Ok so I have a back deck/porch on which I've hung some potted begonias. One of them hasn't been doing too well the last couple of weeks - dropping a lot of foilage. I have also been having a small bird visiting the porch, even when I'm sitting there, and hopping all over it with nesting material in its mouth doing a song and dance. I thought it was mistaking me for a female. Anyways I was clearing up there just now and was checking out the plants. I saw a mass of dead leaf and tree litter in that pot ( get alot of that here ) and went to take it all out and realized something was making a home in that pot. I then realized there were two or three very young chicks ( closed eyes, no feathers ) in that mass in my hands. The parents were not there or flying around me ( I though birds would be nesting at nite ) so I quickly put it back as best I could in the hopes the parents will still be able to make sense of the nest and find the chicks ( it wasnt an open classic nest but more of a loose ball with the chicks in/under it ) in that mess I made. If by tomorrow they are not there what should I do? I could identify the bird by picture but should I try to raise them by hand if the parents dont return?
Found Birdnest - help?!
- Thread starter jejton
- Start date
Not necessarily...
Here is a rather long , interesting article on House Finches..
http://www.birdsbybent.com/ch41-50/houfinch.html
a couple of interesting quotes from the artilce..
Keep your hopes up Jejton..things might just turn out ok
Please do let us know!!
wow that article is from 1968. good luck with the birds.
raising baby birds is tough. chances are if the parents did not pick up care of them again immediately you would not have time to save them. they need to eat fairly often, and if you were planing to feed them you had better get the formula prepared now rather than wait to see what happens.
raising baby birds is tough. chances are if the parents did not pick up care of them again immediately you would not have time to save them. they need to eat fairly often, and if you were planing to feed them you had better get the formula prepared now rather than wait to see what happens.
lol..I figured the history & care of house finches probably hasn't changed much in all these years
Hopefully Mom & Dad bird will be back!
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
They should be fine Eric. Keep an eye on them but I would be surprised if the parents did not come back rather quickly.
Welcome to LI (I think you just moved there). Wait until you start finding baby squirrels. LOL
Welcome to LI (I think you just moved there). Wait until you start finding baby squirrels. LOL
DontXtripNfall
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Midtown - East
Keep an eye on them a lot - worst case scenario the parents don't tend to them and they will become hungry or cold, i've raised a baby robin before, PM me if you want advice if you decide to care for them.
- Location
- Rockaway Park
dibs?
Noelskii- you get first frag.
Domb - I checked a few minutes ago and the mother flew right up and out. The first couple of times this happened so fast that I thought it was a big butterfly or something ( until I found the nest yesterday ). So things look good and hopefully they wont mind the activity on the porch because the pot is only about 5' off the ground and near the door.
I wasnt planning on raising them ( after doing some reading and seeing whats involved ) but I was going to call a rehabilitator.
Dom - Thats what I love about LI well except for the racoons getting into the garbage when I put it out. The other day we had a deer running alongside ( or in front of ) the car as I was driving to the doctors.
Domb - I checked a few minutes ago and the mother flew right up and out. The first couple of times this happened so fast that I thought it was a big butterfly or something ( until I found the nest yesterday ). So things look good and hopefully they wont mind the activity on the porch because the pot is only about 5' off the ground and near the door.
I wasnt planning on raising them ( after doing some reading and seeing whats involved ) but I was going to call a rehabilitator.
Dom - Thats what I love about LI well except for the racoons getting into the garbage when I put it out. The other day we had a deer running alongside ( or in front of ) the car as I was driving to the doctors.
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
Cool. A real treat is if you get see a fox. There is a bunch in your area. On occasion you will see Turkey's and pheasants too.
My wife thinks I'm crazy because we went camping upstate a couple of years back ( forget which state park ) and the ranger told us that a certain tenting section was in an area where a pack of coyotes ranged ( though they tended to stay away when people were around ). I requested a spot in that area. The other day she thought she saw an owl fly through our backyard, though it was daylight so I dont know how likely that was but its possible. I'm hoping to do some local outdoor exploration/hiking/collecting over the summer....let me know if you're interested.
Cool ...so the parent birds came back and are taking care of the young?
yup. despite my son and I playing on the porch. It was kind of interesting as both parents left the nest and came back together but hopped around the other plants and ledge until they were confident I wasn't watching - I guess to avoid bringing attention to the nest. Then the female stayed and only the male left. What I thought was unusual originally was that the nest was left unattended at night. I thought that birds, except for owls, always roost at dark.
Eric,
As you know I am intimately familiar with the area in which you live. You may be right in your identification, but I would be surprised if they are not English House Sparrows. By far, the most common bird in the area. When I was little, I pretty much ran around with a bird book in my hand.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/House_Sparrow.html
As you know I am intimately familiar with the area in which you live. You may be right in your identification, but I would be surprised if they are not English House Sparrows. By far, the most common bird in the area. When I was little, I pretty much ran around with a bird book in my hand.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/House_Sparrow.html
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