Can anyone please give advice. This is the second year blue tits have nested in one of my garden nest boxes ( with camera) both years 10 eggs have been hatched but one by one the chick's die off. If I remember one chick survived last year but this year we have seen all the chick's die off one by one. Parents returning and bewildered with no chick's left. The mother takes the dead chick's out with her beak.
We thought it may be a fat ball they have fed on hanging on the shed. We will take it away next spring but surely this is not the reason. They did not choke but slowly stopped feeding from their mother and slowly withered away.
Another box further down the garden has produced 5 healthy great tit chick's which have now fledged.
Thanks in advance.
Paul.
Some birds take the easy option when feeding young. Fat isn't a good diet for chicks. Due to the sunny weather, boxes are possibly warmer inside than some other recent years. I'm not a fan of providing food during the breeding season, but if people want to, better to provide live food like mini mealworms. Just my opinion.