- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 5 months, 3 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Good Morning. I live in Montana and have a blue bird nesting box. We experience many of the same invasive birds here that you have on the east coast. We have Tree Swallows, Song Sparrows and Magpies all who try to takeover the nest boxes or kill the babies. I have noticed that the female blue bird hasn’t been seen in over a week. The male continues to bring food back to the box and remove any waste. Do any of you have any suggestions on what we can do to make sure the male doesn’t give up on the nest or over extend himself. I feel if he makes it another week they will fledge the nest
Doc
Hi, Doc. Welcome. The males can successfully feed and fledge babies as long as they don’t get wooed by another female. You can offer live mealworms to your male bluebird but getting him to find them is a trick. Mine come to my sliding glass door and I’ll throw mealworms on the concrete patio. If there’s Robins around I put the mealworms in the mealworm feeder. I would put mealworms in a white dish on a planter stand or something close to where you see him perch. So he can look down at the planter stand where ever he is Put only a few, because another bird may find them. There’s a good chance he’ll find them because he’s desperately looking for food. Once he finds them you can gradually move the contraption closer. You get mealworms at Pet Supply stores. But they are expensive that way but you may want to start off doing that since you aren’t sure he’ll take them and it’s only for a week. Actually he may take them from you after the babies fledge. The Eastern Bluebirds teach their babies how to hunt for a couple of weeks and the first few days feed them. I have some new fledgling right now and the parents are feeding them mealworms.
Later, you can buy them in bulk from the internet. I buy 5,000 and they last me for months when stored in the fridge and taken out occasionally to give them food and moisture.Tammy
Thank you for the info on the
Mill worms. I have found dry worms but no live ones. I’ll keep lookingDoc
Good and bad news on an update. The male stayed with 2 fledgling s who left the box two days ago. He stayed with them and they all left today. I went to the box to find the female dead. She apparently died in the box for an unknown reason. It was amazing to watch the male continue after this occurred
Aww…so sorry. That’s why it is good to do regular box checks. A dead bird inside a box of babies a lot of times ends in the death of the babies too. I check once or twice a week until the babies are 12 days old.
Did you see any wounds that would be the evidence of a house sparrow attack etc? Maybe next year you could get a photo of your Mountain Bluebirds. We had one that was out of normal range here in the Toledo, OH area a few years ago. I didn’t see it but I heard about it.Tammy
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.