Hiive got chicks hatching in a bit of my roof and I can hear them chirping all day long. I think they’re starling chicks cos of their big yellow gobs and ive seen starlings nip in and out with food. But a couple times today ive seen a female bullfinch go in and out with food too. What’s going on here? It’s odd cos the bit where they’re nesting is quite small and only once slit to enter through. Would there be bullfinch and starling chicks in there? Why would the bullfinch go out looking for food for a different species and is this a common occurrence?
many thanks
You may have more than one nest.
I'm curious that you say their starling chicks because of their yellow beaks.
Big beaks is common on chicks, being bone, it is slower to grow and needs to be large enough to take food supplied by the parents. So the chicks will grow to the size of their beaks as the get older.
Human babies have a very large head in proportion to the body, for much the same reason, the bone area is denser and slower to grow than the rest of the body, and likewise, the mouth needs to be large enough to take solid food once the baby is weaned off milk.
Finally, if you are seeing the beaks of the chicks, that suggests you could be getting too close to the nest. Nests require to be left to nature and disturbing them is not only wrong, but illegal.