Black-capped chickadee mother killed, can dad raise 10 day old nestlings alone? (1 Viewer)

[Juliam818]

Dad is doing a great job feeding, but I'm concerned about the babies' warmth since he doesn't roost. We're in northeast Ohio (they made it through last night with low of 60). Does anyone have experience with single father chickadee success?

We reduced the nest box hole size to prevent further attacks (I wish we knew this sooner). The sparrow tried to re-enter the box this morning but couldn't with the smaller hole. Dad is defending well. Is there any chance he could still be killed (outside the nest)?

The top left baby in the photo is likely deceased now—will dad remove the body, or should we?

 

[Juliam818]

Update: The body started to attract flies, so we removed it.

Dad has been a super hero all day. Four babies seem to be doing okay, eating up a storm. I'm hoping that maybe at least the oldest baby (one hatched on April 15th and the others followed over the next few days) is able to regulate his body temp and can help the others.

 

[Juliam818]

Update: The babies made it through another night without mom, but it's obvious that there are two stronger nestlings and two weaker ones. The weaker ones seem to keep getting lost underneath the bedding and unable to get as much food from dad. I think this is also a symptom of mom's absence—she kept a very tidy nest, with the bedding swept neatly to the outer circumference of the box, making ample space for each nesting in the middle. Dad just doesn't seem to think of stuff like that. See attached for photos of the nest before and after mom's death.

 

[Carlotoby]

Well this is a little late to answer but sometimes people learn through reading old posts If one of the birds dies that have a nest in one of my boxes I buy live mealworms to help the single parent out.And don’t forget to put a 1 1/8 hole reducer on the box for chickadees