The honest end-of-day summary: at least four chicks visible, possibly five, no eggs visible. House Finch parents do remove unhatched eggs and failed chicks from the cup within a day or two of hatching, so the absence of an egg in late-afternoon frames is consistent with either “all five hatched” or “four hatched + cleanup”. Tomorrow’s first morning break, with the female off long enough for the chicks to spread, should resolve the count cleanly.

Day’s metrics.

Clips classified: 574
Sunrise / sunset: 06:05 / 20:05 PT (14 h 0 m of daylight, exactly)
Dad provisioning visits: 11
Mum-and-dad-together clips: 26 (first co-occurrence at 06:28 PT)
On-cup share: 91% — slightly less than yesterday’s 96% (she’s leaving more, presumably foraging more now that there are mouths to fill)
Chick-gape clips: 25 (up from 8 yesterday)
First / last chick visible: 07:48 / 19:49 PT
Cup contents views: 23 eggs-only (most before noon), 88 chicks-only, 8 mixed
Visual chick count: ≥4 (classifier capped at 3 — conservative on piles)
Max eggs in a single frame: 2
Human events: 1 (me at 17:50 PT)
Sleep monitor: 99% head-tucked overnight, mean confidence 0.93