Baby chickadee in a basket
Mommy or daddy chickadee feeding a chick
Baby chickadee in a baby burning bush.. trying to find higher ground
Little runt baby chickadee.. unable to fly and feeling left out : (
A while back Jason and I realized that the bird house we bought at Walgreens for $1.50 was being toured then fixed up by two black-capped chickadees. We watched them fly in and out building the nest for weeks. Then one day, about two weeks ago, we heard the high pitched chirps and squeaks of baby birds as the incredibly busy and faithful parents flew in and out of the nest ALL day long with insects for their brood.
To my horror, I looked outside yesterday morning and saw the birdhouse lying in our lawn amidst three soaking wet baby chickadees. I ran outside barefoot in the pouring sideways rain and tried to stuff one of the chicks back into the birdhouse... it promptly squawked at me and jumped out. I eventually stuffed the three chicks into a basket and put it under a tree. Turns out there were actually five chicks altogether. Two really strong ones who could fly about two feet off the ground, two who could fly about six inches off the ground, and one runt who couldn't do much of anything but squawk and shiver. They were all almost eaten by a cat that I had to chase off three times. But by last night, four chicks were up in trees and presumably safe.
The parents were soo great through this whole thing. They kept such good track of all the chicks and still went out hunting and finding bugs and bringing the grub down to the babies. They didn't seem to mind when I picked up the chicks to move them and gather them together. However, they went beserk when the neighbor's cat came around which gave enough warning for me to chase it off.
The runt chick (in the last photo) spent the night in our garden last night. It still couldn't fly, but its parents were faithfully feeding it. Since we both had to work today, Jason and I thought the best thing to do was to try and place the bird in a tree and away from cats. However, it just fell through the tree and landed in our neighbor's yard. We lost track of it and figured it probably didn't make it. When I got back from work today all the chickadees were gone. Our back yard is so quiet and lonely now! I think they all flew off together. I hope little runt got to fly with them too.. if not literally then in spirit. RIP, little runt! We miss you.
To my horror, I looked outside yesterday morning and saw the birdhouse lying in our lawn amidst three soaking wet baby chickadees. I ran outside barefoot in the pouring sideways rain and tried to stuff one of the chicks back into the birdhouse... it promptly squawked at me and jumped out. I eventually stuffed the three chicks into a basket and put it under a tree. Turns out there were actually five chicks altogether. Two really strong ones who could fly about two feet off the ground, two who could fly about six inches off the ground, and one runt who couldn't do much of anything but squawk and shiver. They were all almost eaten by a cat that I had to chase off three times. But by last night, four chicks were up in trees and presumably safe.
The parents were soo great through this whole thing. They kept such good track of all the chicks and still went out hunting and finding bugs and bringing the grub down to the babies. They didn't seem to mind when I picked up the chicks to move them and gather them together. However, they went beserk when the neighbor's cat came around which gave enough warning for me to chase it off.
The runt chick (in the last photo) spent the night in our garden last night. It still couldn't fly, but its parents were faithfully feeding it. Since we both had to work today, Jason and I thought the best thing to do was to try and place the bird in a tree and away from cats. However, it just fell through the tree and landed in our neighbor's yard. We lost track of it and figured it probably didn't make it. When I got back from work today all the chickadees were gone. Our back yard is so quiet and lonely now! I think they all flew off together. I hope little runt got to fly with them too.. if not literally then in spirit. RIP, little runt! We miss you.
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