Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 7/26/2006

Question
ok my friends parakeets (one male one female) laid eggs, the mother incubated them, and they hatched but after about a day she died (today), will the father take care of the babies, would another female bird take care of them if he won't? he never laid on the eggs when they were laid, the female did the majority of the work, he just feed her and protected (watched over) the nest box, so she says. please email ASAP. thanks

Answer
Hi, Gretchen.  Thanks for posting.

No, most likely, the father will not care for the babies.  Caring for babies is the female's job, but it just depends on the individual bird.  

No, another female usually won't care for another females' babies UNLESS the female surrogate already has babies of her own.  Also, the babies to be fostered should be around the same age as that female's babies.  But, again, this also depends on the individual bird.  Some birds will take other's babies in if they also have babies, some won't.  Be careful here because the surrogate female might kill the other keets babies, as well as her own, if you put them together.

With paired parakeets, the male guards the outside of the nestbox and feeds the female while the female cares for the eggs and babies when they hatch.

I'm concerned about why the female died.  If she was sick, perhaps the babies are also sick, even her mate, since they feed one another and the female feeding the babies.

Word of caution - experts on this site have up to 3 days to respond to posts.  If you have an emergency situation in the future, you need to contact a bird veterinarian versus posting a question here.  It may be too late by the time an expert can get to your question.

Chrys