We are now the temporary co-custodians of a baby Blackbird, who we have decided is a 'he' and have called him Num-num.
It all started around Friday lunchtime. I was sitting at the computer with a view into our Hof (courtyard), watching the usual comings and goings of people. This time something was noticeably different, with the people stopping to look at something on the ground, lingering for a while and then eventually leaving. It looked like they were looking at a small black ball. It was only when the ball started to try to hop that I realised it was a bird. Nobody did anything however.
We went out for the day not long after and the small bird had disappeared, to safety I had hoped.
When we came back home in the afternoon there was a bit of chirping from birds in the Hof, which is normal I thought. But from inside we could hear the insistent chirping of two birds and when you listened closely, it was easy to tell it was a cry for help.
I went to investigate, deducing it must be something to do with the baby bird from earlier. It was nowhere to be seen so I followed the bird alarm. The two birds were in our rear-most Hof and chirping with frantic alarm. I then noticed over the fence that a cat was playing with something, and even though I couldn't see through the overgrowth, it was obvious that the little baby bird was in peril under there. I can't describe to you how distressing it was to watch and hear the parent birds crying alarm, fretting from branch to branch but unable to scare the cat away.
I tried to shoo away the cat, but the crafty so and so knew that I couldn't get over the fence. My feeble 'pfft' and 'bugger off' did nothing. A small rock throw disturbed the cat, but he came back one the projectile threat was over. I had to get over to the neighbours yard and considered climbing the fence but notice someone from my building was very openly watching me. I spoke to him to let him know what I was doing and to ask if he knew how to get over 'there'. He said 'go next door', duh.
I did go next door, which because it is also a hotel, the door is also open. Funnily enough, as I went to the area where the bird was, a woman was also on the hunt for the poor thing. She found it before I did, and it turns out she lives in the building next to mine.
We came back to my Hof to look for the nest, but couldn't find it, though I knew that it is normally about 4 levels up. The lady said that in that case, it is impossible to reach the nest and she would take the bird home to hand rear it. As she left, I showed her my nameplate on the intercom in case she wanted to contact me. She said 'great, because sometimes my cats go in there'. So it was HER cat that was tormenting the bird :( No wonder she took it to look after it and had said she had hand raised baby birds before...the cats and their wildlife surprises.
I left her to it and came back home. I regretted letting her take the bird, as I thought it would have been better for me to keep it, at least the parents would know where it was. But I don't know anything about birds. I only got the lady's first name so I can't contact her unless I see her on the street :( Ho hum.
Back at home, the poor parent birds were still making their commotion. I thought it was heartbreak at losing their little one and seeing the cat back again on the prowl.
But it wasn't just heartbreak, it was another effort to scare away the cat from a second baby! I couldn't see the second one until some more people in the Hof congregated another small black ball, and the cat had made itself scarce. I ran downstairs with a box and by the time I had got there, everyone had left and the bird was on its own on the bricks.
I put him in a box, and left him on on our Pfand pile on our balcony in the hopes the parents would easily find him.
Num-num was quite docile and seemed to be flightless and unable to see, so I left him there.
A short while later, Num-num had gotten out of his box and had fallen to the floor. I was worried he would further fall to the ground below, so relocated his box to the ground also, and taped up the sides. He seemed happy enough.
And then my plan worked, Num-num had let out some cries and daddy came looking for him.
And came back with some food.
In the meantime, I didn't know if I should feed Num-num or not, so looked on the internet for advice.
According to one site, a baby or fledgling bird has a 100% chance of death if it falls out of its nest onto the ground. In urban areas because predators, mostly cats, will come along and kill it. According to the website, 50% of hand-reared birds will survive / die. I hoped that because I am co-parenting, the survival chance for Num-num will be very high.
But I still tried to feed him, first some tomato (which isn't on the list of things to feed it) which he happily ate after a bit of coercion to 'gape'. I also gave it a bit of egg (which IS on the list) and eventually got him to eat a bit but it was a bit of mucking around.
I'd feathered the nest with some paper towel, and left Num-num for the night.
In the morning we were pleased to see he was still alive, and that his parents were making regular visits. We are now experts on who is the mum and who is the dad. Mum is dark brown, and dad is black with an orange beak,
In Num-num's enclosure there are his poops and some strange burgundy coloured stones. I saw Num-num vomit one up. My suspicions that these were berry pips were confirmed as his mum and dad are regularly feeding him small berries (held three at a time in their beaks).
The other popular thing is worms, of course!
They are also bringing something else, but we haven't worked it out yet. Maybe grasshopper.
So given that mum and dad know where he is, and that he is getting fed, I am no longer intervening in the feeding department. We just provide a safe balcony until he is ready to fly away. However the box he was in was quickly and badly soiled, so that has been replace by a lined and easily cleaned plastic box. Hopefuly Num-num likes reading the Berliner Morgenpost.
Thankfully, the new box hasn't disrupted anything and Num-num is happy chilling out in there.
And more importantly, the parents quickly came to give their seal of approval too, checking it out and coming back to feed Num-num.
We've been fascinated watching this unfold before us through our window. Num-num cries every now and then, and not long after, one of his parents comes to give him something to eat. So far, the parents are not living on our balcony and just make visits. I read that if the nest is destroyed, the mother will make another one. I guess it's possible that Num-num and his sibling just fell out, but we don't know. For now we will just keep his box clean and leave the rest up to nature, hopefully, when he is able, he will fly the blue nest and rejoin his proper one.
It all started around Friday lunchtime. I was sitting at the computer with a view into our Hof (courtyard), watching the usual comings and goings of people. This time something was noticeably different, with the people stopping to look at something on the ground, lingering for a while and then eventually leaving. It looked like they were looking at a small black ball. It was only when the ball started to try to hop that I realised it was a bird. Nobody did anything however.
We went out for the day not long after and the small bird had disappeared, to safety I had hoped.
When we came back home in the afternoon there was a bit of chirping from birds in the Hof, which is normal I thought. But from inside we could hear the insistent chirping of two birds and when you listened closely, it was easy to tell it was a cry for help.
I went to investigate, deducing it must be something to do with the baby bird from earlier. It was nowhere to be seen so I followed the bird alarm. The two birds were in our rear-most Hof and chirping with frantic alarm. I then noticed over the fence that a cat was playing with something, and even though I couldn't see through the overgrowth, it was obvious that the little baby bird was in peril under there. I can't describe to you how distressing it was to watch and hear the parent birds crying alarm, fretting from branch to branch but unable to scare the cat away.
I tried to shoo away the cat, but the crafty so and so knew that I couldn't get over the fence. My feeble 'pfft' and 'bugger off' did nothing. A small rock throw disturbed the cat, but he came back one the projectile threat was over. I had to get over to the neighbours yard and considered climbing the fence but notice someone from my building was very openly watching me. I spoke to him to let him know what I was doing and to ask if he knew how to get over 'there'. He said 'go next door', duh.
I did go next door, which because it is also a hotel, the door is also open. Funnily enough, as I went to the area where the bird was, a woman was also on the hunt for the poor thing. She found it before I did, and it turns out she lives in the building next to mine.
We came back to my Hof to look for the nest, but couldn't find it, though I knew that it is normally about 4 levels up. The lady said that in that case, it is impossible to reach the nest and she would take the bird home to hand rear it. As she left, I showed her my nameplate on the intercom in case she wanted to contact me. She said 'great, because sometimes my cats go in there'. So it was HER cat that was tormenting the bird :( No wonder she took it to look after it and had said she had hand raised baby birds before...the cats and their wildlife surprises.
I left her to it and came back home. I regretted letting her take the bird, as I thought it would have been better for me to keep it, at least the parents would know where it was. But I don't know anything about birds. I only got the lady's first name so I can't contact her unless I see her on the street :( Ho hum.
Back at home, the poor parent birds were still making their commotion. I thought it was heartbreak at losing their little one and seeing the cat back again on the prowl.
But it wasn't just heartbreak, it was another effort to scare away the cat from a second baby! I couldn't see the second one until some more people in the Hof congregated another small black ball, and the cat had made itself scarce. I ran downstairs with a box and by the time I had got there, everyone had left and the bird was on its own on the bricks.
I put him in a box, and left him on on our Pfand pile on our balcony in the hopes the parents would easily find him.
Num-num was quite docile and seemed to be flightless and unable to see, so I left him there.
A short while later, Num-num had gotten out of his box and had fallen to the floor. I was worried he would further fall to the ground below, so relocated his box to the ground also, and taped up the sides. He seemed happy enough.
And then my plan worked, Num-num had let out some cries and daddy came looking for him.
And came back with some food.
In the meantime, I didn't know if I should feed Num-num or not, so looked on the internet for advice.
According to one site, a baby or fledgling bird has a 100% chance of death if it falls out of its nest onto the ground. In urban areas because predators, mostly cats, will come along and kill it. According to the website, 50% of hand-reared birds will survive / die. I hoped that because I am co-parenting, the survival chance for Num-num will be very high.
But I still tried to feed him, first some tomato (which isn't on the list of things to feed it) which he happily ate after a bit of coercion to 'gape'. I also gave it a bit of egg (which IS on the list) and eventually got him to eat a bit but it was a bit of mucking around.
I'd feathered the nest with some paper towel, and left Num-num for the night.
In the morning we were pleased to see he was still alive, and that his parents were making regular visits. We are now experts on who is the mum and who is the dad. Mum is dark brown, and dad is black with an orange beak,
In Num-num's enclosure there are his poops and some strange burgundy coloured stones. I saw Num-num vomit one up. My suspicions that these were berry pips were confirmed as his mum and dad are regularly feeding him small berries (held three at a time in their beaks).
The other popular thing is worms, of course!
They are also bringing something else, but we haven't worked it out yet. Maybe grasshopper.
So given that mum and dad know where he is, and that he is getting fed, I am no longer intervening in the feeding department. We just provide a safe balcony until he is ready to fly away. However the box he was in was quickly and badly soiled, so that has been replace by a lined and easily cleaned plastic box. Hopefuly Num-num likes reading the Berliner Morgenpost.
Thankfully, the new box hasn't disrupted anything and Num-num is happy chilling out in there.
And more importantly, the parents quickly came to give their seal of approval too, checking it out and coming back to feed Num-num.
We've been fascinated watching this unfold before us through our window. Num-num cries every now and then, and not long after, one of his parents comes to give him something to eat. So far, the parents are not living on our balcony and just make visits. I read that if the nest is destroyed, the mother will make another one. I guess it's possible that Num-num and his sibling just fell out, but we don't know. For now we will just keep his box clean and leave the rest up to nature, hopefully, when he is able, he will fly the blue nest and rejoin his proper one.
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