Deceased chickadee in Nestbox (warning:photo) (1 Viewer)

[Meredithpc]

I peeked inside my nesting box to check if there was any activity yet this Spring, and found a dead fully feathered though quite small chickadee and four chickadee eggs. I’m assuming this may be the mom or dad chickadee. Can anyone give any ideas what might have happened and how I can prevent this from happening in the future? What should I do now with the nest and eggs? Much appreciated. I’m heartbroken.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum.

It's difficult to say why the adult bird died.

For future reference - one should never look inside a nest box during nesting season as such disturbance could cause the birds to abandon the nest.

 

[Meredithpc]

Welcome to Birdforum.

It's difficult to say why the adult bird died.

For future reference - one should never look inside a nest box during nesting season as such disturbance could cause the birds to abandon the nest.

Thank you for that. Do you have any advice for what I should do with the nest & eggs? Would the other half of the chickadee pair possibly return to tend to the eggs?

 

[Ollie owl]

Thank you for that. Do you have any advice for what I should do with the nest & eggs? Would the other half of the chickadee pair possibly return to tend to the eggs?

I. Not sure are the eggs very cold?

 

[Carlotoby]

I peeked inside my nesting box to check if there was any activity yet this Spring, and found a dead fully feathered though quite small chickadee and four chickadee eggs. I’m assuming this may be the mom or dad chickadee. Can anyone give any ideas what might have happened and how I can prevent this from happening in the future? What should I do now with the nest and eggs? Much appreciated. I’m heartbroken. View attachment 1576872

Hi ! Do you have a hole reducer on the hole of your box that is 1 1/8 ? Because if you don’t it probably was a house sparrow that killed her that’s why a hole reducer on the hole when you see them start to build is important. The only other thing I could think of is if you spray to kill weeds that also could have killed her. House wrens also can be pretty distructive but I would bet on the first guess.