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We had 11 eggs and all hatched, now all babies are dying and mum and dad are nowhere to be seen. Does anyone know why??
I've had the same problem with Blue tits, no camera. does a camera make a difference?
We have a camera and last year we had 8 eggs and 6 survived but this year they are gradually dying off. O nly two left of 7.
Is the nest box in full sun? What food is being taken into the box? How often are parents visiting?
Hi Susan,
this is being seen in a lot of areas this year. I monitor a number of tit boxes and those who started early struggled and most chicks died. One of the great tit survivors is not growing fast enough and the female continues to brood it. This could be to do with cold weather we’ve had this spring and not sufficient amount of insects to sustain the young which need various diet during their growing stage. Blue tits which started nesting a bit later might have better chances with feeding but time will tell. It’s been a vary bad season for tawny owls too so far.
No it isn't in full sun but the parents are acting in a different way to last year's brood. The mother last year stayed on her eggs and was fed by dad til they hatched then both fed the chicks. This year Mum kept leaving them in the day and sat at night. 7 still hatched but now we have 2 and they don't seem happy.
I think you are right about the insects there doesn't appear to be much of that brought in.
Yes, I agree too. If the box had been left empty early on in the breeding, signs were pointing to lack of food, or lack of surviving male.
If I recall correctly, tits try to time their births with the advent of caterpillars. I think because of the very wet and cold spring weather, they timed it wrong. It is a very weird spring in my observations. This year I see fledglings much earlier than last year. I am trying to recall whether it was very mild in end March / early April which could have meant that the birds thought spring was arriving earlier than it did, and thus what we are seeing...