Out of the Nest

Our chick has fledged! After a long process of two weeks incubation and three weeks as a nestling, Comet and Snowflakes only offspring left the nest for the first time this morning. I don't know how he felt, but to see him on the floor of the cage, the nest looked awfully far away! But after a few hours moving around on the "ground" the chick managed to hop/fly from perch to perch until he was back in the nest! Whew!

Isn't he cute? (If you can ignore the magnified droppings in the photo.) I say "he," but we won't know until at least three more weeks. At that point he will have gone through his first molt and his black beak will have turned red if he's a he, orange if he's a she. All this I know by virtue of the internet, for which I am continually grateful.