Baby birds in January?!

One of my cats brought in a bird yesterday which (after it was duly chastised) I thought was a sparrow - however when I picked it up I realised it was a small blackbird. 

I have a very overgrown back garden which is a haven for the nesting birds, and I feed the birds every day - is it because they have so much food that they've decided to have a clutch at this time of the year? Is this unusual to have chicks so very early?

  • Hello Erastes, it maybe that after the long warm spell before xmas that made them have another late batch, some of my shrubs came into flower again which is strange now with them snow covered and wilting badly. Others may have better explainations as this is just a guess... i will be checking to see what others may think of this also...

    Neil

    If it aint broken, dont fix it !.... all good things come to those who wait !

  • A mild spell can trigger some birds to nest out of season, and although not a common occurrence, it does happen remarkably regularly.

    Every year we hear of some unseasonal nestings - usually involving blackbirds, song thrushes or robins. A couple of years ago we received a letter with pictures of a robin nesting in the Christmas wreath on someone's front door, and the year before there was a song thrush with chicks in the nest on Christmas day. Just this week we received pictures of a song thrush in Leeds - nesting on the amber traffic light!