Baby Falls Out of Nest – Chapter 5.

Can’t get Baby back.

It seemed that the stray baby Pardalote was going to starve unless it was in the actual nest hole. I thought of getting a ladder and putting the baby back in the hole, but was concerned that it would just get back out again, and also that the parents may abandon the nest altogether if I was so close to it.

However, I couldn’t just let it starve, and the parents were used to us being below the nest, so I thought I’d try to raise the baby up near the nest to see if it would go in by itself.

I hooked a basket onto a long pole, put on some grass and the baby bird, and raised it up high so that it was next to the nest, thinking the baby may climb out into the nest hole. 
I couldn’t see what was happening in the basket, but when my arms got tired, I lowered the basket and there was the baby clinging to the bottom.

I tried putting the baby back on the heater, but it was still frantically jumping up, seemingly trying to get to the nest, so I figured I should try again to give it a chance.

I made a ‘cradle’ out of a plastic milk bottle, with an opening at the neck end to fit the nest hole. 

I hooked it onto my long stick, added some grass so Baby wouldn’t slip around, and put the baby bird in. I hoisted it up so it was right against the nest hole and level for easy access. I could see the baby silhouetted inside. 

Once again, Baby didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to hop back into the nest hole. It just crept to the back of the container and huddled there. 

Admitting defeat, I put it back on the heater in its little grass ‘nest’ and left it for a while.
When I returned, the parents were still feeding the others, and the stray was back on the floor.
It had crawled into the first box I had placed near the blinds, so I added a soft napkin and some grass to the box, left the little container of meat (with a little water as well) along with a little dead moth I found, then covered the box and left it for the night.

In the morning, I found the baby bird stretched out, dead, next to the box. The meat and the moth were untouched.

It was sad, but nature is harsh at times, and I felt I couldn’t have done any more to try to help. Greg buried the little bird, and the parents continue to feed the other babies in the nest hole as before.