Geobirds ::

Seen by	jim macgregor
When	June 03, 2012 at 11:00
Details	COMMON (LARGE NUMBERS)
Notes	-for the last couple of days, I noticed a female trying to coax the last youngster from the nest; what I didn't know was that it had one leg securely attached to the nesting material (probably a strip of manufactured twine); today we noticed the young one hanging out with one leg stuck inside the nestbox; unfotunately the bird had twisted around so many times that the knee joint was just held by a tendon; I cut the tendon, with no bleeding and released the bird who got around quite well while being fed by the mother; later in the day we found the little one deceased; the lesson here is, it's a good idea to cleanout nestboxes or change nest material, to reduce parasite numbers and to prevent nest- over- nest construction, where material is compacted to such a degree, that loops of fiber actually become embedded in a compacted fiber base and act like a snare.
Weather	17C; sunny

Comments

Bird Lady of Aquitaine, Jun 4 2012

The poor sweetie. :*( Jim, there's a local Robin's nest here - had 2 babies that are now fledged - the whole family has taken off. Should I now remove the nest?

jim macgregor, Jun 4 2012

Robins tend to have 2-3 broods (April-July) and have been known to re-use nests; it's probably best to remove the nest once this time frame has expired. Let us know what happened with your nest.:o))