Doubtful but not impossible. Are you sure there wasn't a visit from a predator? Was the gap large enough for a crow or magpie? Or jay for that matter? Another possibility is the young dropped down inside the cavity or similar.
Hi, the nest is where the roof joins all four points, a bit has broken off. The parent's have been very active Dawn till dusk and very aware of other birds, lots of noise then feeding when all clear. Coincidentally, we had heavy non stop rain yesterday. I don't think a magpie could have got it's head in. I've seen the chick's pop up over the lasst week. They looked big. Parent just returned again now and was looking in and eventually climbed in. No screeching from parent's ir chick's. The nest would have received rainfall with no protection. Open from top. They've been feeding like mad for weeks. The nest has been used in pastvyears. Seems safe.Very sad and it's nature but heartbreaking.
Fair enough. You've answered your own question. Not convinced re magpies not being able to get their head inside a starling nest hole. Starling young should be fully feathered by now, but flooding that got inside would have caused them problems, as well as your property.
Not my property at least. I see it from my window on neighbours roof. I would say the chick's were almost full size given what I saw when they popped out. Not fully. There has been no noise from any birds in distress. Thanks anyway
Thanks. Yes, definitely nearly fledged if leaning out the entrance. That's why it would need to have been serious flooding into the roof to have been the cause of the demise. If they'd have left the nest, they would have been out in the rain to some extent anyway.