Do bluebirds store food?

[Dave]

Hello – recently I’ve been feeding the bluebirds in my yard a few meal worms in the morning. I have a big board covering the top of their house for shade that I throw them on. I had some blue bird nuggets I purchased and on the fifth day of giving the meal worms I decided to throw a few nuggets in. I saw the male fly away with one to a branch and I think he bit it and it fell. But then I saw the female take a whole nugget, take it to a branch and lay it there and fly away. Then she went back and got another one and took it to a different branch and flew away. Is she getting rid of them so they’re not on the top of their house or storing them or what? Anybody ever seen this behavior? They love the meal worms.

Thanks!

Sidenote, is there a way to post pictures? I have a really cool one that I captured.

[tamsea]

Are you the Dave whose post I accidentally lost? Sorry.
They could be feeding babies. That’s what it sounds like. They definitely aren’t storing up food.
And they could be removing it from the top of the house too. It’s not a good idea to feed them on the roof of your house as it draws other birds to your nestbox. Put the dish on a plant stand or something that’s high and place or right in front of the nest box. When they find it move it a little further away until it’s where you want it. I feed mine from my patio. Sometimes I throw mealworms right outside my sliding glass door and they come right up to it. That would be fun for you.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by tamsea.

Tammy

[tamsea]

The photo situation here isn’t ideal. I haven’t figured out how I want to do it. I used to use a Photobucket but that isn’t an option anymore. I’ll let others give info on that. You have to use another website and share your photos from there.
I think some use Imgur.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by tamsea.

Tammy

[Dave]

Not sure if I’m the Dave. No worries.

Haven’t had a problem with other birds but yeah I was going to move it tomorrow. I think they know I might have food now so it will be easier.

[Carol – Mid-Mo.]

Agree with Tammie totally about putting food on top of their nest box – NO, NO! I believe their “treats” should be away from their house so as not to draw other undesirables (HOSP, wren, etc). Mine is on my back patio/upper deck and I can watch from the kitchen window. The parents will pick up the worms or suet, stuff some in their beak and then bring it to the little ones or eat some first and then bring it to babies (ha, ha). I have 5 new babies and parents have been feeding them well, and the other juveniles from nest #1 are all eating out of the cage feeder on my deck, so I am going through worms right and left. Good luck.

[David in Stafford,VA]

I also agree with everyone about the food on the box. Not a good idea, especially if you have HOSP or Wrens around. They like the mealworms and can make life miserable for the bluebirds.
For photos I use imgur.com. Easy to set up an account and upload photos. I use the “copy” on the BBCode link” to post the photos here.

David
Stafford, VA

[Dana]

I was gonna say bluebirds don’t have the cheeks to store food like Chipmunks do. (lol bad joke I know)

Dana

[Dave]

I get it, and as I stated I was gonna move it and did. I monitored it until they were finished but basically did it just so they would notice them. Thanks for advice. Going to try the photo, I have a pretty cool one.

[Author]

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