Fluffy often leaves the chicks by themselves, presumably while she is feeding herself or looking for food for them.
Barney, therefore, gets lots of opportunities to feed the chicks himself so why he should press Fluffy like this we do not know.
This behaviour is not unique to him, though. We have observed other males behaving in the same way in previous years.
A less pressured food handover (beakover?).
This time Barney passes his food to Fluffy without getting awkward.
Although we have been quite sure we have seven chicks, pictures showing 7 beaks are quite difficult to find.
Here is one!
And here is Fluffy with another.
Incidentally, each box also has a microphone in it and we have connected the video from Fluffy's box to the auxiliary input of our VCR. This means that we can watch what is happening on the TV in the living room and more importantly, hear what is happening.
So far the chicks are completely silent - we'll let you know when they start cheeping!