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Welcome to our forum Berkshire. What Carol from Tennessee says is pretty much on target. You need to verify if this is a House sparrow (HOSP for short) because they can be very destructive to bluebirds and other native birds. They will actually go inside a nest and kill young birds and also trap mother birds who are incubating eggs and kill them and the eggs. http://www.Sialis.org is also a very good site to learn – it is sort of our “Bible” here, but there are other good sites, also. Most people use a sparrow spooker on top of the nestbox where eggs are being laid – this is a devise with bright colored mylar ribbons flying in the wind – keeps sparrow and other birds away, but the parents will accept it AFTER their first egg is laid inside the box. Good luck.
Welcome, Bill like I’ve mentioned we are here to help each other and learn from experiences. This is my 13th year of bluebirding and have had nests all those years, most of the time 3 each season, and once in a while only 2. Right now my pair have two new eggs in nest #3 – I’ve been keeping an eye on it closely the past few days because I thought they were in a big hurry – nest #2 only fledged a week ago and they built in 5 days. We have made all of our boxes, first ones only 4×4 inches – which I had for several years. Then we started making Gilwood boxes with a just little larger floor space because most of the time I had 5 eggs and I thought the babies were too crowded with 5 so we just went a little larger, but not too much – according to most info they prefer a fairly small floor area, but different areas/weather of this big world could make a difference. Anyway, good luck and again, Welcome.
Paul, glad the parents removed the 4 eggs which did not hatch – very strange that many were bad, but great the one is doing well. Do not open the box if it is close to fledging (usually not after day 12) – and at least one will be “a new blue in the sky.” Gin gave you some good thoughts. Glad to hear from you, Gin, but sorry to hear the wren got your eggs.
David, you have done very well with your worm project – yes, we are quite a distance away. Hope your 2nd nesters fledge okay – really a relief when they do as we are pretty much out of the picture after that happens – parents do the teaching. I usually have a 3rd nest – don’t have a clue if that will happen yet.
Oh, Courtney, so sorry about this attack. I’m not real sure about the nest that is there. I believe I would just take out the wren sticks (and keep doing this) and just leave a little of the blue’s nesting material so they will know it is theirs, especially if the blues are still hanging out. OR, maybe it is better to start with a clean box – other people please chime in here with your experience on this matter. Personally I have not had this happen because I usually have on a wren guard. It is hard to imagine those cute little wrens could do so much damage, but apparently they can. I have only had them toss the blues’ eggs on the ground a couple of times before I knew about the wren guards. Come to think about it, is it possible (since the eggs were not found on the ground if this is true) could it be a different intruder – maybe a coon or snake or cat especially if the box is mounted on a wooden pole? I’ve never heard of wrens actually removing the whole nestbox of eggs.
Yep, looks like a new nest being made. Yes, you have to keep on those wrens – they can be very determined when it come nesting time. BUT they are a native and protected bird so we have to be cautious not to harm them. Good luck on the 2nd nesting of blues.
Judi, wow – that is some heat! Let’s think positive and believe they (egg or babies) made it. But sometimes the lessons we learn are a true asset, and we know what to do in the future. Good luck. By the way the four babies in my 2nd nest are mostly in there still – I believe maybe one fledged today (tomorrow is the due date) because we saw parents taking worms up into a large tree instead of to the nestbox. Will wait until maybe Wednesday to check inside, as I have several things going on tomorrow and don’t want to scare one into fledging without mama and papa being there.
Carol, you are correct in that everyone needs to post in the main forum after they introduce themselves in that area.
Paul, welcome to this forum – we are here to help each other as best we can.
A lot depends on when the first egg hatched – was it 1 day ago, 2 days or what? Usually they are only a day or two apart, but weird things do happen. I would leave the other eggs alone for a few days and see what happens. Are you sure this one was a bluebird and not a “drop in”? Sometimes the parent will dispose of an egg that is not viable and then sometimes they leave them in the nest, but this would only be if it were one egg or so left. It would be very strange for that many not to hatch, but then like I mentioned, weird things happen. Keep us informed.
I have lots of starlings, also – they mostly just annoy me by splashing all the water out of my two bird baths and leaving their mess all over everywhere. I’ve seen a few try to get into my bluebird boxes, but of course they cannot fit. Once in a while they have wiggled into my cage feeder where I feed suet in the winter and mealworms in the summer but they quickly leave when I show up. I don’t try to use my repeating trap – I’m getting too old to take care of that and I usually catch everything except what I need to. HOSP I take care of with my VanErt inbox trap.
Chris, your BB parents do exactly as mine do – when I whistle they come from everywhere, due to the fact that all 5 juveniles usually show up also. However, the parents usually get there first to pack up the mealworms and bring out to the 2nd nesters, which are now 11 days old and getting big. I, too, will be ordering another 10,000 worms in the next day or so. Due to the fact of the heat I believe I will order from my other supplier who ships one-day air. Living in Mid-Missouri it is usually too hot to ship by regular mail. I wasn’t ready to order during the cool days because I still had quite a few, enough for a week or so. Yes, your mama is taking the worms to your neighbors yard because that is where the newly fledged are – learning to fly good and how to hunt for their natural food.
Don’t know what to tell you except that blues like open spaces – looks like you have a lot of activity close to the boxes, especially in the front yard with the traffic. Also, 10 foot apart is not enough room for two BB boxes. Check out http://www.sialis.org for great info on placement, etc. They recommend over 100′ apart for boxes (not always possible). Sure would like to see you come up with something so you could enjoy the blues. Maybe just concentrate on finding a spot in the back yard would be better than the front. Good luck. By the way, do you have any luck on your trail with bluebirds?
Great news, Chris – isn’t that a feeling of relief when they are out of the box. My 2nd nesters still have a week or more – was worried about the heat (been in the mid 90’s several days) but supposed to cool down some this coming week. I have a heat shield on and there is nothing more I can do. Parents are feeding them mealworms regularly – I will need to be ordering some more in about a week.
