Lisa is exactly right. At this stage, they are imprinted on their parents and usually will not take (nor digest) food from humans. The best thing you can do is leave them alone, but you might try to keep pets and children away for a few days to give them every chance of survival. Good luck! Marcia

Hi Linda A fledgling should completely shed its spots by the time it is 90 days old. I had one last year that completed the molt by the time she was 75 days. My birds hang around all winter and the adult male behaves just as yours does. He pecks at anyone, including the adult female, that dares try to eat before he is finished. Today is a sad day here. Papa has begun chasing the fledglings away prior to the start of this year's nesting season. He is guarding the nest box and the meal worm feeder and even a bowl of blueberries I put out for them. They apparently are hungry and every now and then one will sneak into the cage feeder where the meal worms are. Here is what happened when the adult female tried it a little while ago. Finally, she broke away with him pecking at her all the way out of the cage. As she flew up on the top of the feeder, he tried to get her again.. But the ironic thing is that in 2 or 3 weeks he will be bringing her meal worms. Hope you continue to feel stronger and have less pain. Dave

Sounds like you definately had a hawk visit, and by the way you described it I would guess a Coopers or a Sharpshinned hawk. You will learn the more you watch birds that there are different levels of threats. In my yard/area a cat is barely a concern. I think this is because there are so many different feeding areas here and so many pairs of bird eyes watching them. Basically my birds reaction to a cat is to move higher up in the tree if they are in the same area as the cat. Everyone else goes on feeding as usual I've also noticed that the birds have different reactions to different hawks. Harriors get no reaction. They fly the fields in search of mice and rabbits and the birds never react when they are in the area. A redtailed hawk will get them a bit more nervous if they actually come into the yard and perch in a tree. They stay in the area, stop eating, head for a tree or stay in the one they happen to be in, they are aware of the hawk but not very worried about being lunch. Kestrels (also known as sparrow hawks) are in the area often too. Most often the birds have no concern about them either. They seem to Know if the kestrel is hunting them or just after mice or grasshoppers. Coopers and Sharpies are deadly though. Mega repect from my birds. Like you described in your situation, everything goes silent and birds instantly dive for the deep cover. A yard full of birds can "disappear" in the blink of an eye. One thing that I have learned is to NOT go outside if I am aware that a cooper or sharpshinned hawk is there. I've had birds flush from trees because they saw me and the hawk will take advantage and pick that opportunity to attack.

Sounds like time well spent. Now let's hope that House Wren stays away. You haven't gone off the edge, just dedicated and doing the best you can. We have to make sure they accept the changes we make. Most of them learn pretty quickly. They do teach one another. I love to share this story from my backyard: An older female (with us for years) took a young male, probably his first adult year, as her new mate after her mate was lost. The nest was complete with eggs, and they both knew how to use the mealworm feeder. Evidently, he was ready to feed the youngsters already and kept taking beakfuls of mealworms to the nestbox, and dropping them on the eggs! Well, each time he did that, she would follow him, retrieve the mealworms from among the eggs, and return to the feeder to feed HIM! It was priceless. Eventually, he got the idea, and fed her. Many of us have seen their courting behavior, when the male feeds the female as she begs like a fledgling, wings all fluttering. But this was a first for me! BlueBars