A bit of potted history first. We have had a birdbox with a camera inside for several years now but this is only the second year its been occupied. The first time around all chicks died before fledging. I guess this makes me very protective over this brood. Anyway, 9 eggs were laid and 8 hatched, firstborn on 4th May. 3 died but 5 were very heathy and being raised by mummy bird alone for some reason. She has been doing a great job!
Two days ago (18th May) I was replaying footage of the box and noticed one chick was missing. I could see that it had been making its way to the entrance hole but the hole is not visible on this camera. I did have another camera outside and looking through that footage I could see a magpie swoop in and pull the chick out of the entrance hole and kill it. Poor thing, sitting there singing its heart out to the world ("come and eat me" in Magpie) and... Bit of a shock.
When I installed the box there was lots of protection of branches and stuff but unfortunately the neighbours cut it all back in the weeks before the box was occupied. I guess I should have taken the box down but...
Anyway, I curbed my wild west instinct to camp out next to the box with a double barrelled shotgun (only joking this is Wales!). What I have done for now to give them half a chance is to put a towel running from the top of the box to some twigs growing by the fence. This creates a kind of canopy preventing attack from above. Although mummy bird checked this out for a while on her first return, she doesn't seem to be bothered now. As long as this arrangement isn't subject to a lot of wind and rain, it should last a few days. The remaining four chicks can't be far from fledging (we are currently at 17 days and I think its 18-21 days they fledge) but none of the others have been up to the entrance yet so I guess that one was ahead in development.
Anybody got any advice - do I leave nature to be nature now? My makeshift protection was quick to install with minimal disturbance - I can't see what else I can do.
Sorry about that. Magpies are both clever and more agile than many realise. (E.g. they can catch house martins at nest sites). Is it possible to post a photo of the box?
Looks like it will keep the sun off! Is the nestbox stood on those wooden sides, or is it clear of them and attached to the wall/fence?
It's actually attached to a tree.
Thanks. Maybe it is the angle, but under the box doesn’t appear to be clear, or at least, there appears to be easy launching pads for magpies. It may have swooped in from a longer distance, but best to keep underneath and to the sides as clear as possible.
Oh no! Mum hasn't been in the nest since 8pm last night. One chick is dead. What do I do?
That is the downside of having cameras with the nestboxes. Knowing and/or perceiving things have gone wrong. It could be both adults have been predated. Have you checked footage re outside the box where a feeding adult is most at risk? Could it be feeding is withheld to entice the remaining young out?
I went out to check that my towel wasn't blocking the entrance. It had drooped overnight due to the rain but wasn't covering the hole. In the process I saw mum in a nearby tree so I suspect you may be right that she is trying to get them to leave the nest box. Watching the box, the chicks are singing and there seems to be a distant reply (the camera has a mic) so this supports your theory.
Am leaving it alone and watching for now.
Thanks for the update. Hopefully you'll get to see the remainder leave the box. It only needs one youngster and one of the adults to survive to breed the following year to maintain a population. (though obv some nests need to do much better to offset nests/breeding pairs that fail).
OK well having reviewed footage, she did go in the box at 7:07 this morning, fed them and found the dead body. She didn't go in there again for several hours.
She is now making regular visits again and all is back to normal.
Why she didn't sleep in there and keep them warm last night is a mystery but my initial fears were unfounded.