Should I clean out the box or leave it be?

Ellecor · #1 (**permalink**) 26-05-2009, 08:54 PM

Further to my thread yesterday about finding a blue tit chick and putting it back in the nesting box (parents were killed by local cats and chick had not been fed for a couple of days), I haven't seen the chick and I'm pretty sure it died during the night.

I have no way of knowing if it is dead in the box or whether it made another attempt to fly and was captured by the cats. I will need to unscrew the box and take the whole thing down.

Should I take the box down to remove any possible dead chicks and clean it out or just leave it be?

I'm feeling really sad because I think I should have brought the chick into the house yesterday and hand fed it, rather than let someone put it back into the nesting box with other possible dead chicks.

wellies101 · #2 (**permalink**) 26-05-2009, 09:50 PM

Depends on how developed the chick was? It will probably have a bad ending even if the chick is able to fly it may have difficulty finding food. If not and is in the box then will probably have starved.

If parents have died I'd be tempted to stick my head in and have a look. If dead there's nothing you can do, if alive you may be able to rear it yourself or better again, take to a wildlife hospital.

However, you could argue this is nature and maybe we shouldn't get involved?

Elizabeth B · #3 (**permalink**) 27-05-2009, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellecor

Should I take the box down to remove any possible dead chicks and clean it out or just leave it be?

According to the RSPB:

Tits and the law
Blue and great tits and their nests are fully protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird. It is an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy eggs, young or nest of any tit whilst it is being built or in use. Nestboxes can be cleared out only between August and January (any infertile eggs remaining must be destroyed).

This is from one of their information leaflets - they gave us permission to show all of it on our bluetit website:
http://www.biggonline.co.uk/BlueAndG...ts2-shrink.pdf