Young blackbirds trapped in shed - did we do the right thing?

Yesterday there was an awful event to witness - panicked blackbird parents chasing after a magpie - who had killed one of their young. I had to just accept it as it does happen. :-( 

However, this evening, I was sat having a drink in the garden with my partner - then my dog growled at the shed. I was horrified to see two young blackbirds panicking at the window, as if they were trapped! They could've got in at the big gap at the bottom of the shed door. We have sparrows nesting in a gap in the gutter, but I really don't know where the blackbirds are nesting, and we've been using the shed this week so would've noticed. Two rooms in the shed -but I'm not sure there's a gap inside the shed for them to get into the room they were trapped in. Maybe they got in there when the magpie was around?

Anyway, we scrambled to empty the shed and open the window - one flew out almost straight away! Two parent blackbirds chased after and all seemed well, but the sibling was panicking and it took about ten minutes of emptying the shed, to get the bird out.

It hid behind a bucket and made a few little sounds, but wasn't flying. I gave it some space, and I moved my chair, then it moved near the side of the house. My girlfriend was watching on, tidying the shed,  and said that the mum was nearby the bird, hopping higher and higher. Then a minute later, both were gone. So we assume it was a bit startled, but got its flying wings back.

Hopefully both are safe now. 

Here's a photo, just to see if others think it's a capable fledgling? 

There's no way I could've left them in there - they were scuffling to get out, and as they were quite big, I think we'd of noticed when working in the shed this week - so I'm certain they were trapped. But, as an over thinker, there's part of me worrying that my intervening was risky. 

 

  • As Robbo says, yes you did the absolute right thing in helping them get out of the shed. Many fledglings are not brilliant at flying to begin with but they strengthen within a few days.

    Sorry no one came back to you sooner but the site has been on a go slow for a couple of days. I haven't been able to get anything to open