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Originally Posted by Snadger  Well, there appears to be three huge chicks in the nest. I always think of chicks squarking for food but as soon as I enter the shed there is no movement and no noise......even though I've bumped into the parents now and again! 
I aint no ornathologist but I would imagine this demeanour has evolved/ ie noisy moving chicks get eaten by predators whereas still quite chicks live to perpetuate the species!
Anyone know,do both blackbird parents administer to the young as I'm sure I've seen him and her at the nest?  Also once they've gone, would they use the same nest again next year? |
The do learn to keep quiet from an early age Snadger. Last year, Mr Flum was cutting our hedge in June after having checked that there were no active nest in there. He was making his way along with this massive hedge trimmer when he noticed only a couple of feet ahead of him, a little pair of eyes watching him. When the young are first fledged, the parents stash them in various 'safe' places - one is usually under my bay tree outside the back door - and take food to them for a few more days till they are better at flying. This little chap had been plonked in the hedge my Mum or Dad and told to behave while they went off for food. Himself did all the hedge but the last couple of feet until next day, when Young'un had gone.
Both parents feed the young too. They are very attentive parents. By the end of the season, when they can have raised 3 broods sometimes, they both look really raddled and disappear for a few weeks. They usually come to the back door for scraps but not at this time. They must be out building up their strength somewhere! Endlessly fascinating, birds.