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Baby Eastern Phoebes are gone?

13 years ago

This Month we had an Eastern Phoebe make a nest and hatched 4 babies in our awning 4 days ago. We thought this was great. We did what we could to give them privacy, but we did put a mirror up to the nest a couple of times to see the babies until they were big enough to stick out. The Mom would even stay in the nest while we slowly opened the door at night to let the dogs out to go the bathroom. This morning my son looked up for them and all of them are missing and Mom and Dad are not around either. We have not seen any predators around and all four babies were doing great. The nest is still intact with no disturbance at all. My question is will the Mom or Dad move the babies for some reason?

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Comments (3)

Elly_NJ
13 years ago
They can't move babies. It seems something happened to take them. So sorry.
lisa11310
13 years ago
Thats so sad. Snakes, Racoons, Owl, Cat, even other birds. It may have been something that prowls at night since you have not seen anything. I have nest boxes and I can protect those birds to some extent but the open nesters are on their own. It is nature and it's not always pretty.
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There are several little beaks bobbing and weaving in the nest. Mother and Father Phoebe are feeding them together. One of the parents--looked like Father Phoebe--served up a bug with its wings still on. Father Phoebe was working with the bug for some time. When he delivered it, the bug's body was facing towards Baby Phoebe. Baby Phoebe gulped it down with no complaints. Both parents stand together on the stamped concrete under the deck. They constantly scour the walls of the house for bugs. Now and then, they go up to the nest for a look-see. I haven't figured that out. Maybe looking for fecal sacs? Anyway, I can gawk all I want at this little family and they cannot see me.
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I have the same situation. Today I checked on the nest only to find a dead baby hanging from the side of the nest. I removed it and then waited out of sight to see when the parents might return. I've seen no sign of them for several hours. The two remaining babies are calling and calling. They too should be leaving the nest soon (although they still look young to me). do I dare try to feed them on my own??
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We had a phoebe build her nest on a security light above our deck, and after finding 3 or 4 nestlings that had fallen prematurely from the nest to their deaths on the hard deck below, we put an extra dog bed (large size!) underneath the nest, and sure enough, the next day I found a live nestling on the dog bed. I couldn't reach the original nest, but put a last years' nest in a margarine container, put the nestling into it, and pushpinned the margarine dish into our wood siding about 2 ft below the original nest on the security light, which still had 2 nestlings in it. Mama fed the rescued nestling in its improvised nest along with the rest of the babies, and I was fortunate enough to see it fledge a week or so later. So my suggestion: find something large & cushiony and put it below your phoebe's nest. :)
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I haven't seen an E Phoebe in many years, but this bird 'feels like' a phoebe to me. Something in the posture, and two spread-tailed shots. -O-
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Konrad___far_north
13 years ago
Agree,
It's still early in the season and hopefully they can start over again
somewhere more protected.
Konrad

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