why do birds kill their babies if touched?

[horseman2]

Gulls are "Government Ducks" therefore they thought the chick got a handout and the rest wanted their share.

Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.

And everyone knows a Cuckoo lives in a clock . . . or is that another myth?

 

[Longwalker]

I have observed several songbird nests that were abandoned shortly after being disturbed, but I believe that in most cases a predator was involved. The magpies, grackles, feral cats etc. quickly move in and snatch eggs and young if the female is not there to cover the nest, and once the nest has been raided the female may abandon it. Have seen this happen to warblers, some native sparrows, and swallows. Just my opinion, nothing scientific. Never saw a nesting gull so can't comment on that one.

 

[Joe549]

There are also birds that lay their eggs in another species bird's nest, to have the other mother raise her offspring and thus save her energy and waste the competitors. Can't remember which bird that is though. Could this be part of the instinct to kill the young? It doesn't smell like your own anymore?

And when they grow up they vote liberal or ndp

 

[Wyntera]

We have several species of Gulls in Tbay, Herring Gulls are the most common but there are also lots of Ring Billed Gulls, as well as Thayer Gulls, Franklin Gulls etc. It's possible the baby gull was attacked because it belonged to a different species or colony than the attackers. Also gulls are notoriously opportunistic feeders the adults may have seen an unattended chick as a quick and easy meal, especially if it was sick or injured.

 

[jeffcarr88]

Its something parents say to their kids for two reason...1) not to have them touch the "dirty" birds or 2) to leave the poor birds out of their kids hands who want to "play" with them haha

 

[badgreenbird]

not sure about the exact circumstances in this case... but in general, the human touch = abandonment idea is a myth. Most birds don't have a particularly good sense of smell, but there are many exceptions. Most gulls are colonial nesters and defend a small territory around the nest. Bad things happen to baby gulls (and other colonial nesters) that wander out of their own territory. Watch any documentary on penguins, for example... I can pretty much guarantee that the adults that killed the young chick were not it's parents and it likely had nothing to do with the dockworkers touching it - aside from the fact that maybe the human presence scared the baby into the wrong area or scared the parents away, allowing other adults to peck the youngster. It does sound like a territorial issue since the baby was not eaten.

Many scavenging birds (gulls, crows, even chickens sometimes) will attack any bird they perceive as weak. If it's too weak to get away, it dies.

Hope this helps... and encourages everyone to put the baby robin back in its nest if it falls out...