Expert: Julia Booth - 5/4/2008

Question
A female Cardinal has built a nest in a hedgerow which butts up against our backyard screened in porch.  There are 3 eggs in the nest now.  On some occassions when we use our back porch the mother will leave the nest.  We are concerned that our use of the back porch may cause the mother to leave the nest and abondon the eggs or babies once hatched.  What should we do?

Secondly, once the babies our hatched is there anything we can do to help the mother feed the babies?

Answer
As difficult as it sounds, sometimes we just have to trust that these animals know what they are doing. Cardinal incubation is 12-14 days. The young will fledge (leave the nest) after about ten.

There's not a whole lot you can do to actively help her feed them. But here is a good website on the diet of baby birds in the wild.

http://www.2ndchance.info/seedeater.htm