Baby Birds - Protection from Magpies
By bananamanuk
@bananamanuk (835)
May 21, 2007 1:15pm CST
In my garden I have a bird box for blue t i ts, we've had the box for over 15 years and year in year out there is a nesting pair. It is truly amazing to watch the tiny little colourful birds going about their business, since early May i've watched the male bird sitting in the tree calling for a mate. He got one but she got bored, for days he sat there singing his little heart out, and then a female accepted him and almost the next day he started collecting moss to build the nest whilst she looked on from the tree branch.
It went quiet for a few days and then in the past couple of weeks the pair of them have been in and out feeding the babies. I can hear them tweeting in the box, there's a good brood. The adult pair work so hard, literally from first light to dusk they fly back and forth collecting food.
Well this past weekend we had a real shock, I was sat here at my pc and I heard the blue t its calling at one another, and then the calls went in to the 'we know there's a danger' mode. Before I could see what it was, I heard what I can only describe as a scream and I saw a Magpie fly over my bedroom window to the roof. I raced downstairs and looked up to see the horrible thing was ripping the feathers out of a blue t i t eating it. The others were really squawking at it but it did no good the blue ti t was dead. I tried throwing some mud up to the roof to scare the magpie but it was too late.
I don't know what blue t it it got, if it was one of ours or not, the babies are too young and haven't started looking out of the hole in the box yet and the two adults are still around feeding them.
But now, my whole family are so protective of the little blue t i ts, since the weekend every time we hear their alarm calls we're out in the garden to scare off the Magpie, crow or Jay.
I know it's nature, and I know the others may well have babies of their own to feed, and I am totally rational, but I just think the Blue t i ts are so small and work so hard but they have no defence.
How can we do more to protect them from Magpies and Jays? I have been taking a "picture diary" of the blue ti ts since nest building and I want to finish that when the babies fly. I am kind of hoping that happens sooner than later I don't know how much more I can take.. and just as i type this, their alarm calls are going again.
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