Where did the baby birds go? Can the parents move them?

Several weeks ago my daughter opened up her portable gas barbecue and found that a bird's nest had been built there -- five eggs. She closed the lid right back up. A week or so ago she looked and could see four baby bird heads. Closed it back up. Yesterday, the nest was empty. No sign of baby birds. The nest has not been disturbed or torn up -- it's just empty as if it was never used. The only entrance into there is a small hole about 1" in diameter.

I would think that if something got to the babies, there would be signs, i.e., nest torn up or at least showing some disturbance, baby feathers, something. There's nothing. I don't know what kind of bird they are/were. The eggs were about 3/8" long or a little shorter, ivory colored with little brown speckles.

She suggested a snake, but the barbecue is about 3 feet off the ground on a stand. How could a snake get up there? Would a small bat do this? Or assuming the parents detected that the nest had been found, can the parents move the babies after they've hatched?

Any ideas?

Karen

I dont know what kind of birds they were, but last year we watched nest go from eggs, to babies, to fly away in 3 weeks time. Think for the best.
chris

Thanks, Chris.

I didn't actually see the eggs or babies myself. I didn't think we needed any more fooling around them than necessary. But if 3 weeks from egg to fly away is possible, then maybe that's what happened. Of course, we don't know how far along the eggs were when she first saw them about 3-4 weeks ago. Maybe they were on the verge of hatching then.

I have no clue either what kind they are. Small though, for the adults to be able to fit nicely through a one-inch hole in the barbecue. We have several birdhouses that came with the property. I am told that the hanging gourds are used by purple martins. But there is a birdhouse on the telephone pole that has very small brown birds in it again this year.

I will think positive.

Karen

Some birds get out of the nest very young and are cared for by the parents as branchers. I have seen young cardinals that were not fully fledged out of the nest and hopping around in the branches of shrubbery. The parents keep an eye on them and feed them out of the nest area.

Beth

Oh, Beth, thank you for that information. I'll tell her that maybe barbecue season needs to wait a while. Would the babies go back to the nest, say, at night? The barbecue is about 30 feet from the nearest tree.

Karen

Karen,
I am not an expert, but I have never heard of a baby going back to the nest, so maybe wait a few days then clean out the nest.
Happy BBQing
chris

Thanks, Chris. I'm happy to know that the baby birds are probably all right, that they just got old enough to be on their own in that short time. We are used to the sparrows and swallows in CA that take a couple of months to get big enough to leave the nests.

Karen

sounds like they must have been wrens. they are very small and find the craziest places to build nests and yes, they are gone in no time. the mother coaxes them out and "leads" them to safe places under trees, etc. until they can actually fly up into them. if you have fir trees or shrubs around, that is where they went.

Ah, ha. There is a wooded area right behind our property, oaks, firs, pines, etc. about 30 feet away from the BBQ. I looked up wrens in Google. They sound like Carolina wrens which are year-around in this area. The eggs are right, the type of nest they built, where they built the nest (less then 10 ft off the ground) and in a weird place, and the time from eggs to fledgling stage. Thank you for suggesting they might be wrens.

I guess I can now reclaim the spaghnum moss they used to line the nest since I know all is well with the little ones.

Karen

Most small songbirds take 10-16 days from hatching to fledging. I'd say they'd likely fledged and left the nest.

Resin

Resin: Thank you for the reassurance. We have been very worried that something had happened to the babies because we thought that it would take a couple of months after hatching before they could leave the nest. I had no idea songbirds took such a short time to fledge. We just get to reclaim the BBQ sooner than expected. = - )

Karen