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Susan, I can feel your pain, but we must remember these are wild birds – yes there are many predators out there and therefore the survival rate of new blues is pretty low. However, if you look at the statistics from the NABS the number of bluebirds has rises almost steadily since 1978 and this in large is due to people putting out nestboxes and trying to help them. Before this time they were almost on the endangered list. We do all we can to help, and yes, it is sometimes heartbreaking, but we must not give up. By the way, those two that you did not find remains of are probably out there somewhere. I see 4 of my 5 last fledglings all the time, and only once in a while do I see that 5th one. Come on, now, you can do it.
Randy, wow that is quite a box. On their website it gives dimensions of 8″x8″x12″tall. I’m sure that is overall dimensions, but I was wondering what the actual floor size is? Seems like that would be a very large floor size. Sure glad your mama is back and okay – we were all pulling for her.
I have not had this happen, but there have been some (probably several) here that have had this happen. It would be cool to see.
Congrats to your new fledglings! My 3rd brood is due to hatch in about a week. Juveniles from last nesting & parents are at the worms bowl every day – such a joy to see all the family together. I suspect that parents will not let them be eating at the worm bowl much longer when they know there will be 4 more mouths to feed soon. Hope your 3rd brood happens!
Cari, I imagine she is just taking a break, she says “After all, I sat on this nest for 14 days, now it is your turn for a while”. I imagine you are just missing her “few” trips to feed.
Hopefully there are no HOSP eggs yet. In-box trapping is what you need to do, but I can understand your thought about them going on a rampage last time. Normally, if there is a nest started, you need to leave it alone, unless there is a lot of nesting material, and set a Van-Ert trap. I do not take out the nest completely at this point and it keeps the pair busy at this box & not the blues’. 9 times out of 10 you will catch one of the HOSP right away. If it is the female you catch, leave the nesting material in there and the male HOSP will bring in a new mate to that nest. If it is the male (Whoopee!) you can then take out the nest as the female will not return without the male. This works great for me, however all situations are different. If you do not have a trap the same principle will work – just keep a pair busy at that box until your blues fledge. But this doesn’t get rid of the HOSP. Good luck.
Susan, since you have blue eggs still, I would remove the extra box from the pole completely. Correct that TRES do not have more than one brood a year as a rule. Congrats on the one pairing success!
Susan, 6 eggs is a little rare, but I remember here on this forum one BB pair had 7 eggs, but I don’t remember if they went on to hatch or what. 7 would be way too many in a regular size box and 6 would be a tight fit I believe.
Susan, it is better to wait until closer to noon to check for new eggs – most lay them earlier BUT not always, and you would not want to scare her off the nest in the middle of egg-laying because she could drop it & break it. I, too, get anxious to peek and this year I checked at 11:30 a.m. and she was on the nest but no new egg that day. BUT next day she laid the 4th egg. So I am not sure if that is what happened here, scared her off in the middle of laying an egg. But she is incubating 4 eggs now. Thankfully.
I believe it will fledge today or the next. This occasionally happens but if parents are still coming to box to feed it, all is well I believe. But it wouldn’t hurt to keep close eye on it – is it peeking out of the hole? We had one person on this forum just about a week or two ago had one baby left in the box and it had something stuck on the bottom of its foot, hindering its exit.
