Current Events > I killed a nest of baby birds and I'm in hysterics.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was trimming a tree in our front yard. I should have checked betterit was so hard to see through the branches. One limb had a nest in it. When the branch fell it crushed three of the chicks and and two others were injured past the point of saving.

The mother keeps coming to check on where the nest is lying and shes so distraught. She keeps calling for the. I feel like the biggest piece of crap in the world. Ive been sobbing all morning.

It wasnt deliberate, dont worry. I end up chopping up a few snakes with my mower each year. Cant really avoid it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

This is a different nest. (We have tons of birds in our neighborhood.) The wall birds are still shrieking their heads off in the kitchen. They should fledge soon. Now Im deadset on making sure the starlings live.

Im so sorry TC. You couldn't haven't known. I know it must hurt. Try not to be too hard on yourself. But I can imagine the pain nonetheless :(

It's a rough situation. I know I'd be broken up over it too if it happened to me, but you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. It was an accident and you didn't know this would happen.

KiwiTerraRizing posted...

It wasnt deliberate, dont worry. I end up chopping up a few snakes with my mower each year. Cant really avoid it.

I know, Im just beating myself up for not checking harder. Its still my fault.

That's tough TC. If it makes you feel any better I'm sure nests are destroyed every day from snakes and other predators and shit. Just think of this as one more. You didn't accidently destroy the only nest that was destroyed in US that day, you accidently destroyed one of hundreds.

Blastia posted...

Im so sorry TC. You couldn't haven't known. I know it must hurt. Try not to be too hard on yourself. But I can imagine the pain nonetheless :(

Thank you. Im gonna let the mom get her closure before I go out to bury them. Their calls at 3am can be super annoying (and infuriating at times) but I wouldnt wish this on them.

Southernfatman posted...

It's a rough situation. I know I'd be broken up over it too if it happened to me, but you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. It was an accident and you didn't know this would happen.

Thats true, but I have a degree in forestry/wildlife biology. I feel like I really dropped the ball in that regard.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

That's tough TC. If it makes you feel any better I'm sure nests are destroyed every day from snakes and other predators and shit. Just think of this as one more. You didn't accidently destroy the only nest that was destroyed in US that day, you accidently destroyed one of hundreds.

The flock of starlings in our neighborhood is quite seriously in the thousands, so Im trying to do the Theres tons of them left. line of thinking. Still feels bad, though.

We have a robin nest on top of our front porch light that we monitored closely and took care to go through the garage more often than the front door so as not to disrupt her. Soon three newborn chicks hatched to me my wife and childrens delight.

However a couple of days ago we opened the door to grab a package and noticed the nest had fallen. Two chicks were dead and the third barely moving. We put the nest and one chick back in place and watched from afar. Mother robin came back and sat but eventually it became clear the third didnt make it either.

Checking my porch camera I dont have a clear shot but enough to see it was pure happenstance. It must have dislodged when the robin moved or exited/entered.

All this happened with the kids right there too. So kind of a grim but matter of fact lesson in nature. You were moving about and maintaining your nest and an accident happened. The birds will just lay another batch. But were human and feel guilt, it hurts but nothing wrong with that. We fashion memories from emotions and learn from them.

LonelyStoner posted...

Thats true, but I have a degree in forestry/wildlife biology. I feel like I really dropped the ball in that regard.

It's not like you could inspect every single branch to check for wildlife. Besides, even the best of any profession make mistakes.

HudGard posted...

We have a robin nest on top of our front porch light that we monitored closely and took care to go through the garage more often than the front door so as not to disrupt her. Soon three newborn chicks hatched to me my wife and childrens delight.

However a couple of says ago we opened the door to grab a package and noticed the nest had fallen. Two chicks were dead and the third barely moving. We put the nest and one chick back in place and watched from afar. Mother robin came back and sat but eventually it became clear the third didnt make it either.

Checking my porch camera I dont have a clear shot but enough to see it was pure happenstance. It must have dislodged when the robin moved or exited/entered.

All this happened with the kids right there too. So kind of a grim but matter of fact lesson in nature. You were moving about and maintaining your nest and an accident happened. The birds will just lay another batch. But were human and feel guilt, it hurts but nothing wrong with that. We fashion memories from emotions and learn from them.

Thats a bit of comfort. Thanks for the anecdote.

Southernfatman posted...

It's not like you could inspect every single branch to check for wildlife. Besides, even the best of any profession make mistakes.

Thank you, bro.

It's terrible, but it was an accident and these things happen even without human involvement. I remember when I was playing at my grandma's house as a child and looked at the chain link fence next to her yard and there was a dead baby bird there, hanging on the fence by its broken neck.

Ants were starting to crawl on it, an absolutely horrid sight, but nobody had done anything to cause this. It might have fallen or the wind might have blown it out if the nest, or perhaps even the mother knocked it out of the nest on accident.

mercurydude posted...

It's terrible, but it was an accident and these things happen even without human involvement. I remember when I was playing at my grandma's house as a child and looked at the chain link fence next to her yard and there was a dead baby bird there, hanging on the fence by its broken neck.

Ants were starting to crawl on it, an absolutely horrid sight, but nobody had done anything to cause this. It might have fallen or the wind might have blown it out if the nest, or perhaps even the mother knocked it out of the nest on accident.

Theres a family of cowbirds in the neighborhood, which are brood parasites. Theyll lay their own eggs in another birds nest, kick the other chicks out of the nest, and leave the cowbird chick for the other mother to raise. Its pretty brutal.

That's awful, and I feel bad for you. You're a good person because it's bothering you.

Ironically last night I accidentally squished a gecko and I was really upset myself.