Another woodpecker success story, Part II/II

 It was as usual regurgitation of food to feed their young till fledging for the Rufous Woodpeckers, as it is with any woodpecker.  It also looked like frequency of feeding was in the early morning and late afternoon, and in between, the chicks could sometimes be left unfed for as many as five hours.

It was observed that the parent need not enter the nest to feed the chicks which are about seven days old; a theory being that perhaps the nest was shallow so the still vulnerable chick could climb almost to the entrance to be fed.

At 11 days old, showing impatience to be fed.

At 15 days old, the chicks were seen healthy and upright.

At 18 days the chicks could be heard to call out noisily when any parent approached.

At 20 days old, two robust chicks displayed signs that they could fledge at any time.  The chicks would frequently approach the hole entrance awaiting the parents' return.

Feeding was mainly at the entrance and it looked like the parent only entered the nest to conduct housekeeping. 

At 23 days old, simply waiting to fledge, and they did two days later.

It was observed that this was the first time the dominant chick thrust its head out for feed from the male parent, an indication too that it was expected to fledge soon.

It also looked like the chicks took turns to be fed.

This looked like the weaker sibling, as it continued to be fed at the hole entrance.

It was reported that, as expected, the stronger juvenile flew out straight and away from the nest whilst the younger one did appear to falter when it finally emerged from the nest but regained strength to carry on under the watchful eye of a parent.