Additional Virginia Rail hatchling pics & into

It was really neat to watch the hatchlings as they not only followed but were able to keep up with the parent bird today. And today the hatchlings were feeding themselves alongside the parent bird instead of being fed. This also fits with their being around 2 weeks old as Birds of North America (BNA) online says that by 7 days old they can feed on their own. It also that they are able to probe at 14 days and they engaged in probing into the vegetative matter just as the parent rail did.

The top pic shows the bill which is lengthening and transitioning to black from it's pinkish (though it still looks different in the photo than the more blackish appearance in my binoculars), as the black band around the bill expands with age. The bottom pic shows the increased size of the black band even clearer especially if double-clicked to enlarge it. The increase in length was very noticeable to me. Now the bill is starting to look more like an adult's. Interestingly this pic seems to show a bare spot on the crown, a characteristic described in BNA.