Birds Nest In Backyard - suddenly gone.

Question
QUESTION: Hi there - we had a birds nest in our backyard, right outside our back door on top of our speaker system.  I saw the mommy and daddy flying around (or so i assume) and we heard and saw the babies especially in the morning.  We heard the babies for the first time on Sunday.  I saw the babies yesterday trying to fly away...spreading his wings and such and i was afraid that it would fall and my dog would get it.  Today, when i checked for the nest - the nest was completely gone - no traces of anything anywhere...i was heartbroken and near tears trying explain to my 7 year old where the nest went.  What do you think happened to the entire nest?  Is it too hopeful to think the birds flew away we their mommy?  I just don't know what could have taken the entire nest?  We live kind of in the mountains...we have owls and crows everywhere...raccoons and squirrel's but it was pretty high up.  please help me to figure out what happened...

Thank you!

ANSWER: some birds take other nest materials to build their own nests.

the babies dont return to the nest once they leave so it is ok.

a larger bird or a small animal might have taken the nest to build his own nest.

thank you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I appreciate you getting back to me.  Do you think that the baby birds flew away or do you think something ate them and took the nest?  The baby bird when i saw it trying to fly was fairly big - i'm trying to figure out if the baby birds were fine or if they were killed.

Thanks again for taking the time out to help me.

Answer
Thank you for your question.


Baby birds start to fly when their primary wing feathers grow in. This occurs at different ages for different species. Songbirds tend to mature quickly and may be out of the nest in two to three weeks.

The birds must have had feathers to fly.

Thank you.