blueyes29
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:00:01 PM
Hi...A pair of barn swallows has made a next in my entryway. Their one remaining chick has fallen out and is now on my front porch. He's pretty big and has some fuzzy down and feathers. Should I put him back in the nest or just leave him where he is? It's really hot here...maybe spritz him with my plant spritzer? The parents have been flitting around feeding him and all and I want to do the right thing...Your advice is greatly appreciated!
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rawbunzel
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:14:35 PM
Put him back in the nest.If he can't fly he will be safer there. He may fall out again as the parents might be trying to get him to fly but if he is on the ground it is a lot harder for him to take off.By the way it is not true that if they smell humans on them the parents will not feed them. I put babies back in their nest all the time and the parents always continue taking care of them.
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blueyes29
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:26:32 PM
Thanks for the advice...Just went out and put the little chick back...Hope it all works out. Now...another question. At first, I was delighted to see that the birds had nested...looked forward to seeing little babies fly and such. Well...it's not Disney World out there...One egg fell out and, after that, two teensy little chicks fell out and perished. It's NOT so much fun scooping up little dead babies from my front porch...and did I mention the pile of bird poop? So...my next question is: Is there anything I can do to keep these birds from building another nest in my entryway? After this family has "flown the coop", should I tear the current nest down? Birds should nest in TREES! Thanks again...
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rawbunzel
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:32:15 PM
Swallows are very messy nesters. You will have to clean out the old nest when they leave but also find a way to block them from nesting there again. They tend to like to nest in the same place over and over.They can be hard to discourage and they love eaves.If it is a place that you can cover with wire or mesh of some sort that will do it. If that is not an option you could call the audubon society in your area and they can probably give you more remedies. Good luck!
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inside
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:34:46 PM
I solved the bird nesting on our porch problem with a plastic yard chipmunk. Put the life like looking little critter where the nest was. It was good for laughs the first few weeks. The birds kept flying up and fussing but that old chipmunk just sat there. Finally the birds gave up and moved away.
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blueyes29
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posted on July 17, 2001 04:39:01 PM
Good suggestions...THANKS! I may try BOTH the mest and a mean looking garden critter. It's time these two birds go looking for a more up-scale abode!
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anthro1966
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posted on July 17, 2001 05:31:24 PM
Barn swallows will almost always attempt to re-use the same nest. Once you have removed it, you can place a plastic owl (a lot of agricultural/garden places sell them) near it and it will typically scare them off.
P.S. The other poster was correct about the smell of your hands not bothering the adults. Birds (except possibly vultures) do not have a sense of smell.
You will almost always unfortunately find small birds out of the nest. Natural selection. Typically there are more young that the adults can care for; the largest young push the smaller ones out, thereby increasing the likelihood of passing the best genes on to the next generation.
Sorry for the natural history lesson. I took way too much wildlife biology in college.
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reamond
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posted on July 17, 2001 07:59:06 PM
The baby bird may not even be a Swallow from what you have described.
If you have Cow Birds there, the female Cow Bird will lay its egg in anothers bird's nest, and the hatchling Cow Bird will shove the other eggs and/or chicks out. It may have fallen out of the nest due to its size.
We have a pair of Cow Birds here at our feeder every year, and I always wonder which other specie will be the unwitting parents to the pair's offspring each season.
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krs
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posted on July 18, 2001 02:18:44 AM
Rawbunz said:
"By the way it is not true that if they smell humans on them the parents will not feed them. I put babies back in their nest all the time and the parents always continue taking care of them".
Ummm, this does not necessarily prove the point.
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rawbunzel
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posted on July 18, 2001 10:12:03 AM
Of course it does KRS. I always spritz myself real well with Eau De Toilette ~ "Human" before I put a baby back in it's nest.That disguises my true self .
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vogeldanl
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posted on July 21, 2001 02:40:30 PM
How did they get their name?
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