paralleluniversenight
Member
I have been observing a pair of magpies from my flat for some time, and noticed earlier this year that they were building a nest in a cherry blossom tree just by the side of the road. I don't have my own garden so can't feed the birds as I'd like, but since late May I started leaving out some blueberries and peanuts on my windowsill as a treat, and the magpies soon learned to collect them.
Yet for the past few weeks they don't visit the windowsill as frequently, if at all. They seem to visit early morning and that's it.
Since Monday I noticed there was a magpie chick in the bushes below my window. It was difficult to tell how old it was, though it didn't seem to be able to fly. I witnessed the parent feeding the chick and fly off again, and yesterday evening the chick was calling out but I didn't see the parents attend to it at that time.
On my way to work and back again I looked out for the chick in the bushes but saw nothing. Yet around 7pm it was out the front again calling. It was bobbing up and down the steps to my building and fluttering its wings, but wasn't able to take off.
Unfortunately this chick bobbed very quickly into the road and was hit by a car. I ran out to it and waited for a gap in traffic to pick it up, and I took it back to the bushes and laid it there. I heard the adult magpies calling above me, but despite this they have not been to the chick. I saw one of the adults in a tree in the central reservation, and it was tearing leaves off the branches but that is the last I saw of it tonight.
I am utterly distraught as I have become quite attached to these birds, and was really rooting for this little chick. I am not sure if I did the right thing in retrieving it from the road, but my concern was that the adults might have gone to it in the road, and as I live on a busy main road I was worried they would also be hit.
I'm worried this is the only chick they had, and wonder why the parents seemed quite inattentive to it.
I've attached a screenshot of the chick from a video I took - sorry for the poor quality, but it's just to demonstrate its size.
Any thoughts and insight welcome, this was really upsetting to witness.
Yet for the past few weeks they don't visit the windowsill as frequently, if at all. They seem to visit early morning and that's it.
Since Monday I noticed there was a magpie chick in the bushes below my window. It was difficult to tell how old it was, though it didn't seem to be able to fly. I witnessed the parent feeding the chick and fly off again, and yesterday evening the chick was calling out but I didn't see the parents attend to it at that time.
On my way to work and back again I looked out for the chick in the bushes but saw nothing. Yet around 7pm it was out the front again calling. It was bobbing up and down the steps to my building and fluttering its wings, but wasn't able to take off.
Unfortunately this chick bobbed very quickly into the road and was hit by a car. I ran out to it and waited for a gap in traffic to pick it up, and I took it back to the bushes and laid it there. I heard the adult magpies calling above me, but despite this they have not been to the chick. I saw one of the adults in a tree in the central reservation, and it was tearing leaves off the branches but that is the last I saw of it tonight.
I am utterly distraught as I have become quite attached to these birds, and was really rooting for this little chick. I am not sure if I did the right thing in retrieving it from the road, but my concern was that the adults might have gone to it in the road, and as I live on a busy main road I was worried they would also be hit.
I'm worried this is the only chick they had, and wonder why the parents seemed quite inattentive to it.
I've attached a screenshot of the chick from a video I took - sorry for the poor quality, but it's just to demonstrate its size.
Any thoughts and insight welcome, this was really upsetting to witness.
