On Thursday morning as we’re getting ready for work and school, Sarah suddenly declares that the baby birds are gone. Of course I didn’t believe her, as if suddenly the 6″ nest could’ve grown corners and the babies were huddled in them, out of sight. But alas, her pronouncement was true – not a baby bird to be seen. They were there on Wednesday evening so what could’ve transpired over night? With a sinking heart, I googled on the topic and the answer came back thus:
“Unfortunately, nest success rates for open-cup nesting songbirds are extremely low, ranging from about 15-40% depending on the species and location. A variety of things prey on eggs and nestlings including snakes, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, jays, crows, ravens, shrikes, kestrels, etc. The list is daunting and hence the reason why so many open-cup nesting birds try to raise 2-3 broods a year. The nestlings were undoubtedly predated. ”
So boo friggin’ hoo. We have the cutest red squirrel couple living in the yard. They are smaller than the grey version and as such, can squeeze through the cage protection of my not so squirrel proof bird feeder. I have been smiling benignly on this as I remember as a kid, Mum telling me that the trees used to be full of red squirrels until thuggish grey ones came over from the USA, beat them up and pushed them out of the trees. Now I am going to have to go out and see if they have baby bird breath.
So now we literally have empty nest syndrome – sorry to be so corny! In their memory, below are a couple of pictures from the internet showing what they would look like today if they were still alive.
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