Baby gone!

[cnevett27]

I had a healthy looking set of 5 nestlings, newly feathered out. I changed their nest box the other night...counted 5, took some pics. They had mites, not bad. Did a normal nest change, added small amount of sevin in their new pine needle nest and put them up for bed. This afternoon, there is only 4. What happened? I have netting for snakes up and predator guard. Any ideas?

[-=DKC=-]

I had a healthy looking set of 5 nestlings, newly feathered out. I changed their nest box the other night...counted 5, took some pics. They had mites, not bad. Did a normal nest change, added small amount of sevin in their new pine needle nest and put them up for bed. This afternoon, there is only 4. What happened? I have netting for snakes up and predator guard. Any ideas?

I had the exact same thing happen this year.

Things that could have happened other than ground predators...

An owl , hawk or other aerial predator including Starlings or House Sparrows.

A "floater" Purple Martin male could have thrown it out.

The parents could have removed it because of sickness or death.

If the baby was old enough to move around it could have been accidentally jostled out by a sibling or parent.

In my case I don't think it was a hawk or owl because I haven't seen any and the horrible incident has not been repeated.

It's heartbreaking for sure. And not knowing is pretty tough when you are as hands on as I've been this year.

[Matt F.]

Cnevett27,
You may have already done this, but if they are old enough to jump, you may want to comb the area in your yard.
The baby could've jumped, and then scurried over to another side of the yard, under some shrubbery, etc.

[-=DKC=-]

Cnevett27,
You may have already done this, but if they are old enough to jump, you may want to comb the area in your yard.
The baby could've jumped, and then scurried over to another side of the yard, under some shrubbery, etc.

Excellent advise.