Wild bird emergency!!! Help again, post #6!

[gritsar]

Last year, mama and daddy swallow made their nest under our carport. There's a shelf just under the eaves. We were very careful to keep activity to a minimum while they were nesting. Unfortunately, a few days after their four chicks hatched we caught a black snake eating the chicks. He ate all four. I am a harm none kind of person, DH is not. That was Mr. Black Snakes last meal.

This year, mama and daddy swallow are back; I assume it's the same pair. Again, four chicks hatched. DH was out with the dogs just a bit ago and noticed the dogs all excited about something on the ground. It was a baby swallow. DH said it didn't look feathered enough to be trying to fledge. He had no choice but to pick it up. Even if the dogs didn't try to eat it, their stomping all around it would have surely killed it.

As he was taking the baby back to the nest, he saw a black snake climbing towards the nest. This black snake died of lead poisoning. The thing is, we examined the snakes body carefully and it doesn't look as if he'd just had a meal of three baby birds. We can only assume that the dogs found the other babies and ate them while they were out and DH was tending to some chores.

So, the baby bird is back in the nest. The dogs are in the house. The parent birds are around and fussing alot. Will they go back to the baby? We'll keep the dogs in for several hours, but my younger flock of chickens is out there, and I can't control the commotion they cause.

 

[chicmom]

If the baby is calling to the parents and isn't injured, yes, they will go back to it. Good job!

 

[Carols Clucks]

Don't be too mad at the dogs, a lot of other kinds of birds will raid nests and those birds might have dropped out the baby you found.

 

[gritsar]

I just looked out the kitchen window and saw one of the parents back at the nest, so all is well.

Carol, I'm not mad at my boys (Jax and Kane). I'll just need to be more cautious for a few days, making sure the baby isn't on the ground after a flying lesson.

 

[gritsar]

Baby bird is apparently not strong enough yet to fly off on his own. We keep finding him on the ground; the first time next to the partially consumed bodies of his siblings.

Mama and Daddy were real attentive until dark and then they flew off. Baby is alone in the nest tonight. I hope he'll be okay. Our low is supposed to be in the 40s.

 

[gritsar]

Baby bird is up and sitting on the edge of his nest this morning. Problem is, no parents around. They usually are right in the area.

I wonder if they'll come back at all now? I guess it's time for this baby to fledge, but he doesn't seem strong enough to fly to a nearby tree.

It's a difficult situation, because I have to let the dogs out regularly and standby close to the nest. If the baby falls out again while the dogs are out, it won't last a minute. The dogs know its there and are just waiting for a chance.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe walk the dogs on a leash?

 

[gritsar]

Baby bird died. It fell out of the nest again and I found it near death on the ground. At least it didn't die alone.

 

[theoldchick]

Awww, I was rooting for the little fella. Mother Nature at work is cruel. She has no sympathy for the weak. The survival of a species depends on only the best surviving to adulthood. Next year tear the nest down before they lay eggs. Since you know your area is rather inhabitable for this particular bird, keep tearing the nest down until the adults take the hint.

In our other house we had a pair of chimney swifts set up nest in a garage. They put their nest in a Highway Patrol hat my husband abandoned on a shelf. Of all places to put a nest right next to the back door where we went in and out. And here I was thinking chimney swifts needed all kinds of special needs in order to produce a clutch of babies. The chosen area worked well for them. As I soon as I realized we had babies in the garage, the area went into a lock down worthy of Alcatraz. The garage doors were shut and locked. Two windows were left open an inch or so with screens removed so the parents could come and go as they pleased. I was so excited to hear the tiny chirping as the babies grew.

But I could not stop Mother Nature. She slapped Spartanburg with a cold snap of 24 degrees in mid May. Although the garage was well insulated, and protected the cars from frosted windows, the 4 babies froze to death. I was heart broken. The adults must have been, too. They left and did not come back until next year.

However, the Highway Patrol hat, although retired did manage to protect and serve this family of chimney swifts for many years.

 

[gritsar]

theoldchick, I was just sitting here thinking the same thing - I'm going to tear their nest down and discourage them from nesting there again. There's plenty of other spaces close by that would be much safer for any future chicks.

On the good side, mama wren that has her three babies in a nest inside my brahma coop door seems to be doing fine with hers.