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There is no practical way to incubate the eggs – even if they were hatched, something (parents or other birds) needs to show them how to hunt for food & stay away from predators. There are song bird rehabbers which sometimes will try to save young ones, but they aren’t always able to be successful. I had 4 eggs hatch one time after mama died or was killed, after they had no incubation for 2 or 3 days! Papa was still around but would not feed the babies because he knew they needed mama for the first few days of life. I contacted a rehabber in Kansas City area but she did not give me much hope for them and they perished. They are now buried in our garden. Just clean out box & hope for a nest – good luck. And yes, put up a proper baffle & keep box a good distance from fences or trees where predator can climb or jump, as David says.
Evie, it might really be a bluebird nest – you need to give it a few days to see. My pair of blues this spring built a nest which I questioned might be a HOSP nest because it was not as neat as usual and with more coarse grass, but it had a nice cup. Watch closely to see if the HOSP are around or if the bluebirds are building. I know it is hard to watch all the time – but early morning is usually when I find most building goes on – first 2-3 hours after daylight. I still believe it was a snake which got your babies, or the nest would have been disturbed. Keep us posted.
Donna, I guess I questioned this because my boxes are in full sun and it gets very hot inside those boxes in the summertime. I always use Styrofoam heat shield on nests (being sure not to cover my ventilation areas) if they are active in June and further out. Maybe up North there you don’t have the heat we have here in the Midwest in the summertime. But I really think a Gilwood needs that extra top ventilation is you were to use a wren guard, as I always do. But maybe it does still get quite a bit of air even with the guard on – I don’t know. P.S. my wren guard does have sides, but they do not cover up the existing ventilation slots on my boxes.
David, I believe the method used here is to grease your pole underneath the box with axel grease or petroleum jelly (axel grease will last all season), thus preventing the ants from getting into the box. Just put enough of a ring around the pole to stop the traffic, maybe 1/2″ or so. As far as the current box, I would believe you need to either do a nest change or put something under the nest, which is safe for the birds but kills the ants. Someone else needs to chime in here, because I’m not sure what this product is. Guess the question is, are there eggs/babies, or just a nest? Would be a whole lot easier is there were no eggs or babies. Gin, Tammy . . .???? what do you think?
Thanks, Gin – I gave this info to the gal who told me this. She just told me that it WAS a starling’s nest & egg, so the mystery is solved. She & her husband are really into taking care of their martins & bluebirds and use justifiable means to dispose of the two species who harm their birds.
Evie, I’m so sorry about this, after all the problems you have had. I would suspect that it was a snake, but I’ve not personally had this happen. With the nest not being disturbed & no marks on your baffle, this would be the logical culprit. Yes, there is a way to post a picture, and Cher has good instructions, under the “posting tips” thread. I would imagine maybe your baffle was not set up properly or something, don’t know. But I feel your heartbreak – I’m holding my breath until my babies, which are just 4 days old, get a little older & bigger, as I have a house wren around. Don’t give up, maybe there will be a 2nd nesting – not sure about your area.
Cool to see a Western landlord on this forum! About their “shabby” nest, my newer pair (3rd year for them) I have noticed their nests aren’t the really neat, fine grasses/pine needles as my previous pair. In fact a couple of times I have mistaken their beginnings as HOSP nest because of all the coarse grass, but it did lack all the junk of HOSP so I really watched close & finally decided it was the blues’ nest, and now have 5 baby blues. About the time we have these “wild” birds figured out, they change directions! P.S. This newer Eastern BB pair also are a LOT slower in their 1st nest building & laying of eggs. Good luck with your western pair.
Thanks, all. Gin, I sure hope you are right about that wren. So far I have not seen it try to go in the box, but then again I do not watch 24/7.
David is absolutely correct – clean out box now. They usually want to build a new nest & start fresh. P.S. Many site also recommend a very light bleach solution when washing out the box and then rinse it very well. I always do this, as one time a nest of TRES (which all 5 perished) had mites in it when we cleaned out box after the babies died (probably from the mites). They were crawling all over us – UGH!! Doesn’t cost anything and leaves box disinfected for next nest. Just BE SURE to rinse it very well with clear water & Leave out in sun to dry good. P.S. Yeah, I know – out in the wild no one washes out their nesting site, but then again this is what we are trying to do is improve on nature, aren’t we?
Donna, I believe Cher is correct – it depends on the birds. As I recall in all my 9 seasons I have caught one bluebird with my VanErt – it flew away unflustered (I was more upset that it was). And as far as I remember, they did come back & nest, although it has been quite some time ago. I believe I would have remembered if they had deserted the area. Good luck.
Scot, day 20 after hatching is quite a long time, but I’m sure it has happened before. 17-19 days is the norm I believe, so it is not much behind. There is not much you can do at this point except wait, especially when parents are still feeding it. As far as them beginning another nest in a not so safe box, that, too, is pretty much something you have no control of, especially if there is an actual nest began. Sure hope that lone baby flies away in a day or so! Drama for sure . . . .
This is so sad, Keith. I’m sure you and Gin are correct in that this was not the father of the babies – just too bad that the mom disappeared/died also. They just do not abandon their babies for no reason (probably better than some humans). The only time I had something similar was about 5 years ago when my mama bluebird was incubating 4 or 5 eggs, about two days from hatching, and she disappeared or died. Well, the papa was still around, hanging out around the nest, but of course, not able to incubate. Well, these eggs hatched WITHOUT being incubated for 2 or 3 days. The papa was still around but would not feed the babies. I tried desperately to find a rehabber who would take these babies, and found one in Kansas City, about 75 miles from me. But she gave me no hopes of the birds making it without never having been fed by their mother, so they perished & I buried them in my garden. Very heartbreaking. Things just happen – pick up and wait for the next nesting. Good luck.
This is heart-breaking & very perplexing. Were there any marks on the babies? It would be very unlikely that both parents would just disappear & abandon the babies for no reason. Is it possible that someone did some spraying in your area & maybe the babies got a dose & they died from that? Maybe the parents knew there was something wrong with them. I do know that something similar happened to be 9 years ago, when one day the 5 babies were perfectly okay, & the next day they were all dead. Parents did not abandon them, but only logical thing we could come up here is insect/herbicide spraying. There were no marks on my babies. I could understand 1 or 2 dying but when all perish, it is hard to figure it out. So sorry. Someone else – chime in here.
