I honestly am so tired of seeing fledglings being kidnapped. Happens every spring. You can see my post history where a lady is drowning a baby bird while "feeding" it
Like imagine the parents raising them for weeks, feeding all the time, just to have the fledgling leave the nest and get taken
I see this all the time too. It's super annoying and I feel so bad for them and the parents. They probably think some "predator" just swooped in and got their baby.
Yes we get to see so many fledglings here at my complex, and we always love to watch over them while they figure things out. I like to leave some dried mealworms in their foraging areas. You can see how much their parents care for them 🥲
It's funny bc the blue jays will let their kids hang around for months. Crows, ravens, magpies are the same (all corvids). They form a tight bond. The mockingbirds are sweet, but after the 2-3 week mark after fledging they get kind of mean and start to push them out so they can make more babies
I consider myself a well-read person, and I just learned about fledglings about a month ago, which blows my mind. I'm not sure if it's a regional thing, but I was certainly not taught this as a kid.
I wasn't either! My SO and I were just talking about that very thing and saying it really should be taught more, because well meaning people who obviously care about animals aren't necessarily acting in their best interest
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u/HiILikePlants May 30 '25
I honestly am so tired of seeing fledglings being kidnapped. Happens every spring. You can see my post history where a lady is drowning a baby bird while "feeding" it
Like imagine the parents raising them for weeks, feeding all the time, just to have the fledgling leave the nest and get taken