Birds of a feather stuck together

BLUE TITS raised a brood in a nestbox at Wicklow Montessori School this summer.

The pupils of fifth class watched the baby birds preparing for their first flight.

According to 11-year-old Sophie Hopkins, the chicks were poking their heads out of the box when, suddenly, one of them popped out. Although flapping its wings and fluttering like a normal chick, it fell to the ground immediately. When the little bundle of feathers was examined it turned out to be not one, but two, birds. They seemed to be joined at the hip; at any rate the teacher, Hayley Doyle, couldn’t separate them. The chicks were put back in the nest. Twenty-four hours later, the box was empty. All of the little birds, including the joined pair, seemed to have fledged. Photographs of the strange duo were sent to RTÉ’s Mooney Show.