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hello, I have a nest box with a camera in it, while it's been wonderful to watch my bluetits from roosting in February, to finally laying 8 eggs, it does of course show us close up the sad times to,
4 blue tits hatched last Saturday, 3 on Sunday the 8th on Monday, sadley 4 have now died which I know is often the case but it's still hard to see, I have a question though, does anyone know why the dead chicks are left in the nest for so long before they are removed, some times for several hours, the female keeps checking on the chick and I have seen her lift it out of the cup then put it back down again, they carry on feeding the others and she even settles down in the nest many times before eventually removeing the dead chick from the box
Mo
Welcome to the forum Mo.... aww thats really sad. I'm not sure why she is leaving them for so long... maybe just checking but I always thought they knew instantly.
i know its nature but its still sad isn't it!
Striving to be a better Photographer whilst looking after two young children... :0/
Owning a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer... it makes you a Nikon owner!
very hard viewing yes, she has done this with all of them which is what I found strange, I guess no one knows for sure except her herself, I wondered if, awful as it sounds, she waits until the chick is cold first,
Awww... you could be right... Poor mummy BT
Hi Mo
It must be really hard to watch this on your web-cam.
I can only think that the female Blue Tit might be an inexperienced mum and isn't certain that the chick has died, or she is making sure that the baby is definitely dead before she removes it.
Please read this thread from Ian about reporting failed nesting attempts.
Best wishes Chris
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just to say thanks for the welcome Nicky rude of me not to say it before,
yes Chris, I did see that post but keeping my fingers crossed this 4 survive and think it mentioned all dead , I wish she would hurry and move this dead one now it is begining to ruin the pleasure, in every other way they seem fantastic parent
well it was turned 7pm before she finally removed the dead chick, she had several attempts but kept dropping it and she kept giving up, when i finally saw her remove it it was quite large compared to others she'd removed, it was terrible to see her struggle, heaven knows how she felt about it