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The mystery of the abandoned chickadees



 I was given this email address by Harry LeGrand and told that you all
might have some input concerning a chickadee nest that was abandoned or
orphaned with 6 fledgings inside. Here is what happened:

I put a chickadee house up in my garden several years ago.  Finally this 
year, a pair of chickadees chose it for a nesting sight.  I was thrilled, for 
the house is within close and clear view of my home office window.  I have 
enjoyed watching the chickadees build their nest while I work.  I peeked in 
one day and saw 6 eggs.  Then after hatching, I enjoyed hearing their sweet 
little chirps when their parents brought food every few minutes for the last 
week and half or so.  Yesterday, while working in yard I noticed that 
whenever I made a loud noise or came near the house, the babies would chirp 
loudly and urgently.  This  went on most the afternoon.  Finally, I realized 
that I had not noticed the parents going to and from the house.  I then 
stopped and watched the house for awhile and realized that the parents were 
no longer coming to feed the babies.  Not knowing whether this was normal or 
not I looked in my few books and couldn't find much on how exactly fledglings 
leave the nest.  Are they pushed out?  Do they leave on their own? Do the 
parents simply stop feeding them and they are forced to leave in order to 
find  food?  At any rate the next morning, today, I checked the house. Their 
were no sounds coming from it, so I lifted off the roof and to my dismay, 
found all six babies dead.  They looked liked fully feathered minatures of 
the full grown birds.  (Like they were just about ready to leave the nest)  
It seems unlikely to me that both parents would be killed at the same time, 
so I'm thinking that they were abandoned.  I have two feeders nearby.  I know 
that the parents were feeding from the feeders.  I let the feeders usually go 
to empty before I refill them so that I don't end up with moldy food at the 
bottom of the feeders.  The  feeders were nearly empty yesterday. I wonder if 
that could have something to do with it.  Up until the day I noticed the 
babies chirping so furiously, the parents were always nearby in the branches 
of a tree that overhangs the birdhouse and  always going in and out with 
food. The parents could have been absent for perhaps a few days (but not 
more)  without my noticing it right away.  I wander through my garden nearly 
everyday, so it couldn't have been more than a couple of days since the 
parents disappeared.  Since yesterday I have kept an eye out for any adult 
chickadees and interestingly there have been absolutely no chickadees at my 
feeders (or titmice for that matter).  

Any information that you folks might have to help me solve this mystery would 
be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks
K. D.

Kathleen Dupree 
kdgraphic@earthlink.net