Hi there,
so i’ve got a little birdhouse where some great tits (God, feels so weird saying that, still can’t get used to it) have nested and have little babies cause i can hear than chirp.
Question is, can i pour a few dry worms inside there? Through that little hole? i have a bird feeder but it gets ravaged by all the other birds and i never see the tit parents try to get to it. So i was hoping i’d help the chicks by pouring some dry worms inside there.
Here are my concerns:
1. First and foremost, Would it actually help? Will the chicks eat it
2. is there any danger of the chicks chocking or killing each other for food?
3. Would me interfering cause the parent tits to abandon the nest or something? Thanks,
congrats on your babies... and the basic answer is no, don't do anything, as it would be classed as interfering which is against the law (wildlife act I think, 1986ish with amendments). I'd also advise keeping distance from it in case you do scare the parents away.
Jesus mate…i ask something banal and get the Gestapo wildlife police answer. Typical of britain of 2024 i guess.
Your answer might be well intentioned, and im just interpreting it wrong maybe.maybe you’re trying to protect me let me rephrase it:
if you REALLY REALLY didnt care about the law, or government or what people in the government say i should or shouldn’t do, would i actually be helping the birds get ahead or not?
I think your reply is more typical of Britain in 2024, where everything is taken as a personal affront. I was simply stating fact, and as you said, was well intentioned and intended to protect you.
My final sentence addressed your question... I would advise keeping distance from it in case you do scare the parents away.
Ok, thank you. That’s all i wanted to know
im just trying to help the birds as the last nest from last year was either abandoned or the parents killed because one day the chicks stopped chirping. I thought they had flown away, when i took the house down to clean it, they were all dead inside.
so i dont want that to happen again.
You’ve overreacted here sorry. Nothing in your original post suggested you understood that interfering is illegal and so that’s the first thing anyone would want to make you aware of. So now we’ve established you’re more concerned with the birds’ wellbeing than the law, we can answer - no, do not interfere. (The Wildlife Act is not a case of people in the government telling you what to do, it is a wildlife protection act basically written by scientists not MPs, so you should care about what it says.) If you’re absolutely certain the parents are dead/left then you could call a wildlife rehab/rescue centre, but otherwise interfering would scare off the parents. Also to add, this time of year there’s plenty of natural food so don’t worry if the great tits aren’t at your feeder, they’ll be looking for protein-rich grubs and worms for the chicks.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69
Even though some don’t like this being posted. Maybe it should be posted in full! I have not checked to see if any of the updates have been added to this act. But it is a long read.
Regards,
Ian.