eNature: Ask an Expert

Ask an Expert

Red-winged blackbird

Yesterday I noticed a fledgling calling out on my lawn, so I sat back to see what kind of bird would come to feed it. A male red winged blackbird arrived eventually, and fed it (at least I thought so at the time) and seemed to push it back into the bushes. Today, I found the fledgling dead in the bushes. Is it possible that the red winged blackbird killed the fledgling? Could this be part of defending territory? Or could the fledgling have died of exposure? It could have been a robin baby, since I've never seen a red-winged blackbird baby ... I'm very curious. Please let me know.

It is not possible for me to tell you what killed the baby bird. However, if it was a baby red-winged blackbird, and the adult was feeding it, it would not have kill it. Any of a dozen predators could have killed it. A full 80 percent of all baby birds do not live one year, and this one was one of the unfortunate ones. That's the way it is in nature.