Baby Bird Abandoned to Death In It's Nest

Fair warning to all, especially if you like animals and baby one's at that. Sorry in advance for this sad story if things like that get to you. Not sure how this couldn't get to everyone.

Who doesn't like the sound of baby birds chirping in their nest? We heard these baby birds chirping the other day so happily. They were hungry however, of course. We peeked at the nest which was near our driveway, and everything looked perfect. We didn't get close, as we know birds need their space.

It was so exciting you see. If you don't know me, you don't know that I try to save even an ant or a spider I find in my house. I have a way I put them outside, and I know I am goofy that way, but it makes me happy somehow.

Well, tonight we saw a different bird, an older little robin, compared to the newly hatched babies in the other nest. He was sitting on the front porch, beak positioned up, for a few hours. It was as if he was waiting for his mother to bring him a worm or a little grub or something. He sat motionless, and very serious. Where was his mother, or was he on his own now?

This prompted my husband to say, "what is with the bird parents these days? Sometimes, I have to wonder about them." I said, "what do you mean?" He proceeded to tell me the following.

He had mowed the lawn yesterday, and decided to peek in on the baby bird. It was dead. It was dried and shriveled up and had little fleas or something on it. I am so sorry if this hits you the same way it hit me, like a sock in the gut. My jaw was on the ground practically and my hand went to my heart. I am a "softy" when it comes to animals and critters I guess, and especially babies.

A thousand questions poured into my mind, and we all were so sad. I may be naive here, but I have never experienced seeing a nest that turned out to be abandoned like this! Everything seemed perfect! The nest was perfect, clearly the parents had worked hard on it! The location was great as anywhere. The birdies were strong and hungry and eager to eat. They died. My heart is broken.

The very slim chance there is some scientist out there that researches things like this that may be looking into some concerning trends or something, I am deciding to share this publicly. The location is the Midwest, in Missouri, and the second week in June 2012. We run sprinklers, and have a lot of wildlife around that seems to thrive OK. I do know people do spray pesticides, and that there are a few predatory types of animals but not too much. My thought is that the mother is dead also. Nothing else explains what happened after.

If only I had known, then I could have done something to save this little bird. It seems amazing my heart can feel so broken about this, but that is how I feel. The poor little birds. What happened? Do you have any thoughts?

Lastly, I am posting the picture here. This is where I can't take it very well, as I remember the sound and eagerness with which they were wanting some food. Oh my heart.....what happened? I hoped to post this later, as I have taken photos of other birds in nests, that grew to be strong and leave the nest. This wasn't even that great a shot because of the fullness of the leaves on the tree. So this was the best I could do. They are gone now. You can see the one bird, and the other one's little beak. He wasn't quite as strong. How cruel and sad. RIP little birds.

© Copyright 2012 by Oceansnsunsets. All Rights Reserved.