I have had these little yellow tits nesting downstairs in my neighbours garden bush and today I noticed one of the parents had been caught by one of the cats and was dead. I buried it. I am very concerned about what happens to the chicks. Does the other parent continue to feed them or does he/she grieve and leave the nest? I need to know so I can help them. I could not believe my eyes this evening, this yellow tit sat right beside me on my window ledge where I could touch it if I had wanted to...It looked into my eyes for 5 minutes and I am not joking..I could see it batting its eyelids and watching me while I talked to it (I must be mad) but I told it that one of its family was gone! (yes I told you it sounds mad but Im so fond of nature).. I have never ever seen a wild beautiful little bird be so close to humans but im more concerned about what I can do to save the chicks if there are any chicks. I say this because I saw the parents swooping down to the nest every day with tiny maggots in their mouths. I can't even handle my own cats when they bring live mice into my house..I have to save the mice and put them back out into the field without my cats following me. Please can you help me calm my poor nerves for these poor little birds...
Hello, it is very upsetting when this happens.
The remaining parent will continue to feed the chicks but it will be hard work. You can help by putting out food such as mealworms. The parent will eat these but also feed them to her/his chicks. You can buy live or dry mealworms. If you decide to buy dry worms they will need to be soaked in hot water for a while to re-hydrate them a little.
There has been a recent thread about a lone blue-tit parent which I am sure you will find useful. I will try to include a link below (it is the first time I have tried this!)
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/p/15522/108252.aspx#108252
I hope this helps.
Kind regards Jane.
Hi littlebirdhelper
It's so very sad when this sort of thing happens. I don't know how easy this will be for you but is there any way you can keep your cat inside for a while. Having a cat myself, when I tried, I have to admit it led to all sorts of problems i.e. the cat ended up wearing the cat flap around his neck in his attempt to get out. Trashed the whole thing that we had to buy a new one. I now just feed him a whole lot that he sleeps most of the day and then feed him again at night so that he doesn't feel the need to go out hunting. The vets would have a field day on me as the last time I weighed him he was over 2 stone but he is a big cat any way.......I think it could be a glandular thing!
I agree with Jef, you can help by providing extra food for the remaining parent to help feed the chicks.
I send you lots of luck that it turns out well. Can you keep us posted?
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Dear Kezmo,
Thankyou for replying... Im now starting to wonder if it was a chick that I found dead? It had downy fluff, kind of beige under its beak..is that a chick? I have no experience whatsover of birds... Did you see the picture of the little bird under my window? It seemed so tame, I wonder if it was a chick too? The most experienced tit that I see every night was on the wire as it is usually with its partner but no partner tonight. Oh! I just am so frustrated, I wish I knew more... Im going to go to the local pet shop and get some live meal worms and put them out on my window sill. I live above the ground floor flat. I did leave a little jam jar lid with water in it and some bread on the sill... but you are right the chicks need substanance like meal worms... The weird part for me I suppose in all of this is because I am a single mum and its strange how you feel for parental responsiblity in birds and how they will cope. It made me sort of proud that single parents cope fine just harder work...just like humans. Bless them. Thankyou so much again.....
sorry I think my computer is playing up.....my apologies...
Hi lbh
You only need to click on 'post' once. It's sometimes a long wait before the page refreshes and you may be unable to see your post immediately. However, it will post onto a thread.
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
Hi
the bird in the photo is a young Blue tit :)
S
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
Hello. The bird in your picture is a newly fledged Blue Tit, you can tell it's a youngster by the prominent fleshy yellow edges to its mouth (giving it a 'sad' expression), among other things. If the one you found dead had a mouth like that it would be a chick too. Once the chicks leave the nest they don't go back, but may stay in the local area for a while, being fed by the parents while they learn how to find food of their own. At this time the young ones are very vulnerable and many will die, sadly, but that's why tits have such large broods - only one or two need to make it to the next breeding season to maintain the population. Meanwhile, providing mealworms will help the whole family :)
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
Hi...thankyou....I now have mealworms all over the place... I also have equipped all my cats with bells on their collars... I hadn't bothered before as they were micro chipped but now I see its a necessity for chick time... I am so relieved that I have had great responses to my pleading email.... At least I now have the knowledge and I also bought a bird feeder that the cats cant get at....lets hope the little blue tit I saw will thrive..... Will keep everyone posted if I see the tits again.... Thanks again!!!