Here's What Baby Birds Look Like When They Hatch

Important question: Is watching a creature being born—human, bird, dog, whatever—akin to witnessing a miracle, or is it like staring into a terrifying, gaping void at the center of the universe? Is it like watching death in reverse or the swinging door between being alive and not being alive? Or is it just sort of a weird mixture of “Wow, that’s cool” and “Um, I feel a little uncomfortable"? To probe into these essential questions, I have pulled together videos of baby birds hatching from their eggs. Some of these birds are teeny-tiny, one is massive; some have feathers, and others are creepy and bald. All of them have a moment in which they finally break through the barrier, look out into the world and wonder, “Where the hell am I?” (I assume).

In making this post, I have learned a few things about baby birds:

• Newly-hatched birds look a lot like newly-hatched humans: Red, hairless, wrinkly, weirdly wet. I have the same feeling as with brand new babies—the feeling that I should find this wriggling creature adorable, but, in reality, it’s sort of creepy and gross. Maybe I lack a maternal instinct.
• Hatching is hard work. These little chicks have to birth themselves, using their tiny beaks and weak little muscles to push through the shells that surrounds them.
• Platypuses are awesome (more on that, below).

Watch these six little birds check out the vast, cruel universe for the first time:

This baby blue tit

This video shows a baby blue Tit hatching in a researcher's hand. Blue tits live in areas all over Europe and Western Asia, they eat insects and spiders, and, no, I can't type "blue tit" without giggling. Because I am 12 years old, apparently.

This baby robin

These robin's eggs are so beautiful (the pink, bald baby bird, less so). No wonder Tiffany & Co. borrowed the color.

This baby ostrich

This new ostrich needs a little help getting out of its giant egg. Seriously, this baby bird is huge, which is not that surprising when you realize that adult ostriches can grow up to 9 feet in height and weight 350 pounds.

This baby parrot

Parrots are known for being gorgeously colorful as adults, but, as this video shows, they come out of the egg just as bald, wrinkly, and pink as every other bird. There's metaphor there about how we are all made of the same stuff, but I'm having a hard time pinning it down because I'm distracted by all of these cute/creepy little birds.

This baby turkey

This video shows a baby turkey hatching. Unlike its counterparts, this chick is born with feathers. It is, therefore, a bit less creepy than the others. Also, it has a cool speckled egg going for it.

This baby budgie

That budgie you had as a kid? This is what it looked like when it was born.

BONUS VIDEO: This baby Platypus

A platypus is a mammal, not a bird, but it's one of the very rare mammals that lays eggs. This video of a baby platypus hatching shows that even platypuses, which are super adorable as grown ups, look pretty gross when they're first born.