Hi. We have lost the father of a brood of 8 blue tit chicks we moniter by camera. Will the mother manage to feed them on her own. Can we help brood survival chances or do we let nature carry on ? Appreciate help or view.
Thanks Tippy
Hi Tippy
What a sad situation. I really am not an expert but my first thought would be to help Mum with some extra food. You haven't said if you are feedig the birds generally, but I'm assuming you are if you have a nest box and camera. Leave the food in an area where it is visible to Mum but not too near the nest to cause Mum to be alarmed should other birds spot it. I'm sorry this is the extent of my knowledge but I really do wish you luck and hope they all survive. There are some on here who are hand rearing young birds but this is something I know very little only that it takes considerable dedication, time and constant monitoring.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Hi Tippy, and welcome to the forum.
Like Kezmo, I am no expert, but I believe single parents can cope providing there is sufficient food close by as she will have to work twice as hard to feed the chicks, and then again when the fledge she will be on her own protecting them. Kezmo has said all I could say. You could try some soaked mealworms. Please let us know how she gets on.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Hello and welcome.
I am certainly no expert but have experienced something similar.
One of a pair of coaltits I was watching regularly, disappeared while they were both raising chicks. They were not nesting in my garden. I was very new to garden bird watching at the time and did not feed the birds but it was obvious the remaining parent was desperately trying to raise the family alone. She/he became more unkempt as she was flying to and from the nest in desperation.
I started putting food out on a window sill. I crushed peanuts up into very small pieces and she started to take them. We eventually had quite an assembly line going. I was in the kitchen cutting cat food into very small pieces and crushing peanuts, whilst the coal tit took the food to her babies. If I did not keep up she would wait in the elder tree until I reappeared with another supply. I made sure food was available for the next few days and was eventually rewarded by the sight of her/him feeding four healthy babies in my garden. I have some (poor) photos on my other computer.
It was that experience which really encouraged me to start feeding the birds on a regular basis, so I am very grateful to that coaltit.
My advice would have to be, buy some mealworms! the bluetit will definitely take them.
Good luck and let us know what happens.
Kind regards Jane.
Unknown said: Hi. We have lost the father of a brood of 8 blue tit chicks we moniter by camera. Will the mother manage to feed them on her own. Can we help brood survival chances or do we let nature carry on ? Appreciate help or view. Thanks Tippy
Mother alone has today coped really well feeding brood on her own. Seems garden is providing a very good supply of food. Mealworms to be added tomorrow.
Tippy
That sounds promising, with your help as well it will certainly boost their chances of survival. I look forward to hearing your update, I do so hope at least some of them fledge.
Hello Tippy
That is absolutely great.
Providing food will enable the mother to feed herself easily, as well as feeding her chicks. Obviously she will be working very hard and will require extra energy which your food will help to provide. You are right though, there is a lot of 'natural' food available at the moment.
I am sure you will see some newly fledged youngsters in a couple of weeks. Please let us know how things progress.
I've re-read this and I hope it doesn't sound patronising.......it's only me thinking aloud really. I'm just so pleased the mother is still feeding her brood.
(Just so you know, I would imagine I know less about birds and birdwatching than anyone else on these boards!)
Single mum has ignored mealworms so far. Mass of local food evident by her nest box feed return rate so maybe the 8 chicks will make it out of the box into real danger land.
Yes, I think there is a lot of food around at the moment. Although, I think once she has spotted the meal worms she will take them. If she is not used to being fed it may take a while. She will do well to raise 8 chicks but lets hope for the best. :-)
The chicks were more than a week old when the father got killed. All 8 are in remarkable shape and the food journey distance for mother is like a corner shop visit rather than an out of town Tesco which is why I think she is doing so well on her own. Still not found the mealworms but other birds are the same.