Hello, I just wanted some advice as I have a blue tit nest with 8 chicks in my garden. They must be around 2 weeks old and I have loved watching the parents work so hard to feed them constantly in and out working as a team. I have put out lots of food on my bird table to help and tried to not use my garden as much where this is near to my patio. This morning I woke to a devastating sight of what looked like blue tit feathers plucked all on the floor near to the bird box but no body. I believe one of the parents has been killed. I was worried the nest had been abandoned as I could hear the chicks still inside. An hour later at 9:30am I saw the other adult with food in her mouth but looked very on the edge and was not seen again. It has now been 10 hours and have seen no sign of the parent and the chicks have been making noises (very loud) for 10 hours now straight so they must be hungry. Has the other parent abandoned the nest? Should I take them to my local wildlife bird centre? I know I shouldn’t intervene but they are so nearly ready to fledge and I’m concerned the other blue tit has also been killed or left . It is heartbreaking and I feel the extra food I had put out may of attracted other birds/predators to my garden and feel so much guilt. Thank you
It's so sad, but there have been many similar reports on the forum; Thomo's post to a BTO report suggests that almost two-thirds of blue tits don't make it through the first year, so the odds are stacked against them and I'm not sure there's anything you could have done.
I agree with what Adam has written. However, I feel I have to write this as I'm not sure it's publicised enough, or believed enough. Supplementary feeding. It does bring in more birds. It can debated as to how much benefit it provides.....what cannot be in doubt is it increases the risk of concentrating a number of birds in a smaller area.....which in turn attracts avian predators incl magpie and sparrowhawk. Without feeding garden birds, maybe fewer chicks will fledge per nest, but with feeding, how many more nests produce more young v how many are wiped out completely? A difficult thing to prove one way or another.
Hello, thank you both for your comments and reassurance. Just to let you know that the other adult blue tit did not return to the nest and I took the bird box off the wall and to an animal centre called Brent Lodge, who are hand feeding them/keeping them in an incubator. So far 5 out of the 8 chicks have survived and due to be put in an aviary with other blue tits before being set free in the wild ️
Thanks for the update. Hopefully, some will make it to adulthood.