I have swallows in an out building who had chicks in about June. One has had a second lot of chicks that hatched about a week ago. I am assuming they won't be able to migrate so should I worry about them and is there anything I can do to help them survive the winter? I am posting a picture in June, I do hope they are swallows!!
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Helping my Swallows (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Floss
- Start date
Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:
They are swallows and the best that I can tell you is that I am sure they will handle their leaving the nest and moving on. Too often, we all try to get involved with Nature and it really is best to let Nature and the wildlife in it handle themselves and their activity. I sincerely appreciate your concern but I think it best that you just give them access to remove themselves from their nest by leaving the door open to your building so that they can move on.
They are swallows and the best that I can tell you is that I am sure they will handle their leaving the nest and moving on. Too often, we all try to get involved with Nature and it really is best to let Nature and the wildlife in it handle themselves and their activity. I sincerely appreciate your concern but I think it best that you just give them access to remove themselves from their nest by leaving the door open to your building so that they can move on.
MTem
Well-known member
They are Swallows indeed, and they only need about 2 weeks in the nest before fledging. Rest assured they still have plenty of time to migrate - some don't leave until late September. If they don't leave then there is nothing at all that you can do as they will not survive the winter no matter what you do. Birds like swallows are impossible to keep in captivity.
It seems harsh but these late broods are always a chance by the adults, and are sometimes abandoned if the urge to migrate becomes stronger than the urge to fledge the young.
Nature in action I'm afraid.
Mick
It seems harsh but these late broods are always a chance by the adults, and are sometimes abandoned if the urge to migrate becomes stronger than the urge to fledge the young.
Nature in action I'm afraid.
Mick
Hi Floss, Its good that you have asked for advice here hopefully my advice ties in with everyone else,s and that is is to leave them alone if the parents are still there feeding them they have a chance some broods are late in the year, I don,t usually witness this with hirundines because I,m not lucky enough to have them nesting on the doorstep or in the local area but strangely enough on the 2nd of september I was in east riding in yorkshire
And I was lucky enough to see house martins feeding their young in their nest how advanced the chicks were
I don,t know but a week or two,s difference if that is the case between yours and the martins is not critical so yes I think your swallows and the house martins will fledge ok, another month and that could have been a different story, but these should be fine, and a well taken photo to by the way.
Coal tit.
And I was lucky enough to see house martins feeding their young in their nest how advanced the chicks were
I don,t know but a week or two,s difference if that is the case between yours and the martins is not critical so yes I think your swallows and the house martins will fledge ok, another month and that could have been a different story, but these should be fine, and a well taken photo to by the way.
Coal tit.
Hi Floss and a warm welcome from me too.
Mick and Coal Tit are quite right and I can't add much to what they have said. They feed almost entirely on flying insects, so there's really nothing you can do to help them yourself. They could be around around until the end of October, depending on the weather.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.
Mick and Coal Tit are quite right and I can't add much to what they have said. They feed almost entirely on flying insects, so there's really nothing you can do to help them yourself. They could be around around until the end of October, depending on the weather.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.
Gosh, this is my second thank you as I seem to have lost the first. Thank you for all your help, I have cut a hole in the door so the birds can fly in and out without touching the sides. I will just leave them pray for a mild winter and hope they will survive. The photo was a nest on my snow shovel!
MTem
Well-known member
A mild winter won't help them I'm afraid - what's needed is a warm dry-ish spell of a week or more right now with plenty of flying insects so the adults can continue to feed them. Once they leave the nest they will leave pretty much straight away for Africa. Not sure what it's like where you are but here in the SE conditions are still good with plenty of insects about.
If it's cold and wet with little insect food to be had then the adults will probably leave them and migrate. If they do then there really is nothing you can do for them, I'm afraid.
Mick
Sorry, I should have said a mild Autumn or at least a good week before the end of October. Weather here is rainy but not cold with heaps of insects so they stand a chance although I have read that they don't build up their body weight before they fly off, I feel I should suggest this to them. They are a joy to have around. We also have woodpeckers, wrens, millions of sparrows, crows, pheasants (one with a club foot who has been here for a few years) and some that I need to identify. The pheasant are safe here. I do appreciate all the comments.
