Help for a song thrush?

[Rich_]

We have a song thrush nest in the garden. It looks as though one of the parents has been hit by a car on the busy road we live on unfortunately, as we found a dead one on the pavement a couple of hundred yards up the road yesterday, and there only seems to be one bird doing the feeding now, as we have not seen a second bird since.

The chicks look not far off fledging, so I got some maggots from the local tackle shop which the remaining bird has gratefuly accepted and is feeding them to the young ones. Obviously these are a natural food and the bird is capitalising on the abundance of them. Up to now it seems to have been feeding small worms (which I have also been putting in the pot with the maggots) to the chicks, would there be a limit to the amount of maggots I should feed it or will the bird naturally just use them to supliment a varied diet? I am also putting snails in the dish too which it is taking freely.

To be honest I am just thinking that if for the remaining few days the chicks will be in the nest, it will reduce the risk of the main road, if the bird is getting a food supply close at hand as thrushes, like the blackbird have a habit of flying low to the ground, and in this case getting fom garden to garden involves crossing a busy trunk toad.

[paulthomas]

My limited understanding is that maggots bred as fishing baid could potentially contain chemicals which may be harmful\to the birds and so are best avoided. Mealworms or Waxworms seem to be the preferred options if you're going to put out live food and may well attract a host of other birds too

[jezlee]

Yes, my understanding is that you shouldn't feed commercially-bred maggots to birds, Rich, but I'm sure the worms and snails are going down well with them ....

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

As long as the maggots are white then they should be fine, in my understanding its only the coloured ones that contain dye i wouldn't feed a large number of maggots to the birds, but a small number to help each day would be fine

[henrya]

I'm not sure feeding maggots to chicks is a good idea - maggots are pretty tough and may not be easy to digest. Mealworms might be better and I think some fish tackle shops sell them (and my local pet shop does).

henrya

[canonman]

Hi
You could buy some worms from the fishing shop they will be ok
Mick

[Alan]

Originally Posted by canonman

Hi
You could buy some worms from the fishing shop they will be ok
Mick

This is a good idea if you cant find some in compost heaps etc. The ones in tackleshops are usually called Brandlings/Redworms.

[Rich_]

I made sure that i used natural white maggots , being an angler I realised that the bronze and coloured maggots would be no good.

I notice the snail was only eaten by the adult and not given to the young and it doesn't now seem interested in the snails.

I might try the pet store for mealworms as the tackle shop hasn't any that's why I got the grubs.

We really want to see these young fledge now after watching the parents building the nest and incubating the eggs etc.

Do you think we also leave a copy of the green cross code with the food they will have time to learn it before they leave!!!?

[Marvin Africa]

It sounds crazy but...

If you have any bananas lying around Song Thrush will appreciate these. Just peel them and put them on the bird table.

[Rich_]

Had the first one out the nest this morning. We watched it's mother feeding it the mealworms we have been putting out.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Rich_

Had the first one out the nest this morning. We watched it's mother feeding it the mealworms we have been putting out.

Nice on Rich

Hey what's with the Jack Hargreaves avatar? (have I asked this before!!).

He was one of the good old guys. Loved 'Out of Town'

[Rich_]

I always liked to watch out of town when I came in from school, I have read his books. I always think his programmes showed the countryside and wildlife as it was in every aspect and that picture just seemed appropriate.
Someone thought it was me in the picture once and commented how much i looked like JH, but I am only old enough to remember him, honest