Home › Forums › Bluebird Chatter › Bluebirds behaving strangely
- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by tamsea.
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April 9, 2017 at 9:23 pm #3532
Hi, I’ve been hosting bluebirds in my backyard for about 12 years and have 4 young in a nest box now. They are 2-3 days old. Late this evening I noticed the parents acting strangely. They fly up to the box and hover in front flapping their wings. At one time they were both hovering at the same time. I went and checked everything out and couldn’t find anything wrong. I never saw either one go in the box. They seem like something is wrong. I appreciate any input.
Thanks,
Martha-Martha
April 9, 2017 at 11:13 pm #3534The only time this happened to me there was a snake attack going on and I was too dumb to open the box and investigate. It was late evening and I just assumed it was because they were close to fledging. Like within days. Thank God you checked! I felt guilty forever!
April 10, 2017 at 1:16 am #3542Are you sure there aren’t any bees or ants in there? Wasps will build nest on top of inside at times. I would’ve definitely thought snake like Lisa said, but glad you checked it out.
Nicole
April 10, 2017 at 8:29 am #3544Martha, bees or ants is definitely a possibility if you ruled out snake by actually looking inside box. Like Nicole said, wasps will build on the inside of the top of box.
April 10, 2017 at 9:14 am #3547Thank you for the input. I checked the inside top of the box for wasps. I didn’t see anything at all. I didn’t think about ants. My husband said they had been coming and going from the box all day. I even wiped the hole out with a paper towel in case there was a spider web there.
Sadly I had to leave for work before light this morning. I’m praying the problem will be resolved today.
Thank you again.Martha
-Martha
April 10, 2017 at 1:19 pm #3551Good News! My husband went home and said they are going in and out of the house like nothing is wrong!
-Martha
April 10, 2017 at 6:10 pm #3557That is great they are going in, Martha. To keep the ants from getting into the box you need to put about a 2-3″ strip of thick grease (like axle grease or heavy petroleum) around the metal pole, maybe 6″ down from the box. The ants cannot cross this thick layer of grease and will not be able to get into the box, which for newborn babies can be harmful. If you do not use axle grease, which will not wash away, you may have to apply the light grease after it rains. I had ants one year and this worked well.
P.S. reread your reply and the above not absolutely necessary but is sometimes used as a precaution. It is the time of year for ants.April 10, 2017 at 7:14 pm #3560Thank you Carol. I’ll do that. I’ve never had an ant problem but there’s a first time for everything.
-Martha
April 10, 2017 at 8:29 pm #3561So glad for a happy ending!!!!
April 12, 2017 at 3:36 pm #3619Martha, you are actually opening the box and looking in, correct? I didn’t want to just assume that.
Tammy
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