Hi all - we have a lovely Blue Tit nesting in our camera box. She has 7 or 8 hatchlings hatched in the past 24 hours. It looks like Dad appeared once in the past 24 hours (for the first time) and then flew away again. We're worried that Mum won't be able to feed all the hatchlings and get some rest herself. We've left lots of seeds and mealworms etc near the box but is that enough? Is there anything else we can do? All advice would be very gratefully received.
Hi BW, mum will probably not be able to look after them by herself, dad may come back? By putting food near to the box, which I know is you trying to help, it could encourage other bigger birds near to the box and nest, and they could possibly take the chicks. Nature is sometimes cruel but it is what happens. Keep us updated.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thanks Catlady - the food is near to the nest but not right beside it. Fingers and toes crossed but .. as you rightly say.. nature is sometimes cruel. We wait and watch! Thanks again
As Catlady said, bird food shouldn't be left near to nestboxes as it draws in predators. Only today I saw a magpie killing and eating a slow worm. They are more than capable of killing blue tits leaving nestboxes.
Re adults, is an adult staying in the box for you to tell another adult has visited but only once?
Thanks a mill but no the food isn't that near to draw predators. We only saw Dad for the first time earlier today and yes we are confident that he had only visited once up to then as it records all activity and we tend to go back and check the recordings regularly. Thankfully (!) Dad seems to have come back a couple of times today since my first posting so fingers crossed he's stepping up It's so lovely to see nature taking its course and am so hopeful for the hatchlings. Thanks again
Just to clarify, when you say, "near" and "isn't that near", what is the sort of distance we are referring to?
I still can't work out how you know which the male is once chicks have hatched? Is one adult staying in the nestbox?
Mum has been consistent in her time in the nest - building it, producing the eggs and sitting on the eggs. She is slightly different to look at than the bird we've seen visiting today. She is wider and typically comes into the nest and settles towards the back. This new bird today has only come in and kept to the front of the nest on each of his very short in/out visits. He has not sat at any point on the eggs or hatchlings. The distance from the food to the nest to food is approx 10 to 12 feet and the nest is under the eaves of the house. Thanks for your response. I think we have all the info we need for now but will certainly come back if we need any more advice or information.
When eggs hatch, adults change habit. “Consistent time in the nest” and “kept to the front of the box” aren’t reliable I.d. characteristics, esp as the chicks grow.
10 feet is within easy eye sight of great spotted woodpeckers and magpies, and any rival blue tits are within easy eyesight of territorial nesting blue tits.
Just wanted facts to be available to anyone reading this thread.