On Day 8, the chicks have more feathers! They're looking like little dragons or dinosaurs today. Their beaks are getting longer, and have started to turn from orange to brown at the tip. If you look closely, you can see one chick's eyes are starting to open, too.

I love watching this process and finding parallels with how we raise our young humans. Last year, it took 21 and 25 days for the chicks to leave the nest. If days are years for hummingbird development, the chicks are 8 today. Keep this in mind while you watch them, and see what you notice. What do 8-year-olds act like? What do 8-year-olds need?

I noticed how Mama Frances was doing lots of stretching and kicking in the nest, and I'm wondering if this is the way she flattens out and widens the nest from a cup to a dish. As the babies grow, the nest becomes more flat with less of a ridge around the edge. She’s been roughing up the fuzz, and they seem to flop around and end up putting it beneath them. I wonder if they are working together - and Frances is teaching them to clean up their room?

Their beaks peek out a bit now when Frances is sitting on them - I'm sure it's easier to breathe with beak snouts out!