Author Topic: baby house martin - HELP (Read 1656 times)

Fleecewife · « **on:** July 21, 2018, 02:53:58 pm »

Our house martins nest has just crashed to the ground (mud too dry i think). one nestling still alive, in my hand. Do you think there's any chance that swallows would accept it. We have a nest of newly hatched swallows. If not, whatever can I do with this baby?

landroverroy · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2018, 03:03:07 pm »

I'm presuming mum and dad house martins will still be around. I would put the fallen nest on a shelf, suspend in say a bag, or somehow off the ground, put the baby in it and I reckon they'll return to it.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #2 on:** July 21, 2018, 03:42:27 pm »

Panic over

Mr F came home from playing the pipes at Biggar Show and rebuilt the nest with wire mesh screwed to the inside of the apex of the porch (which is where the nest is), a load of North Ronaldsay fleece, and the remains of the original nest, complete with its lovely feather lining. Parents both still around and repairing the bits which need it and hopefully feeding the chick.
Thank you Landroverroy - just about what you suggested. I wasn't able to save the second chick, which was killed when the nest came down. I'm sure they'll have another brood and this time the nest will be secure

Perris · « **Reply #3 on:** July 21, 2018, 04:24:20 pm »

Glad to hear the issue was successfully resolved. Alternatives are possible: this happened to our house martins some years ago and we were advised by a bird hospital to put the nest and chicks in a shoebox with the lid propped open enough for the adults to get in, and tie the box to a balcony rail beneath the original nesting site in the eaves. It worked, and the surviving chicks fledged.

Womble · « **Reply #4 on:** July 21, 2018, 05:50:43 pm »

This used to happen quite frequently with nests built along the front of our porch, so in the end I nailed up a strip of chicken wire so that their nests can grip more easily. If any look a bit dodgy, I can then tie around them with wire or string, which subsequently gets incorporated into the nest.

What can I say? I'm the ultimate softie!!

Fleecewife · « **Reply #5 on:** July 22, 2018, 11:38:16 am »

Sadly our little guy didn't make it. I think he was probably injured in the fall. Here's hoping the parents have another brood.
It's good to hear we're not the only ones keeping an eye out for our amazing birds. I get very upset when I hear of people who knock down swallow and martin nests because they leave a mess

They fly all this way up from Africa so they deserve our support.
We're kicking ourselves that we didn't put something in place when we realised the martins had used sand to make their nest, as it was inevitable really that it wouldn't last.
Thank you for your success stories

Womble · « **Reply #6 on:** July 22, 2018, 08:13:39 pm »

Quote from: Fleecewife on July 22, 2018, 11:38:16 am

I get very upset when I hear of people who knock down swallow and martin nests because they leave a mess

We had some nests in really inconvenient places last year, and the droppings were going all over sheep medicines, lawnmowers etc.

A really easy solution was to use a sheet of thin plywood (or thick cardboard) about 1ft/1ft, suspended beneath the nest. The birds weren't bothered, yet it caught all the

, and kept it off our stuff.

Of course another way around the annoyance is just to change your perspective. You see guano. I see dead flies!!

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #7 on:** July 22, 2018, 11:29:51 pm »

I had a neighbour who always knocked down the house martins' nests every spring. I always hoped they'd move next door to us where they would have been welcome but they kept trying to make nests in the same place.