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By providing mealworms as a supplement you did the very best thing you could do. It is normal and quite common for a single adult male or female to raise chicks. As long as they hatch in temperate weather they usually survive just fine. Trouble comes when the female goes missing before hatching or before a day or so after that. Trouble also comes when the female goes missing in cool weather and can’t brood the hatchlings to keep them warm. When at all possible, a single adult will continue to feed the chicks because that is the biological imperative at work.
Congratulations on your and his success!
Gin
Atlanta, GARenee, I am so impressed with your PROWs! That’s a very big deal.
Tammy, I don’t think I could continue to help her. Her poor TRES babies.
Gin
Atlanta, GAWhat I have done is close the garage door and open the windows. If it’s light enough outside they can make their way out. So sorry, Carol.
Gin
Atlanta, GAGwen, I found a recipe for you on our old forum. This is the link to the thread: http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/topic/859/Sick-injured-abandoned-bird-Emergency-Care-Instructions#.V7TZ04-cHIU
1 cup high quality kitten kibble. WalMart’s Maxximum is very good. Iams is also good. Soaked in 1 cup warm water until the water is absorbed and the kibble is no longer crunchy.
Two hard cooked egg whites – no yolk – chopped
The number of calcium carbonate tablets plus vitamin D that will equal 1800-2000mg. calcium, crush the tablets up. – probably 3 or 4
Put all of this into a blender. You should end up with something that looks like thin Dijon mustard.There is also a thread on finding rehab. http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/topic/860/Locating-a-Wildlife-Rehabber-How-and-When#.V7TaCo-cHIU
Those pages are full of ads now but maybe something will be helpful. So sorry.
Gin
Atlanta, GAGin, teenagers usually beg for money first, then maybe food!
And then a car and a later curfew.
Gin
Atlanta, GA
Good job! Your birds would thank you if they could. If you move, you could always take your new pole and baffle with you.Gin
Atlanta, GAYou are right! There is nothing like watching nature.
Here’s the thing about migrating birds. When they are going to move on, they just go. Food doesn’t influence them when they feel the need to leave. I don’t think they have left your area just yet, though. They might have moved the chicks a little farther away but they’ll be back. The lure of mealworms is strong. Few can resist a handout.
Don’t you love watching a fledgling begging for food? They always remind me of teenagers.
Gin
Atlanta, GASusan, you don’t have to do anything more than you are doing to help the fledglings. Great that she has found the worms! I have seen adults carry worms 100+ yards.
Move that feeder soon and it would be super if you could invest in a pole and baffle for next year.
Gin
Atlanta, GACarol, the entrance hole doesn’t provide much in the way of ventilation. Ventilation is achieved by CROSS ventilation in boxes so keep the wren guard in place. Better to have it than not.
Gin
Atlanta, GADana, welcome to our world!
I have been hosting cavity nesting birds for decades. When I open a box and all have fledged, I am happy of course but I don’t miss them being in there. It’s good to know they made it out.
All or most of the females in your area are apparently otherwise occupied. Maybe he will have luck in the spring.
Gin
Atlanta, GASusan, the adult birds bash the mealworms on something hard to kill them before feeding them to very young chicks. Mealworms will bite when a bird is trying to swallow them and the youngest can’t handle that. When they get older there is no need to kill the mealworms. YOU don’t need to kill them. The birds will handle that when necessary.
You have seen fledglings hanging around? That’s good because maybe they will help feed the ones in the nest. Sometimes that happens. How many are in there? I know you said 3 in the first nest but I haven’t been able to find where/if you said how many this time.
I hope she finds the mealworms you offer soon. It can take awhile for some birds to make the discovery no matter what you do. The method Carol described should work. If it does, be ready! That female bird will quickly become hooked.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI think I would leave them alone because the risk of early fledging is huge at this point. They will probably go in about 4 days or so and that will solve the problem.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou can’t go by how the eggs feel and you really shouldn’t touch them anyway. Oil from your hands can block the pores of the egg. If enough pores are blocked, the egg dies.
Nothing tells me they are abandoned at this point. She doesn’t have to be in the box all day if the weather is warm. Further, three can be a complete clutch.
Don’t give up yet!
Gin
Atlanta, GA
