Susan, this is great news that mama is tending the babies and overcome her fear of the spooker. The main help you can give is the mealworms, but you do not want to overfeed them to the birds. Usually 10 worms per day per bird, twice a day, is about right. They need natural food mainly, with only one parent it will be a little harder for her. There are great instructions on the mealworms sites, such as Rainbow, Grubco, Nature’s Way, the Sialis website, etc. But get a small amount (a cup of 100 or 500) locally and once she learns to eat/feed them you can purchase in bulk online, which is MUCH cheaper. Yes, I hope it was just papa Blue’s time and not the result of pesticides. I had 5 babies my very first year of bluebirding succumb to pesticide poisoning I believe, because they all died at the very same time, one day they were alive and the very next day they were dead. These birds are amazing, aren’t they, the bond they have for their young, and even before they hatch, i.e., to the eggs themselves.
