We find that our garden birds are still feeding throught the summer while they have young in the nest and then come August time they all vanish,we assume back to the local woods to moult out and to feed up on the woodland food that is probably in abundance in there.Raising broods of youngsters must take it's toll on the adult birds{think of what it takes out of humans raising a family}
When the birds are all moulting they are more vunerable from attack by their preditors if they are out int he open.Well that's my theory on the subject lol..
I usually find that by October onwards the regular garden birds are starting to find their way back to the gardens and then they stay with us right through to the next time they start to vanish again.
Being Happy doesn't mean everythings perfect........
It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.....
This was my first year with a birdtable in the garden.I had a pair of robins successfully raise 2 young from a nest in my tiny town centre garden and a pair of blackbirds whose 3 young all successively appeared on the ground, fallen from the nest - and despite my best efforts died. Would love some advice & help on how to avoid these deaths next year.Before I had the birdtable, birds were negligible from my windows - however I'm relieved to read that I mustn't take the disappearance of even the overweight blousy pigeons personally; I was worried, all I see now is just 1 lone dunnock skitting in the undergrowth. the bird table laden with food is ignored.I await Robyn's promised return of the garden birds - though it's already Oct 21st - maybe when we get the first frost they'll be back.
larkandwarbler a pair of blackbirds whose 3 young all successively appeared on the ground, fallen from the nest - and despite my best efforts died. Would love some advice & help on how to avoid these deaths next year.
a pair of blackbirds whose 3 young all successively appeared on the ground, fallen from the nest - and despite my best efforts died. Would love some advice & help on how to avoid these deaths next year.
When you say 'despite your best efforts' what did you mean? The best advice when dealing with young birds that have fallen from the nest is to leave them where they are - this is perfectly normal. The parents are probably away collecting food, or they may be watching nearby.
The young of most familiar garden birds fledge once they are fully feathered, but before they are able to fly, and spend a day or two on the ground before their feather development is complete. If the bird is on a busy path or other dangerous or exposed location, it makes sense to pick it up and move it a short distance to a safer place. The bird must remain within hearing reach of where it was found so its parents can find it.
Fledglings should be left where they are, in the care of their own parents. Removal of a fledgling from the wild will cut its chances of long-term survival to a small fraction, and should only be done as a last resort.
If the young bird is unfeathered or covered in fluffy down (a nestling) and has obviously fallen out of the nest by accident, it may be possible to put it back. If this cannot be done, the chick is dependent on humans for survival, and it should be passed on to an expert rehabilitator.
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Dear moderator,They were all almost 'unfeathered'. I think the nest was too small for the 3 nestings and as they grew 'they all rolled over and one fell out' as the song goes. The nest is still there in my shrub - it looks to me as if the blackbird simply made too small a nest to house its brood. I'm thinking of removing it so next year the same blackbird will have to start again and perhaps make a better nest. If I leave the inadequate nest they may come back and re-use it, repeating the nestings dying as this year.What do you think?
LRB larkandwarbler a pair of blackbirds whose 3 young all successively appeared on the ground, fallen from the nest - and despite my best efforts died. Would love some advice & help on how to avoid these deaths next year. When you say 'despite your best efforts' what did you mean? The best advice when dealing with young birds that have fallen from the nest is to leave them where they are - this is perfectly normal. The parents are probably away collecting food, or they may be watching nearby. The young of most familiar garden birds fledge once they are fully feathered, but before they are able to fly, and spend a day or two on the ground before their feather development is complete. If the bird is on a busy path or other dangerous or exposed location, it makes sense to pick it up and move it a short distance to a safer place. The bird must remain within hearing reach of where it was found so its parents can find it. Fledglings should be left where they are, in the care of their own parents. Removal of a fledgling from the wild will cut its chances of long-term survival to a small fraction, and should only be done as a last resort. If the young bird is unfeathered or covered in fluffy down (a nestling) and has obviously fallen out of the nest by accident, it may be possible to put it back. If this cannot be done, the chick is dependent on humans for survival, and it should be passed on to an expert rehabilitator.
I think they will build a new nest anyway - nest building is part of the breeding cycle and is carried out by the female and could start as early as February if it is mild. You can leave the old nest there, but it is very unlikely it will be used again. The best thing you can do is to try to make sure there is plenty of cover by letting the shrub grow - this will help provide shelter and protection from predators.
If the same happens again next year, and the young fall out, place them into a shoe box or similar with the lid off, and put the box back in the shrub as near to the nest as you can. Taking the nestlings/fledglings away from the parents is, in most cases, the worst thing to do - survival rates of hand-reared birds are minimal - the young learn everything they need for survival from their parents.
Could you point me in the direction of 'an expert rehabilitator ' in South Oxfordshire for future reference please?
Thanks LRB - great suggestion about the shoe box! Sounds absolutely right; will have one to hand if they nest next year. With some fresh moss lining it maybe?Brilliant advice, thank you.
The shrubs are very overgrown but I'll resist tidying and leave the tangled thicket as the birds obviously like it. There is a local cat who tries to predate on my birds but I'm going to put anti-pigeon wires along the top of the boundary fence - birds can access the shrubs from the sky.
Great stuff - yeah you can line the box with moss or dry leaves - something for a little insulation, maybe line it with newspaper or kitchen roll first, you could even use an old (but clean) t-shirt/tea towel.
If you do start struggling or are worried about them you should give the Wildlife Hospitals Trust a call, they're based in Aylesbury and they have a network of hospitals across the country - you can reach them on 01844 292292
Also take a look at the attached PDFs for a few ideas on ways to discourage cats. You might also want to have a look at our Homes for Wildlife pages for ideas on planting that will offer your birds food and shelter.
All the best
LRB
If you do use the shoebox idea, make sure there are drainage holes on the bottom of the box. Without these the box could easily turn into a swimming pool next time it rains, drowning the poor chicks.
Many thanks Trochilus. Am thinking of commissioning our local basket maker to make a small nest-like bowl out of willow. I could then line it with moss and tie it firmly to branches adjacent to the existing nest - as an annexe! and put any fallen nestlings back in it. They did all have small wounds from the fall, some I had to tease out fly eggs from - with a sterile neeedle. I expect that was a bit traumatic for them. They still all died.I'll put soft material on the ground under the nest to cushion the falls next year.
Dear lucybob - That's really interesting, did you put soft nest-like materials in the cloche? Was it made of opaque plastic? I've never used cloches. How did they get out when they fledged, up and over the top opening? I suppose you didn't see - but they must have done.Did you provide water?Larkand warbler
Finch species are often highly sociable birds and do flock together forming often mixed species feeding groups. Other species will be feeding elsewhere perhaps where there is less competition from large feeding groups, primarily because natural food is in such abundance at the momement. Certainly there is plenty of seeds, fruit and even insects still so essentially anything offered in gardens is diluted by the sheer abundance of natural foods. It's only when this supply becomes more limited that we see birds moving en mass back to garden feeders - where the food is readily available. Certainly its fair to say that the UK finch population can often treble in number as winter migrants move in.
Robins and blackbirds will be some of the first groups to re-occupy territories, i guess this is why they feature on christmas cards, because they're more obvious as the only species really that sing at that time.
Some of the birds that use our garden are definitely seasonal, but many are there all year round.
Of our regular users; starlings, chiffcaffs (or possibly willow warblers), greenfinches, chaffinches, kestrals and sparrowhawks all seem to come and go for periods of time (seasonal?).
The blue tits, great tits, sparrows, goldfinches and blackbirds seem to live in and around all year. Their numbers grow and dip (mostly happily grow so far), but we seem them almost everyday throughout.
I'm uncertain about our robins, dunnocks and wrens, I understand that they are probably there all year, but we only see them at certain times.