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No, do not remove the eggs at this time – EXPECIALLY if mama is still brooding the eggs. If they are not good, they will remove them usually. P.S. I believe there is a rule about candling the eggs to see if the eggs are viable – then and ONLY then would you be allowed to remove them. Check out Sialis.org and you may find this info. to be sure.
Yes, this has always been a delicate situation & it is not for anyone who cannot deal with the necessary action. I could not understand this problem until I began giving Bluebird video presentations and in getting the necessary pictures (with permission of course) and seeing the dead bluebirds and others which the HOSP had destroyed, I understood the necessity. (P.S. we used a BB gun at first but then discovered the Van-Ert inbox trap) & besides my DH wasn’t too good of a shot with the BB gun! (HA HA).
No- just moving them someplace IS NOT the answer. Good luck Meredith & others.Meredith, my theory is to let them start building a nest and then BEFORE it is complete (they put in lots of sticks but you don’t want to wait until there is an egg) take out most of the nest but leaving some of THEIR sticks so they will return. I have done this for over a month now while my nest box #1 and #2 are still in use by the blues. I just returned this morning from taking out sticks which were almost 3/4 full in the box and just left about 1-2 inches in the bottom for its “stake”. But this is only workable if you have more than one box. Good luck.
P.S. If you don’t see any blues around you could plug up the hole, but then you might miss a chance for them to grab the nest.Glad they came back, Phillyblues – I believe this is an unusual thing – them leaving a nest so long before laying eggs but sounds like they knew the weather was not right. Good luck.
PhillyBlues – Nice picture of that beautiful oriole. I have had the Baltimore orioles feed from my hummingbird feeder (just sugar water) for several years (even the female) and also had had the Orchard Orioles, which are not nearly as colored/beautiful. Thanks for sharing. (I’m too stingy to put out the real oranges, as I eat them myself! ) Also, congrats on your first BB egg.
Julie, thanks for the info but I don’t believe I will be using this “shield” – for about 14 years now I have had good luck with the regular wooden boxes – and using the sparrow SPOOKER and wren guard after 1st egg is laid, and a heat shield when needed in mid-summer. Whatever works the best for each person is the way to go I believe – not right for every one and every place always.
E. Tennessee Carol – Good luck with your Chickadee nest. You are on target about putting up these deterrents AFTER the 1st egg is laid – the theory being that once that first egg is laid they are committed to the nest/box and will usually not be bothered by them. Exception might be with a very new mama bird getting used to these deterrents.
You never know for sure – my pair had another nest started in the same box just a day or two after fledging of 1st nest. Usually they have one started fairly quick but not always. Have you looked in your other box yet? I usually do not put on a sparrow spooker until the first egg is laid – then put it up and also a wren guard if possible. I am not familiar with the type of sparrow shield you are talking about – never heard of this shield. If you have been feeding mealworms they will more than likely return – but if not, they may go elsewhere. Others need to chime in here.
Congrats – doesn’t that feel good to have them out of the box and hopefully in the trees.
As far as the dried mealworms (which are NOT to be fed to the babies) are concerned, now that they have been eating the live worms they probably will not like the dried. There are several good companies where you can purchase the live worms – I usually purchase the batch of 10,000 worms and that will last me about 2 or 3 months after babies fledge and join the parents into a family. You can get smaller amounts but shipping will add up so I buy a lot at once. They do need to be fed about every 10 days or so (just take them out of the fridge with some sliced carrots on top of the bedding, which is usually wheat bran).
Good luck on a new nesting.Sorry, Meredith, for your loss in the nestbox. Like David says, it could be either one of these, wren or HOSP (house sparrow). While I was new to bluebirding (around 14 years ago) I had to learn the hard way – found eggs on the ground and/or eggs in the nest which had been destroyed. I quickly learned about the sparrow spooker and wren guard – they are really a necessity. However, it does not JUST HAPPEN – sometimes your bluebirds will balk at something new, but after those precious eggs are laid, they are truly committed to the nest and will usually come around – but sometimes not.
Hang in there and good luck.Thanks, Julie – no 6th egg yet but have not spotted mama going in to incubate – maybe later this afternoon. Yes, 5 eggs is not too common but usually 4 is what most lay – but different locations make a difference, also. Yeah, that wren hasn’t gotten the idea yet (yeah!) – this morning I checked the box and it was almost half full of sticks, which I promptly took out at least half. I ALMOST feel sorry for the little thing – it is working so hard, but they shouldn’t be so mean to our precious bluebirds (throwing eggs on the ground or pecking a hole in them – have had this happen a FEW times, actually probably before I knew about a wren guard or didn’t get one on in time.
