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17 days has always been my number for 9 years, and most years average 2.5 successful fledgings. I believe one time I had one late fledge the next day. By the way I am in mid-Missouri so I imagine our weather patters are similar. My pair of blues were VERY late this year – just now in the 7th day of incubation and usually I would have had some fledge by now.
Lyndsey, do you have another box to put this trap in? I would not put it in the box where your blues are trying to build a nest, as you would probably catch one of the blues. It is very helpful to have 1 or even 2 extra boxes to trap these HOSP in – keeps them busy at a different box than where the blues have a nest. After the HOSP finds a mate and they just have the starting of a nest is the time to catch them. If the blues ever finish their nest & lay an egg, this is the time to put up the sparrow spooker, which is a good deterrent for HOSP, but not always 100% effective. The Sialis website has good info on this.
Lyndsey, been there-done that! (Obsession & driving hubby crazy) Nine seasons ago was my first at even seeing a bluebird & that very 1st year of putting up 2 boxes I had a pair almost immediately. For 6 seasons after that I had 3 nestings each year from same male & about 3 females. My new pair, I believe to be offspring of that male, only have been having 2 broods per year. Amazing at how many blues you are seeing. Have fun & good luck.
Deb, that clearance on the wren guard MUST be at least 2 1/2″, and I have learned (from here) that 3″ is better. Probably need more clearance at bottom than at the top if yours is not exactly level. My current nestbox (Gilwood style) has a wren guard with almost 3″ clearance from hole & she is able to swoop right under with no trouble at all. I’m sure this would be why yours is not going in. You need to put some sort of spacer between the box top and the guard to make it extend out more – just unscrew the guard & put in any sort of 1″ spacer & then screw it back in . Apparently your roof is not long enough – I have done this spacer thing several times with success. I, too, use a thin piece of wood (cedar) which extends just below the hole but it must have a minimum clearance of 2 1/2″ and better with 3″. You need to do this as quickly as possible so she will be able to lay the rest of her eggs! Good luck.
What can I say, Lyndsey, other than they just cannot make up their minds sometimes! Last year & year before that my pair built THREE entire nests (in different boxes) before choosing one to lay eggs in – drove me crazy. He is supposed to choose the box site, and she HAS to agree/like it (just like all females) or she will want to go elsewhere. The fluttering of wings is called “wing-waving” and is definitely part of the courtship process. As far as the male removing nesting material, sometimes maybe a young/new female just does not know exactly what she should be putting in the nest? Maybe he doesn’t like her “furnishings” and is telling her to do better. I don’t really know, since I don’t believe I have seen my male remove any nest material. Isn’t it fun trying to figure them out!! Congrats on the successful fledging of 1st nest. My pair were VERY late this year – had 5 eggs laid in mid-April – something happened to mama so they were no good. Papa found different mate & now they have 5 eggs being incubated.
David, what kind of heat shield is that? I do use shields on the 2nd nesting usually. I use Styrofoam on 2 sides & top, with spacers. Glad some of your blues fledged – hope the rest make it out okay.
Well, final 5th egg laid today & mama is incubating. I was a nervous wreck after I found those first 2 eggs because I had no spooker or wren guard up. AND there are definitely both species around. But I put up spooker after she laid 3rd egg (I found the 2 eggs in early evening & no time to get it up), she accepted it well, and then wren guard up after the 4th. Both parents had no trouble accepting these “new” housing items, which is what I was worried about. Well, now I have 14 days to let her do her job. Hoping for the best.
Evie, on the carrots, apple or potato slices – I just slice VERY THIN slices of carrots & put on top of the bedding, depending on size of container – I just scatter them maybe 3/4″ apart over top – I know when they are really hungry/thirsty they will eat all this up and then I put in some more! You do need to be sure to take out any leftover vegies before you refrigerate again, or it will get gummy inside the box. When I buy 10,000 bulk worms, I package them in smaller, flat plastic containers (5 or 6) with very small holes drilled in top. According to some worm instructions or Sialis website the bedding & worms should not be over 1 1/2 deep in each container, but I believe others have gotten by with larger boxes of worms??? I would really be interested in this last statement, as I would prefer not to have but 1 or 2 containers in my refrig!!
It very well may be a new couple, or papa may have a new mate – I would almost bet this is the case, since they were gone so long. If this is the case, don’t believe she would lay eggs in a nest she did not build. I had the similar situation this past week – I believe my regular mama of 5 eggs went MIA also, probably got killed or died. Nest was not touched, so I believe something got her. Papa found new mate – & they were very much “in the mood” with all the wing-waving going on. But she never did nest/lay eggs anywhere (I don’t believe). I removed the eggs from old nest after a week and being positive they were no good (put dots on top & were not being rotated & no one going in box at all). I left the nest in for a few days, but was told here that a new female will usually not build or lay in another bird’s nest. So I removed it, and this pair is definitely interested now.
In your situation I believe I would wait a while to see what happens.Don’t believe there is anything more you can do – sometimes things are out of our human hands. Hang in there. The only thing I thought of is to have a songbird rehabber name & phone number ready in case mama cannot keep up with the feeding & the babies begin failing badly. But this would be an extreme thing to do & only as a last resort. Others, chime in here – puppygromer needs help.
Yes, oatmeal is also used as a bedding/food I believe. It is just a little harder to sift out when feeding them to the birds, but then again that probably is not necessary. I used to use both oatmeal & wheat bran mixed, and it was fine – like I say just harder to sift worms out with the oatmeal. I bought from Grubco for about 7 years & now I switched to Nature’s Way, also from Ohio. Seems like their shipping methods are much better to where I live, but their worms are about the same size, price, etc. as Grubco. Amazing that your worms stayed that long from last summer to March – did you not have any blues to feed during that period?
Yes, this is sad – but those week-old babies are big enough that mama can feed them some mealworms, but they will still need natural food. You are doing a big, big favor by helping her. Like you say, maybe papa will reappear – good luck.
Evie, on the large numbers of worms you have on hand, you are aware that you need to take them out of fridge at least every 2 weeks, some places say every week, for about 24 hours to let them eat the bran bedding, and also put in some carrot slices or potato slices for their moisture. I almost always buy 10,000 bulk worms, then package them in containers (with air vents) after they have eaten after being shipped. They will last 2-3 months at least this way. There will be a few dead ones, but this is perfectly normal. I, too, have a bunch right now as my pair’s first 5 eggs were no good and they have not built a new nest yet, I don’t think, unless this new mama laid some in a neighbor’s box or something. Therefore, no babies to feed at this time. UGH!
Deb, so sorry – this is truly a sad thing when the papa is still fluttering around when he knows something is wrong with his eggs. My papa bird did the exact thing about 8-9 days ago when he knew all 5 eggs were not viable – mama was wanting to go in to incubate and he was chasing her off the hole. Donna, I had not heard this about a pair not nesting in the same box where they had a failed nest. When I removed the bad eggs I did leave their beautiful nest in it because they had began another nest but were not finishing it. And they have been guarding both boxes like crazy. I am at a loss as what to do – the weather has turned off very cool here, and I keep thinking they are waiting on warmer weather, but May is almost here. P.S. I just looked in the 1st box where the 5 failed eggs were and noticed that the cup of the nest seemed to be lightly lined with something very fine, like feathers but not really – maybe like down. But I have only seen blues at this box. The 2nd nest in the Gilwood box had a nice cup at one time, but it seemed to be flattened as I mentioned in my other thread. Looks like a lot of us need a dose of good luck this year.
