Babies 911 call

[superfly]

Junior keeps jumping out but can't fly. He's about 25 to 30 days old. His siblings have fledged. Other gourds will be fledging in a week or 2.

He first jumped 2 days ago at 4pm then hid in tall weed for 2 hours. The adults were swarming over the general area, but the weeds were too tall for me to search. Two hours later he found his way back to the short grass. I rescued him & returned him to his gourd.

One day ago he jumped at 8pm while I was outside watching. His parents were scolding him. When he stopped for a breath of fresh air, I picked him up and returned him to his home.

Today he has done it twice & I have returned him to his gourd.

I think his siblings & peers are trying to show him what to do but he is either stupid or just enjoying all the attention and the elevator ride I give him when I raise the housing up each time.


Should I change the entrance hole from round to SREH with a porch? Or will this just make it easier for him to play games?

It's a good thing I am not working today. There is a mean old squirel that comes around once in a while.

[Laverne]

Hello superfly.

Are his parents feeding him? Are the others that have fledged from this nest returning each night? Are there mites in the gourd?

It is possible his parents are enticing him to fledge - he simply isn't old enough, yet. He may have been the "runt" of the bunch and is lucky to be alive. The "runt" cannot compete with the other nestlings for food and is often underdeveloped. If he can't fly well - it is probably because his wing feathers are not quite long enough. He needs a couple of more days. This is not an uncommon occurrence.

If his parents are feeding him, and there are no mites in the nest, he should be fine. The next time you get your hands on him check his breast bone for muscle mass. He may be starving. Do you have any crickets? Do you know a rehabber?

I promise you this "not quite ready to fledge" nestling is not playing games with you. He would be dialing 911 if he could. He is fighting for his life and he could easily lose the battle without your help. I think he is worth it. Please let us know how he does...

I'm here to answer anymore questions you may have.

[superfly]

His parents are feeding him regularly. I am not sure if the others are spending the night in this nest or just an empty one in the same cluster. I know that all the nests have returning martins every night. Most often I see them all in the morning.

I'll check for mites and change the nesting material on his next leap. I'll also check the breast bone, but I don't think he is starving.

I did notice this last time he was on the ground there was 2 or 3 adults on the ground with him and the mother was on top of him (her legs straddled him), like she was trying to scold him. His maximum flight is about 6 inches off the ground for a couple of feet.

[Laverne]

I did notice this last time he was on the ground there was 2 or 3 adults on the ground with him and the mother was on top of him (her legs straddled him), like she was trying to scold him. His maximum flight is about 6 inches off the ground for a couple of feet.

His mother may be trying to protect him from the agressive attacks of bachelor SYs. Or, if you are seeing the bird that was straddling him attacking him - then, that is not his mother - it may actually be a bachelor SY Male. Poor little guy - he's having a very rough time of it. You see, since the rest of his nestmates have fledged, the parents have their hands full trying to keep the fledglings fed and safe and still try to feed and protect the one that is still nestbound. This may be the real reason he is on the ground. The bachelor SYs may be entering his unprotected nest cavity and attacking him which is causing him to flee the nest. I don't like that kind of behavior from the bachelor SYs. I have tried real hard to ignore it, hoping it would go away... Unfortunately, it doesn't - they are trying to break the pair bond between mates, hoping to get the female to mate with them. It's a last ditch effort this late in the season - but, this is when I have seen it the most.

The short hop flights just barely above the ground are a good sign. If he lives, he should be able to fly in a couple of days. Then, he can stay with his family unit in the sky where he belongs. Try to help him make it there.

Good luck to you and your little groundling...

[superfly]

Hello Laverne
6pm Thur June 30 He tried it again this time getting about 50 feet from Gourd before landing on the ground. I picked him up and changed out the entire nest with nice dry pine needles. Then put him back and raised up the housing. I found 2 skeletal remains of maybe 15 day olds in the old nest, so I think you were right on the mites being a problem.

Fri July 1, I saw entry & exits of the nest but never quite sure if it was the jumper.

Sat July 2 at noon I lowered the housing & found him gone. So now I am He is on wing with his friends.