Care and feeding of bluebird nestlings

Sometimes it seems like the parents aren't doing a good job of  feeding the nestlings, and some are getting left out.  This is a false impression.  Actually it's the nestlings themselves that are ensuring they get fed. The parents almost always feed the closest and/or most insistent of the nestlings.  The nestlings jockey for position when they are hungry.

This video shows the feeding of a brood over  the course of about 35 minutes.  Each nestling is numbered, and the color of the number changes each time the nestling is fed.  You can see how they move around and make sure the feeding is mostly even.

The idle periods are sped up a bit to shorten the video.  Other than that, this is a continuous 35-minute sequence.

Enjoy!