Will they survive ?

[squeek]

a bad day today, one male blackbird was taken by a male sparrow hawk, i was in shock !

i would like to know would the blackbirds babies now be fed by the mum, or does he do all the feeding ?

i have seen many b/bird dads collecting food and taking it to their nests.
i dont know if the mum b/b goes out to get food or not, as i have not seen any do this.

hope someone out there knows the answer.

[aeshna5]

The mother will continue to feed them, but is much harder for a single parent to cope, so the brood may be less successful than with both parents, but no guarentees either way.

[valleyforge]

It's always shocking to be confronted by the realities of nature ... but then again, the sparrowhawk possibly has young to feed too.

Once the eggs have hatched the hen bird doesn't need to be there continuously and both parents will share the task of finding and fetching food for the nestlings.

If one parent is killed before the brood has fledged, then it will depend how easily the remaining bird can source food that determines if all the youngsters survive.

At this time of year, the brood should have already fledged or be very close to leaving the nest ... if they become over hungry they may be inclined to leave the nest early.

Best thing you could do is to provide the remaining parent with a reliable supply of suitable food (and water) for the youngsters.

[Jenny W]

Yeah, it will depend on the availability of food for the remaining parent to provide them with and also to a certain extent, the age and experience of the female bird.

It's a possibility the female may already be incubating another brood - I believe they can start on further broods before the previous chicks have become completely independent from the parents, in which case they are fed by the male - if this is the case then they are unlikely to survive. Is she feeding them?

[squeek]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

It's always shocking to be confronted by the realities of nature ... but then again, the sparrowhawk possibly has young to feed too.

Once the eggs have hatched the hen bird doesn't need to be there continuously and both parents will share the task of finding and fetching food for the nestlings.

If one parent is killed before the brood has fledged, then it will depend how easily the remaining bird can source food that determines if all the youngsters survive.

At this time of year, the brood should have already fledged or be very close to leaving the nest ... if they become over hungry they may be inclined to leave the nest early.

Best thing you could do is to provide the remaining parent with a reliable supply of suitable food (and water) for the youngsters.

yes i know they have to survive too. but it can go elsewhere, i dont want to see this taking place, i got discs and a rapture globe to deter the hawks, now i got a garden full of foil, just hope that works. and yes we feed/water our garden wildlife so hopefully they will survive then.

[squeek]

thanks for all replies.

Jenny w, i dont know .
if we new where the nest was we may be able to help, but we have quite a few b/birds, so dont know.


i did see a b/b fly from that area shortly after, and i'd like to think it got away, but its probably just wishful thinking.

[aland]

Hi, nature does appear to have its horrible bits , but you know us humans are every bit as bad, the bulk of us are hypocrites, i love any animal but i love beef, lamb, chicken etc, I panic like hell when a sparrow hawk takes one of my garden birds or when one of my cats brings home a mouse or vole but it is all life or nature, aland.
p/s i mean i am the hypocrite not you!!!!!.