Expert: Roger Lederer - 8/16/2007

Question
My husband and I are delighted with the swallow couple that built a nest in our porch this year. They had four babies that did very well earlier this summer.  Now they are on their second set---the babies are about a week old.  Early yesterday morning I found one of the babies under the nest--the nest is very high and the baby did not survive the fall.  It was perfectly formed with no apparent health problem.  Can you help me understand how/why this happened so I can prevent any more from dying?  I now have put plastic covered pillows under the nest, hoping that if another baby falls it will survive and I can then put it back in the nest. We felt so bad about that baby, and want to prevent future mishaps. Please help!  Thanks!

Answer
Mortality among young birds such as swallows and songbirds is very high for a bunch of reasons. I cannot tell you why this bird fell out of the nest - young birds move in the nest and it could have been an accident. Or maybe a jay or crow or squirrel or cat or some other predator tried to eat it. I can't suggest anything that would prevent this except to do what you have done. But disturb the nest as little as possible because that could lead to the parents abandoning it. Thanks for your concern.