I’m a compete novice, but I noticed yesterday that there were blue tit chicks in one of my bird boxes (I’d been away for a week). They were making a fair amount of noise so I presumed they were being fed ok. As the day went by I realised I hadn’t seen a parent feed them, but by the evening they could still be heard chirruping. I searched the internet and was assured that as long as they were chirruping the chances are they were being fed. however this morning it was completely silent. I waited a while before checking the nest and discovered six fairly large blue tit chicks all dead and the remains of two much smaller ones. It really upset me and I am now thinking I could have done more, perhaps taken them to a wildlife rescue.
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Dead chicks. Could I have done more? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Chrish-uk
- Start date
YuShan
Well-known member
It's probably just nature taking its course. Parent may have died, or there just wasn't enough food around.
What I noticed in my own nest box (with camera) over the years is that often the first days after hatching, the chicks are all doing well and you see them grow every day. These tiny chicks are easy to provide for. Then after some time when they grow much bigger, sometimes they suddenly start dying and eventually you are only left with two or so. My theory is that perhaps the older chicks need much more food, and when that is not available then they start dying until the brood is cut back to a size that can be maintained.
In your case something else may have happened since none survived. It is strange that there were two much smaller chicks in the box. They would have died much earlier than the other ones, and the parents normally remove the dead chicks immediately. In my experience it is only the ones that are quite close to hatching sometimes won't get removed after they die (perhaps too large to remove?). So the fact that they didn't get removed could perhaps indicate some other problem.
While it is always painful to watch them die (you get really attached to them!), I guess in most cases it is just nature taking its course and you just have to accept it. Of course there is a reason they start off with 9-12 eggs or so. The population over time remains constant, so only a few birds can reach maturity. Even if they fledge successfully, I think most will die within a couple of months from predation.
Breeding success in my own nest box has varied enormously over the years. Better luck next year!
What I noticed in my own nest box (with camera) over the years is that often the first days after hatching, the chicks are all doing well and you see them grow every day. These tiny chicks are easy to provide for. Then after some time when they grow much bigger, sometimes they suddenly start dying and eventually you are only left with two or so. My theory is that perhaps the older chicks need much more food, and when that is not available then they start dying until the brood is cut back to a size that can be maintained.
In your case something else may have happened since none survived. It is strange that there were two much smaller chicks in the box. They would have died much earlier than the other ones, and the parents normally remove the dead chicks immediately. In my experience it is only the ones that are quite close to hatching sometimes won't get removed after they die (perhaps too large to remove?). So the fact that they didn't get removed could perhaps indicate some other problem.
While it is always painful to watch them die (you get really attached to them!), I guess in most cases it is just nature taking its course and you just have to accept it. Of course there is a reason they start off with 9-12 eggs or so. The population over time remains constant, so only a few birds can reach maturity. Even if they fledge successfully, I think most will die within a couple of months from predation.
Breeding success in my own nest box has varied enormously over the years. Better luck next year!
Hi Chrish-uk and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. I'm so sorry to hear this tale and the loss of your Blue Tit family. Don't beat yourself up please, there's really nothing you could have done. Blue Tits have to time their breeding attempt to coincide with the emergence of caterpillars. So they need to be small when the chicks first hatch, by the time the chicks are ready to fledge the caterpillars are much bigger too. Mis-time it and the nest will fail.
It could be that there just weren't enough caterpillars of the right size available, which could be down to the weather. Or, as YuShan suggested, one or both of the adults was predated. One couldn't raise the brood alone.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
It could be that there just weren't enough caterpillars of the right size available, which could be down to the weather. Or, as YuShan suggested, one or both of the adults was predated. One couldn't raise the brood alone.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Another possible reason: Organisation Urges Pet Owners leaving their pet hair out for the birds.
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