Expert: Miguel Rodriguez - 7/5/2008

Question
Today is Saturday at 3:00 p.m.  Early Thursday evening I went out to watch the "feeding" of the baby bluebirds.  I saw neither Mom nor Dad.  Friday, more of the same...no mom or dad coming to feed.  All day Friday, part of Friday night and today, babies are poking their head out of the box and chirping.  I found the Dad bird dead in the backyard due to a cat attack.  But still no mom.  The babies are about 15-17 days old.  Does mom come less frequently now?  If something has happened to her, should I call a wildlife rehabber?  I'm hesitant because today is the third day (for sure the second day) and other than chirping and sticking their heads out of the box, they don't seem too distressed.  What to do!!!

Answer
I guess my answer could be arriving too late, but in these cases the fate of the birds is unavoidable unless you have professional staff tend to the birds full time, which is obviously unrealistic.

Please give me an update of what has happened in the past week.