Subject: Sad backyard story
Date: May 16 07:19:47 1996
From: Wes Jansen - wjansen at u.washington.edu


My wife and I were saddened to discover a dead chick in a nesting box that
was being used by a pair of Chestnut-backed chickadees. The box is
located on a pine tree about two feet above the backyard fence. The
nesting pair were making frequent trips to a suet feeder in a tree near
our dining room window. Rosi (my wife) speculates that the chick wasn't
getting enough moisture from a suet-based diet, and may have dehydrated.
Any thoughts on this? Also how do chicks of seed-eating only birds get
enough moisture?

wjansen