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Feeding a blackbird who is feeding her fledgling

Yamuna2
13/05/2020 09:29

Hello, hope everyone is keeping safe and well!

I’m enjoying watching a blackbird feed her fledgling in my garden. She’s such an admirably hard worker and the little one is so cute, cartoon shaped without much of a tail yet.

Having read online what I might safely leave out for her, she’s been really enjoying soaked sultanas but I noticed that the little one ejects them within a second of her feeding them to it. 

I don’t have access to a shop to buy mealworms so wondered if the chick would eat sunflower hearts?  I’m assuming its mum wouldn’t feed it anything it shouldn’t eat but given that the sultanas come back up, thought I’d best check!  

Or is it simply that the soaked sultanas might be too big and need to be chopped in half? (Would that make them too sticky?)

  • 0 13/05/2020 09:46
    I was watching a blackbird feed her fledgling recently. She was feeding it very small pieces of nut which had dropped down from a bird feeder. And also she was feeding it worms. I guess moist food would be better for fledglings to swallow.
  • 0 13/05/2020 12:01
    Thank you. I put a small number of halved & soaked sultanas along with some sunflower hearts. The sultanas were taken and the seeds were snubbed, so I guess there’s my answer!

    All the same tho, if the fledgling is ejecting the sultanas, will the mother see that as a problem and abandon it? Or will she just find worms. I don’t want to do anything that will endanger the fledgling so would stop putting out the sultanas, but it would be a shame as the mum clearly enjoys eating them herself.
  • 0 18/05/2020 02:10
    Not an expert but Having watched recently on utube videos of blackbirds feeding there chicks. I have noticed that the parents feed there chicks with mostly garden worms and natural food. I believe you can buy on line from the RSPB shop mealworms and other bird food as well as bird feeders etc. With regards the sunflower hearts I wouldn’t know if the parents would feed these to the chicks but if you have them in your garden feeder if the chicks aren’t fed them they will be eaten by many other birds so they won’t go to waste.