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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
 Posted - 08/05/2004 : 19:05:50
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So up under my deck, there's a robin's nest.
A week ago, peering down beneath the deck boards, I counted three gaping mouths, begging for food.
Yesterday, mother robin had a single baby out with her, flapping about, obviously trying to get the little one to fly. (Actually, the small one was stuck in my kid's - dry - wading pool until I helped.)
My question is this: how long should I wait from now to get rid of the nest (which may or may not have two small corpses in it)? Is it more likely that now the one small bird is flying (one hopes) that the birds will never return? Or might they come back after the kid is strong and coordinated enough to fly back up there?
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- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 08/05/2004 : 19:45:47 [Permalink]
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Once they are out of the nest, they seldom return. During this brief period, the fledglings are called, by the oldtimers, 'limbers'. This is the time when many fall prey, as they are poor fliers and often wind up on the ground. The parent birds will continue to feed them, none the less.
I would say, wait a couple of days to be sure all are out, then take it down.
Fun to watch, aren't they? I have jays in the big cedar tree in my front yard.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2004 : 19:39:42 [Permalink]
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I found a nest last month on the ground in my backyard with what looked like 4 almost dead birds. I put it on our wood pile in the shade. Then I found the parents were feeding the fellows and they weren't almost dead. So I put the nest up on a makeshift platform on one of those plant hangers you stick in the ground and used fake follage to keep the nest shaded. The parents continued to take care of them. So much for the myth that if you touch a nest the parents won't come back.
A short time later the babies left the nest for the ground. I only saw two of the four but the others could have been on the other side of our fence. Unfortunately, our puppies got one of them before they could fly well enough to escape. But I kept the dogs in the house until the other one started to fly. It took several days.
They never returned to the nest once they jumped out. I tried to put the one baby back before the dogs got it but it didn't stay at all. |
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N C More
Skeptic Friend
53 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2004 : 13:13:48 [Permalink]
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| Yep, once birds leave the nest they're gone for good! I only wish this could be said for humans...two of my "fledglings" are home from college and driving me to the brink of "flight". |
"An open mind is like an open window...without a good screen you'll get some really weird bugs!" |
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Wulfstan
New Member
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2004 : 15:06:46 [Permalink]
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Yep, everyone is right--once they leave, they don't return. I had a dove nest in one of my hanging planets (a prime location), which laid two eggs. Unfortunately, morning doves have a high infant mortality rate, and though both hatched, one died shortly after. It took about 2 weeks for the surviving bird to get near the edge of the plant holder. I left for work as he was on the edge, came home, and he was gone, never to return. I threw out the plant with the carcass.
Mockingbirds are real fun to watch--they are so aggressive, protective and territorial and will watch their fallen fledglings like a hawk. They will dive-bomb cats, dogs, me...anything that comes remotely near their nest. When I tried to help a fallen one once, the parents were so mad at me-they don't want help. They stayed up all night 24/7 calling to their fledgling until it could fly. When I was hosing a house in Florida, I outed a big black widow on the upper eave of the house; a mockingbird was having no spider crawling around there! He chased him off onto a palm tree.
I digress--they're just my favorites because they imitate so many other birds' calls and generally confuse everybody. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2004 : 20:18:53 [Permalink]
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I read a short news article, Wulfstan, about a mockingbird on a vacation-type "dude ranch" which would drive people nuts by imitating the sound of a ringing cell phone.
Thanks for the info, folks. I'll probably whack down the nest with the hose next weekend, since I gotta wash the poop off, anyway. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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