Those photos are so COOL..and it's great you don't have a cat around to kill the fledglings (or try..Mockers dive-bomb) and that you're able to get photos without disturbing them

I agree they look pretty small and the 3rd has no tail at all. Im so glad to see the one that was on its back got on it's feet! You seem to have shrubs for them to hide in. I guess you get to be the bird police for the next week and keep all things harmful away from them the best you can...good luck, I will say little baby birdy prayers!

Yes, I'm trying to watch for them when I can, but I can't be there all the time. One began to wander toward the street, and I shooed it into the cover of my day lillies, and it later hopped across the lawn and into the shrubs near the nest. The parents aren't too harsh toward me -- no dive-bombing, just some scolding. I think they can see that I am watching the fledgelings without getting too close. One seems more nervous than the other.

Sadly, I must report that #2 has died. He looks like some other bird attacked it. None of our immediate neighbors, nor us, have cats, but I occasionally see a cat touring the neighborhood, and I always chase him off. But I don't think he was the culprit here. Some neighbors have dogs, but they keep them controlled.

I think I'll be worried for about a week until they learn to fly.

ooohhh Im so sorry, I just lost some TRES babies on flegde day myself so I know how it hurts. Do you posibly have some burlap or other material that could be steaked around the bush that they cant get under but could fly out of when they are ready or is the bush too large?

James, I am sorry to hear that one was lost but I'd imagine it happens all the time. I'm sure that's why they have as many babies as they do in a single season..... hoping that at least a few will make it to adulthood.

There are times I'd love to put them in a big cage till they're ready to fly! I know, I know...... I can't!

Rachel, I'm happy that you think my "photos are so COOL". I take that as an honor since I admire your photography so much.

Lisa, I thought about putting something around the bushes, but it wouldn't keep a cat out, and as for wandering, the parents seem to have things under control. The bigger one, #1, is lately staying on the ground under the shrubs, although he may have spent the night in one of the shrubs. The parents apparently have coaxed #2, which is smaller and has some down fluffing out between his juvenile feathers, up into one of the shrubs. The parents approach the youngsters from above. I think if they approached from the side, the youngsters would be more inclined to wander horizontally to go look for Mama or Papa.

I notice the parents often makes sounds like their young when away from them, probably to confuse predators. Mostly it's a short "chip", but sometimes a higher-pitched and more sustained "eeeeeeeeee". I think the "chip" means "I'm here", and the "eeeeeeeeee" means "pleeeease feed me" or "feed me more". I hace a good ear for locating sounds, and the "chip" is focused, but the "eeeeeeeeee" sounds fuzzy direction-wise, and seems to be a sound of frustration or pleading.

Have any one noticed that most birds, and even squirrels, make some kind of harsh sound when they want to chase others away? It seems universal. I make that kind of sound when I chase the cat away.

James:

Birds 1 and 3 look fine to me. Maybe #2 was hurt when it jumped from the nest. By now, you may have learned that mockingbird parents watch from front and back. They and other nearby mockingbirds also may work as a team against danger.

Within a few days, the fledglings will be in the trees. Sometimes they scurry in different directions. Other times they stick together. I had three together last year. The year before, they scurried in different directions. They shout their one-note chirp probably to alert the parents of their wherabouts. They do move around by hop and flight. If you listen, you may hear these chirps for up to a month. Last year, the chirps were coming from everyhere here.

Be alert to any parent mockingbird staring at you and repeatedly giving you a 1-note squawk. If you hear it, follow the parent. They may want you to assist with danger. Believe me, one sought my help with a cat and I was all too happy to help.

I've seen that you experienced a mockingbird rule: That is, you are not to watch a parent feed a chick. You can turn around and that will satisfy the parent. Its funny, but its a mockingbird rule.

This week, I saw a mockingbird building a nest in a shrub. I had to weed and mulch there that day. Before I approached the nest area, mom flew to a small tree and let me know about her concerns with her rasping voice. I talked gently back to her and she flew off. I know she, and possibly her mate, was/were watching me work around the nest. I finished as quickly as I could without looking towards the nest. That satisfied her and she went back to building after I was done.

The next day, I was weeding and mulching about 30 feet away. Mom started hopping towards me. I thought she was going to help me weed. Then, within a few feet of me, she found a nice juicy bug and took off.

If you see crows around, especially on the ground, you will probably hear the mockingbirds rasping. Approach the crows on the ground until they take off. That will further help your relationship with the mockingbirds. Once you have gained their confidence, they will keep coming back to nest. And you will always here those 1-note chirp from the fledglings.

Thanks, chescobob, for the extensive advice and anecdotes. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who like to figure out the behavior of birds.

I'm not sure what you mean by "watch from front and back". Each parent watch the kids from opposite directions? Also, is the "1-note squawk" the same as the "rasping" sound?

Sometimes I worry that the parents are spending more time with one fledgling more than the other. I could be wrong, and I hope so. Maybe the bigger on is getting self-feeding lessons, and the smaller one is just getting fed while it hides near the nest.

One was under the shrubs earlier in the day, and later, under the peony bush and day lillies, where bugs are more easily found,I think. And when I found worms in the garden, I was throwing them under the shrubs! (BTW, I now have 14 out of about 40 of my day lilly varieties blooming now.)

My neighbor was beginning to mow her lawn, and I told her about the mocking bird fledgelings "just in case you might see one". She told me she had already found one on her lawn, and "I put it under your bird feeders where there was seed to eat".

We had company for the 4th, but when they were watching a video that I'd already seen, I went out to check on the fledgelings. I saw the parents, but hadn't located the fledgelings, and the parents were chirping like the young. Then all of a sudden that cat I occasionally see appeared, and I ran after it clapping and barking like a dog. It was fortunate that I had gone outside just a minute before. The parents hadn't made any alert sounds, so I think I must have been the first to see the cat. I hope the mocker parents understood what I was doing. On the way back, I heard an "eeeeee" from about 4 ft obove the ground in a forsythia bush near where the neighbor had put the fledgeling earlier. But I've been too busy to check if two fledgelings are active.

Great timing 0n your part.....but I have to wonder.......what did your company think about you runnung around clapping your hands and barking like a dog??? Did they make an excuse and leave?? LMAO

Lisa, fortunately, the video was load enough that they didn't hear, and they couldn't see either. But my neighbor has four dogs, and I heard them barking on the other side of the 6-ft-high fence as I ran parallel to the fence! Hopefully, my neighbors thought someone was chasing a stray dog! I was too afraid of what the cat might do to ponder other consequences.

Reminds me of a funny quote: "I don't suffer from insanity -- I enjoy every minute of it!"

I meant "the video was loud enough" in my last post, in case you couldn't guess.

There has been no sign of #3 the last few days. It was less mature than #1, but I have no other reason for its demise.

#1 has spent the last few days in a forsythia bush, because that was the nearest cover to where the neighbor had put it when she started to mow her lawn, and also the bush is dense, and easy to climb. However, being so close to the feeders, this bush is also visited frequently by birds coming and going from the feeder, so it is not very private, which I think is important to the Mockingbirds.

However, this morning, I find that #1 managed to get up high into the pear tree in front of the house. It is 5 ft up to the lowest branch, or reachable in two 3-ft flights if using the nearby fence. So the fledgling must have developed some wing-power. Here's the best picture I could get, looking straight up at his belly:

Then a brief rain started, and I wondered if the fledgling would keep drier if it was lower in the tree. Then as I was scurrying around to collect my gardening tools, one of the parents flew close over my head, squawking. They had tolerated me before when I had walked there, so I knew something had changed. Moments later, I saw the fledgling down on the ground under the tree, and hopping to hide in the day lillies. I guess that the parents may have tried to shoo him to a lower position in the tree, but he went too far and ended up on the ground.

After the rain stopped, I noticed the fledgling was back in the pear tree, I wished I was there to watch how he did it.

Then, late the next day, I noticed the fledgling dead on the sidewalk under the tree. I don't know whether he died from falling out of the tree, or afterward. But I know that kids in the neighborhood sometimes ride their bikes as fast as possible down that sidewalk; maybe one of them was not watchful.

Well, I guess the mockingbird parents have time to try again this season. The odds are not good when the fledglings leave the nest before they are ready to fly. I'm wondering if I could put a platform of hardware cloth in the bush for a more secure nesting site; and if I did, would the mockingbirds use it.

aaawwww thats so sad. Did i miss if something happened to baby # 3 or did it just disapear?

For the last week or so, there has been no sign of baby #3, so I assume it also died for some unknown reason. It was the least mature, so it couldn't have gone off and survived on its own.

DON"T MAKE MISTAKE AS I DID------I became very intrigued with Baby Mockingbird nest in our backyard and watched from living room daily while Mom & Dad Mockingbird cared for the little ones until one morning when I got up, three of the babies were out of the nest and on the ground. It had rained hard that night and the nest had holes in the bottom they had fell thru. The babies were definitely not ready for fledgling, so I took a funnel and put nest inside funnel and tied it back in same place nest was in the tree. The Mom and Dad were fine with new nest and continued feeding babies fine.
About a week later I found nest empty again and quick search found all the babies under shrubs within few yards of nesting tree. Since they barely had feathers I picked them up and placed them back into the nest again as I thought they too young to enter fledging routine yet,, but I was obviously wrong. After putting babies back in nest, I witnessed the Parents flying into nesting tree with worm in mouth but only teasing the hungry babies with food refusing to feed them until they jumped out again,,,, so obviously it was fledgling time!!!
Now I must admit horrible mistake I made in hopes of keeping anyone else from making same mistake I did out of trying to help. One of the fledgling appeared to be the runt and had less feathers than the others. Out of fear this fledgling might be caught to easily by a predator, I placed it in small clothes basket under the bush where the Mom and Dad had been feeding it (I had been viewing it from my living room). On the next feeding trip, One of the parents viewed the baby in the basket for quite a little while as the fledgling chirped and tried to get out of basket. All of a sudden, the parent swopped into basket, quickly killed baby by pecking in with Death blow in the Chest and then flew off while I had to watch the little Fledgling Die. The parents are continuing to feed the other 3 Fledglings as normal,,, but I learned sad lesson----Obviously if Fledgling is captured, parents will kill it so don't try to help the Babes by putting in basket or cage. You can help keep predators away, but the parents want fledglings to learn quickly the way they teach them-----I guess that is just the way nature intended it to be!!??

Thanks, DanH, for sharing your observations. I always find bird behavior fascinating.

I have a mocking nest in my back yard next to the from porch door. It surprise me at first having to dogs and us going in and out to our backyard most of the day. They laid 4 eggs then 3 hatched the next day the 4th egg had disappear. The nest seemed small for all 3 birds. On the 4th day I see 2 birds. They seemed fine and growing. On the 6th day I see one bird and almost dead. I have looked every where underneath every time a baby disappears and never found any sign of them or danger. My backyard is fenced so no other animals can get thru. The only reason I can explain is the we looked thru the porch screen observing the birds this might have scared them. Or could it be possible that the parent that stayed in the nest at night suffocated them. I am puzzle since they did fine with us being around and my 2 small dogs. Any comments or suggestions please.

Francesca-

I'm not experienced with Mockingbird nestings although I have several at my feeder, but I highly doubt the mom suffocated them. She knows just what to do. Even though your yard is fenced in, a number of predators could've gotten to them. Hopefully, you'll hear from someone more experienced. So very sorry!

Thank you. Sadly every day one of the babies was missing. No trace of them anywhere. There was one left yesterday and it did not look well. I keep checking the nest every half hour. After several visits you could see the baby was dying. Next time I checked he was gone. I know there are many birds in my area because I have several bird feeders. I have also seen snakes. I checked all over my yard and nothing. What's really strange the nest is in a good safe area. I am heart broken and puzzle. I am going to get rid of the nest because I don't want this to happen again.

In Los Angeles, California on Fourth of July night, after fireworks were over, I went into the backyard a minute after letting the cats out when I heard distressed chirping sounds.Turns out two baby mockingbirds jumped out of the nest and fell to the ground. Unfortunately my cat got one of the babies, but I was able to save the other one. I took him in for the night and placed him back in the nest early next morning. To my relief, mother bird came back..she seemed frantic once she discovered that only one baby was in the nest. She flew around in and out of the bush and was searching the ground. After a while she resumed to her duties and began brining food to the sole survivor. I thought all was good until later in the evening when I was watering the lawn I saw the baby on the ground again! I quickly picked him up and put him back in the nest. The parents saw what I had done, squaked a bit at me and then flew in to check on the baby. Problem is that the baby's feathers are still like shoots...I don't think it is anywhere ready to fly. The cats are now indoors at all times until this baby is grown and gone. In the meantime, I put up bamboo fencing around the bush to protect the baby from predators in case it jumps out of the nest again. The parents were watching me as I did this and I believe they approve because they weren't dive bombing me or anything. After I was finished constructing this enclosure I observed one of the parents resume with feeding. I hope I have done the right thing...I feel I have tried my best to ensure the survival of this single tiny Mocking Bird....just wondering how long will it be before it flies away?

I love watching and listening to the birds in my yard. i have had 4 nests in my yard thus far this year (not sure of bird type) one for definate was a Mockingbird nest in a holly bush at the side of my garage. i have barely been able to step outside my house due to the parent dive bombing me. I like to be out working in my yard ALOT but the parent has been acting very aggresive towards me to the point that i have had to keep out of my yard. it has also been dive bombing my neighbor when he comes outside. I noticed today though that the fledglings are out of the nest and are hopping all over the lawn, two little ones hopped across the street (trying to take flight at times) into a neighbors yard. They don’t much look like babies now other than their tails being still quite short. I’m hoping that they will take flight soon as my grass is getting quite long now and I really need to get out and get it cut before I have the HOA police on my case!! 🤣🤣 I’m also wondering if the parents will be less aggressive towards me now the fledglings are out the nest?