Help, blackbird advice!!

[Trev Rich]

Ok my mother just phoned to say that the nest of baby blackbirds in her hedge is now empty, and both parents are flying around the garden goin mental, very frantic, and making masses of noise.
Is this normal?

[Matt Sayle]

The babys have proberly just gone out on there first flight! We had blue tits in our house nesting. On sunday they went out. Me and my sister went to the shop and found a baby blue tit stuck in her windscreen wiper!! I shouted 'bird' 'BIRD' too which my sister turned her windscreen wiper on and the little thing had ride!! Luckly it survived and my dad re-united with its mum :D

[dafmeister]

CAT HAS PROBABLY HAD THE CHICKS,

[Trev Rich]

cheers :)
Think I'll just tell the mother the first reply.... haha...

[CT]

It's a dangerous time for fledglings and there are a few possibilities as to what's happened.

From the time the young are old enough to squawk for food they give away the position of the nest, so become vunerable to Magpies and other predators, and of course when they make their first tentative solo flights from the nest they're at risk from predators again. The mortality rate is high.

It's not unusual either for the young to either fall from the nest or be unable to get back from their first flight. It's not all bad news though, these young will often take cover and the parents will feed them where they are. A good percentage of these young will probably survive.

All you can really do is let nature take it's course.

[simonkit]

Had a similar situation here with starlings, there was about 20 of them going mental - turns out the magpies had been in one of the nests

simon

[Yv]

We got plenty of fledged starlings on the feeders atm but no signs of the blackbirds, mum and dad are still gathering food like mad, but its not beyond feasibility that they have taken flights. Such is nature, whatever has happened

[CT]

With all the rain the last few days, it's a bad time for fledglings, the adult birds are searching for food in a real frenzied fashion in the garden this morning it must be very difficult for them.

[Trev Rich]

The nest is very high up in the hedge, I can't see the cat getting up there.
But she did say there ws a magpie about when the birds were going mental.
Bless my mum, it really stressed her out.