Baby birds in the summer-house
July 5, 2019
We have summer-house in the garden, divided into two rooms. One of the rooms functions as a shed:
Among the many things in that shed, there’s some light scaffolding which we’ve used to paint the back of the house. The wide ladder-like object is part of this:
But we can’t use that scaffolding now — even though I need to to take the top off a tree — because birds have built a nest on the top rung, and hatched some eggs there:
Here’s the next in close-up. There are four babies in here: three that are easy to spot because of their open beaks, and one more with a closed beak to the right. (The parent has, for the moment, flown away.)
They were sitting absolutely still with open mouths, perhaps as a way to cool down on what was quite a hot day.
Can anyone tell me what kind of birds these are? And, more importantly, how close they are to maturity, so that they fly away and I can get my scaffolding back?
Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week 
July 5, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Hard to tell from the photos. They may be an empidonax flycatcher (Pacific-slope or Cordilleran). I suspect that Cordilleran are not located in your area, but they like to nest in buildings and under eaves. If this is what they are, they’re about 2 weeks from fledging.
July 5, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Thanks, Carol. By the way, I should mention that I am in Gloucesterhire, Southern UK.
July 5, 2019 at 9:19 pm
Not sure (at all) but those are important beaks! Maybe blackbirds, thrushes or starlings? Anyway, they should be out of the nest in one or two weeks or else…
If you are courageous enough you can test if the base of the nest is well made and strong enough to carefully move it to a similar flat structure near (maybe helping yourself with a piece of board or wood). Or just wait for the parents and take some memorable photos ;)
(Nice how those birds understood the meaning of scaffolding…)
July 6, 2019 at 2:18 am
Chicks and nest both look very similar to those of American robins, which are a thrush (Turdus spp.), as are your blackbirds (but not our blackbirds or your robins (bird common names are dumb)). Your little theropods should be out and about pretty soon.
July 6, 2019 at 2:25 am
To clarify: I’m not in any way saying your birds are American robins, just that they may be one of your local Turdus species. I don’t know nearly enough about UK birds for any more specific suggestion.
July 7, 2019 at 7:10 pm
Yikes! And I took you for a Californian – Sorry!
Hope your birds fledge soon – and that there aren’t any more in the top of the tree that you want to remove.
July 7, 2019 at 7:12 pm
Yikes! And I took you for a Californian – so sorry!
Hope your birds fledge soon – and that there aren’t any more in the top of the tree that you’re removing.
July 7, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Looks like they’ve all flown the nest already! We can recover our scaffolding.