Discussion
There's a nest in the little tree just outside the front door of my OH's house with a little bird living in it. We've been checking on it every time we walk by. This morning we left the house and the bird wasn't there but the chick is. Then out on the road my OH see's a dead bird that looks the same that's been run over. I want to believe it's not the chicks mother but life is s
t and it most probably is. what to do, what to do?!?!?
t and it most probably is. what to do, what to do?!?!?There was another which we assume is the male but he's only seen very rarely. Hopefully it's not the same bird 
ETA: OH has compared the dead one to a photo of the mother we took and they're not the same so all is well. Hopefully!
Here's a pic;
ETA: OH has compared the dead one to a photo of the mother we took and they're not the same so all is well. Hopefully!
Here's a pic;
Edited by Oakey on Saturday 2nd June 12:37
A few years ago a fledging blackbird fell out of its nest just before it was old enough to fly. At least six cats patrol the area regularly, so we thought it was dead meat. But the parents stayed above in the trees and kept the cats off for about three days until the chick was just able to fly up to a safe branch. An amazing feat of parenthood.
I found two fledgling blackbirds on the lawn last year. One was already dead, the other alive. I left it be, but then it rained heavily. It was very cold, wet, unresponsive, barely breathing, and still no sign of the parents. I though it was a goner, but I brought it in and warmed it up with a hairdrier. It gradually came back to life as it got warm and dry, after which we took it to a local bird sanctuary where they got some liquid food into it. They thought it would be ok. We bunged them a donation of a few quid and left it with them.
We have a bird table we keep stocked with food in the back garden and as a result we get loads of different birds and their chicks. At one point this morning there was 10 starling chicks and a couple of adults in (all at the same time) along with various others.
The birds do all seem to make good parents; it always amuses me that the chicks are often as big as, or even bigger than, the parents, and can happily feed themselves, yet will still beg the adults for food when they're around!
The birds do all seem to make good parents; it always amuses me that the chicks are often as big as, or even bigger than, the parents, and can happily feed themselves, yet will still beg the adults for food when they're around!
Oakey said:
Mother still not returned
NB very vague educated guesses/conclusions follow: I am not a vet, nor an experienced birdy person 
Little birds, and the very little babies of little birds, need to eat s
tloads, very regularly. Proper naked featherless little newborns in particular - they also can't keep themselves warm without mum and are generally really fragile.The bigger the species and the older the baby, the longer the gaps can be (although as long as it's growing it still needs to be fed loads in general).
Baby albatrosses might have mum away for 12-24 hours at a time, for example.
Assuming your photo is of the baby bird, s/he is quite big and has some proper feathers - so not a hatchling, probably quite close to fledging (NB loads of birds leave the nest before they can actually properly fly - don't panic if it's hopping around on the ground/in the bush for a few days before it can actually get airborne)... so probably can go for quite long gaps between meals. Mum and dad will run themselves ragged trying to feed the babies every 5 minutes for the first couple of weeks, so probably once they're a bit bigger they'll not be in quite such a rush as the kid won't actually die if it doesn't eat for a few hours at this age.
If you're in the mood to try and help them out, you could try getting a suet feeder or something. Will also encourage them to stick around your garden if you like having the birdies about.
I reiterate that I'm neither a vet nor an ornithologist.
That photo is of the mother.
There were 3 or 4 chicks when I looked yesterday but they've all flown the nest as of this morning (most likely explains the racket under the bedroom window at about 2.30am this morning when I thought it sounded like something was trying to fly in through the window!). Was a bit disappointed it happened so quickly! I was hoping we'd get to watch them learning to fly.
There were 3 or 4 chicks when I looked yesterday but they've all flown the nest as of this morning (most likely explains the racket under the bedroom window at about 2.30am this morning when I thought it sounded like something was trying to fly in through the window!). Was a bit disappointed it happened so quickly! I was hoping we'd get to watch them learning to fly.
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