Posted by Caitlin Morris on July 18, 2006

Q: We've been having a wonderful summer—up until now—with a Mockingbird nest out front and a Cardinal nest out back. But now both sets of chicks—and their parents—are MIA overnight. The Mocking birds disappeared on Sunday morning and the Cardinals were there as recently as this morning.

1) How old do the chicks have to be to fledge? They both had downy feathers with some flight feathers starting to come in...

2) Can the parents move the babies to another nest?

3) Both nests were in fairly inaccessible places (9 feet up in a thorny rose bush) and we live in Suburbia, so there aren't a whole lot of predators about. Should I be suspicious of the neighbor's cat?

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: Maryland

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: 1) How old do the chicks have to be to fledge? They both had downy feathers with some flight feathers starting to come in...

I can't tell you an age but they do leave the nest before their flight feathers are completely grown in. At first, they're able to flutter to the ground and maybe into a low shrub or onto a low branch but not fly well (swallows are an exception). From your description, I can't be sure whether they were at the right age to leave or not.

> 2) Can the parents move the babies to another nest?

Absolutely not! The parents will not take them or even encourage them to go to another nest - actually there is no other nest. So, if they're gone, they aren't now in a nest somewhere else. I'm sure of that.

> 3) Both nests were in fairly inaccessible places (9 feet up in a thorny rose bush) and we live in Suburbia, so there aren't a whole lot of predators about. Should I be suspicious of the neighbor's cat?

Take a good look at those two nests. If the nests look like they've been "manhandled" in some way, it would point to a predator. If, on the other hand, the nests look perfectly intact, the chances are the young did indeed fledge. Keep a sharp eye out in your area and you may even see the young. At first, fledglings don't move about much and they simply do lots of crying and the parents come to them to feed. As fledglings get more able to fly, they'll actually follow the parents around and beg for food but for now, your babies are more sedentary.

Cats are incredible predators and account for countless millions of birds and small mammals. Although I like cats myself, I'm not in favor of them being allowed freedom outside - too many innocent animals killed. But...there are always other kinds of predators too so a Raccoon could easily have gotten in there and even a squirrel may take small birds too so don't be too hasty to blame the neighbor's cat for now. Hope this helps a wee bit.

John Wiessinger ( July 18, 2006)