Wild Feathers Bird Rescue, Plano TX

[dmcantrell]

There is a cardinal nest in my backyard. We've been watching the couple for weeks now, and the female has been spending almost all of her time sitting on the nest recently.

The problem is that we have two cats and three dogs and they have to share the backyard. When we let the dogs out, I see the male cardinal go a little berzerk and fly around the yard chirping. The female just sits silently on the nest. I watch the pets closely to make sure they aren't disturbing the birds.

Today I saw the female flying wildly around the yard making a lot of noise. This was concerning, since she normally just sits on the nest and the pets were inside. I went outside and see that two of the little baby birds had fallen out of the nest. One was dead, but one wasn't. It was still breathing and seemed fine. I went and got a ladder, picked up the live baby, and put it back in the nest. During all of this, the female was acting crazy! I went back inside and brought all the pets in. I watched her as she made sure it was safe, then flew down and investigated the dead baby on the ground. She pulled at its leg with her beak in an effort to stimulate it?

Anyway, after a bit she made her way back up to the nest and now she seems to be sitting on the nest again and everything seems to be back to normal.

Is this okay? I know there's an urban legend about touching baby birds, but I'm not certain how much truth it holds.

[J Eddington]

Some animals will not go back to their young if human scent is on them. I think in this case you are OK.

[dmcantrell]

UPDATE: Well this morning I went out to check on the nest and found the little baby cardinal on the ground again! I put it back in the nest again. A few hours later I went to check on it and it was on the ground -- again! The nest is in one of our crepe myrtles, and upon further inspection doesn't seem very well built. The nest is kind of lop-sided, and the tree itself moves quite violently in the wind (which is ALWAYS blowing in Frisco). So I scooped up the baby bird and took it to Wild Feathers Bird Rescue in Plano.

What's sad is that now the male and female cardinals are flying around the yard chirping. They keep flying back and forth to the nest and to the ground where the baby was. I feel like there was little chance of the baby surviving on the ground like that.

Wild Feathers Bird Rescue

Ah well, it seems to be in good hands now.

[gardener]

One of the remaining chicks didn't look a lot bigger or "different" did it? Cowbirds (among a very few others) will frequently lay an egg or eggs in the nest of an unrelated bird species and then go off to let the nesting species feed and take care of their cowbird young when they hatch... an example of absentee parenting if you will.
The only reason I even bring this up is because the cowbird (or other) chick will usually shove the native and smaller chicks out of the nest to gain the food advantage. In these cases, momma and daddy nest pair don't see the difference and keep feeding the alien chick just like they would their own chicks but at some point, the alien chick grows much faster and bigger to the detriment of the native chicks.
Just a thought to check out... or... it could be just as you said in that the nest building and nest location just weren't tip top choices for that pair of Cardinals this season.

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by gardener

One of the remaining chicks didn't look a lot bigger or "different" did it? Cowbirds (among a very few others) will frequently lay an egg or eggs in the nest of an unrelated bird species and then go off to let the nesting species feed and take care of their cowbird young when they hatch... an example of absentee parenting if you will.
The only reason I even bring this up is because the cowbird (or other) chick will usually shove the native and smaller chicks out of the nest to gain the food advantage. In these cases, momma and daddy nest pair don't see the difference and keep feeding the alien chick just like they would their own chicks but at some point, the alien chick grows much faster and bigger to the detriment of the native chicks.
Just a thought to check out... or... it could be just as you said in that the nest building and nest location just weren't tip top choices for that pair of Cardinals this season.

Wow, I hadn't heard of this. I can't see into the nest to confirm though -- it is way over my head even when I'm up on the ladder. The chick that I found today looked exactly like the chick that I found dead yesterday -- exact same size and everything. But I guess if the cowbird chick is pushing the other ones out I'd only find the cardinal chicks on the ground.

Anyway, I'm kind of conflicted by this event. On one hand, I feel like we helped save a little baby bird that probably wouldn't have survived on its own. On the other hand, by stepping in on nature, maybe we have continued a particular branch of the cardinal family tree that was breeding mothers who chose bad nest locations or build crappy nests. Maybe this was nature's way of eliminating a family of cardinals that were destined to be poor parents and we have interfered in this.

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

Wow, I hadn't heard of this.

Cuckoos do this, too. The movie, "Village of the Damned," comes from a book, titled, "The Norwich Cuckoos." It is exactly this idea of the changeling taking over its host's nest that is meant in the title and reflected in the movie.

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

Anyway, I'm kind of conflicted by this event. On one hand, I feel like we helped save a little baby bird that probably wouldn't have survived on its own. On the other hand, by stepping in on nature, maybe we have continued a particular branch of the cardinal family tree that was breeding mothers who chose bad nest locations or build crappy nests. Maybe this was nature's way of eliminating a family of cardinals that were destined to be poor parents and we have interfered in this.

Don't worry. Nature will have more than ample opportunity to correct your interference in upcoming years. If these birds can't build good nests due to bad genes, they aren't going to start surviving just because you rescued one of them.

[Howard Barlow]

Have you ever seen a momma dog scoot the runt out, only to do it every time you put it back. She knows things we don't know. We see it one way, nature talks to her in a different voice. For the most part, in such things, we are merely spectators.

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Have you ever seen a momma dog scoot the runt out, only to do it every time you put it back. She knows things we don't know. We see it one way, nature talks to her in a different voice. For the most part, in such things, we are merely spectators.

Yeah, I've seen that. In this case both of her chicks ended up on the ground, and she was flying down to them. I don't think there are any more chicks in the nest, but I could be wrong because I can't see up there very well. Ah well.

[KobraCarry]

Be happy you don't have my crazy Siberian Huskey. More baby birds fall prey to him than you want to know. He's all about enforcing survival of the fittest.

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by KobraCarry

Be happy you don't have my crazy Siberian Huskey. More baby birds fall prey to him than you want to know. He's all about enforcing survival of the fittest.

Ha, we have two Vizslas. One plucks doves right out of the air. I guess that teaches the remaining doves not to fly too low over our yard. I discovered this baby bird situation before the dogs did though.

Side note : This is the second time that I've questioned the wild species' decision making process for home-building. We had a family of rabbits that made their nest in the yard where TWO LARGE HUNTING DOGS LIVE. Now, these cardinals chose a yard that is home to TWO LARGE HUNTING DOGS AND TWO STEALTHY CATS.

[dmcantrell]

Here's the photos of the family

[dmcantrell]

Well, today I found the nest on the ground -- it had fallen victim to the wind. Perhaps the female has learned her lesson and will make her nest in an oak next time. ;)

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by gardener

chick will usually shove the native and smaller chicks out of the nest to gain the food advantage.

This was just on an episode on the Animal Planet. The something something Cuckoo bird lays their eggs in the nests of the something something warblers. When the eggs hatch, the cuckoo chick shoves the rest out of the nest.