Fledglings on my inner city balcony...

[Brixtonian]

hello

I live in the middle of London, fortunately in a relatively cat-free zone, so what with that and the volcanic ash, I have been enjoying the birdsong. Yesterday I spotted a pair of fairly hefty fledglings nesting, or at least sheltering behind my strawberry pots on my 1st floor terrace.

At first I thought they were thrushes but now I am not sure - can anyone enlightening me, please?

I saw a parent bird feeding them yesterday, and i have left out a saucer of water. they seem pretty active and run around and hop impressively, and they seem well fed, so i am inclined just to leave them to it.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

John

[Simples]

If the parents are feeding them I would stay well away and leave them to it. I can't see the whole bird but looks like a Blackbird to me. Could be a Starling - much shorter tail of course.

If you want to help, put some mealworms out where the adult will find them - live ones, or dried ones soaked for 30 mins in very hot water (allowed to cool of course) as both Blackbirds and Starlings love them.

[valleyforge]

Hi there Brixtonian.

This looks very much like a fledgling blackbird ... young thrushes do look somewhat similar, but of course your biggest clue is in observing the appearance of the parents.

Thrushes of either sex have brown backs and obviously spotted/specked breasts, whilst male backbirds are of course black, with distinctive yellow beaks ... female blackbirds are overall brown coloured. Hope this helps.

Nothing much more you need do really, as it looks like that's a nice safe place for the youngsters at this stage in their development. They'll wander off further though once they can fly a little stronger and will more closely follow their parents around on the ground.

Blackbirds particularly enjoy boiled/mashed potato and meat (not fish) based cat food if you'd care to put out a small quantity of that for them ...

[Brixtonian]

Thanks for the suggestions - and I like the tip about mashed potato! I will go out for a walk (as I can't sit on my balcony...) and try and track down some meal worms in the market...

John

[Cowgirl]

They also go mad for soaked sultanas! Are these ok for the parents feeding to young? Mine will start hatching soon I think & I don't want to put out the wrong things.

[valleyforge]

Incidentally, the normal blackbird brood is 4 ... so possibly the other two are still in the nest, or more likely the other parent is tending to the other youngsters elsewhere.

It's not unusual for them to share the load like that, and some seperation does provide them a greater chance of survival from predators than if they were altogether.

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

They also go mad for soaked sultanas! Are these ok for the parents feeding to young? Mine will start hatching soon I think & I don't want to put out the wrong things.

They should be fine for young blackbirds or thrushes Cowgirl. The only concern with feeding sultanas, raisins or currents on a bird feeder, particularly ground feeders, is to ensure your dog can't get access to them ... they can contribute to kidney failure in canines.

[Simples]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

They also go mad for soaked sultanas! Are these ok for the parents feeding to young? Mine will start hatching soon I think & I don't want to put out the wrong things.

I'd be careful they aren't too big as young birds gulp things down quickly and a large sultana might take a while to digest

[Cowgirl]

OK I'll maybe swap to small raisins then thanks

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

They should be fine for young blackbirds or thrushes Cowgirl. The only concern with feeding sultanas, raisins or currents on a bird feeder, particularly ground feeders, is to ensure your dog can't get access to them ... they can contribute to kidney failure in canines.

Oh missed this post valley forge, thank you, didn't know that. Luckily I have fenced off the bird feeding area as my two louts will eat anything but I do occasionally give them one if they are being good (like not barking their heads off when the neighbors go past ), only occasionally, but better safe than sorry. Will stop that now.