mama house finch left nest unattended tonight… is this normal?
i only became emotionally invested in this little house finch brood in the past week or so (because i no longer have a practice space to play my drums and a shit ton of new free time LOL), so i don’t know how old the chicks are. i’m also completely new to dealing with wild finches and can’t seem to find any info on how soon mamas feel comfortable leaving them alone throughout the night. she was still sittin’ on ‘em just last night.
i blended some microwaved-from-frozen green beans (no other ingredients on the package) with water and the tiniest smidgen of nutritional yeast, and added an ice cube to cool it down for tonight. also set out a shallow tray with cool water. if mama is still feeding them, i hope they’ll appreciate it. if she isn’t, we’d like to know ASAP if i need to take them to a shelter or, if they’re too common for most shelters to accept, to care for them ourselves.
we’re in Austin, Texas, so night temperatures are eminently survivable but the days are approaching scorching.
also i hope i didn’t traumatize them with my camera flash but there is too much sadness for me to handle potential dead finch babies rignt now