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Not a clue here, Rich. Both of my blues feed the offspring, either in the trees or in the cage feeder. Your dad may have a 2nd gal, but it’s not that likely – they are pretty much faithful to their mate. P.S. I don’t hear my blues sing, although my hearing isn’t the best. (But I sure hear the wrens sing!)
East Tennessee Carol – those babies are probably “playing dead” – a thing that is very common when we open the boxes to check on them. The first time this happened to me (a long, long time ago) I posted on this forum “My babies are dead, my babies are dead”. I was informed about this “playing dead” act and now know. They know we are not parents bringing food and are fearful it is someone to hurt them. BUT, this is not always the case, especially with this heat, but I’d bet that they are okay – hope so. Keep us informed.
Cher, we can’t thank you enough for all you do to keep this forum running – we all know how difficult things can be at times, and this BB forum helps many keep an upbeat outlook on life in general, something that is hard to do with the world’s craziness in general. Personally, I have had no trouble posting since that one time when we had all that junk all over the forum.
Again, thank you and also Tammy for all you do to keep us “going”.Well, after my panic attack I finally actually watched papa and mama at the nestbox – he went on top of the box and she went inside and stayed. Several hours later I actually caught them again in early evening when he went to box and she came out. It was somewhat cooler today (just in lower 90’s) so maybe the heat does have a bearing.
P.S. yes, being able to watch them from my kitchen window is great. Thanks for your thought about mama being smart – she really was.Lisa, good job on getting the non-viable egg out – and great the babies are getting fat on the mealworms – just remember they are a treat and not meant to be their main diet. I had to cut back on feeding the worms because of the shortage in getting them. I went from feeding two times a day to one time and they seem to be hunting good on their own so I am not worried – the five juveniles are very large now and I could not feed all the blues plus I have five more in the box being incubated now. They don’t seem to mind but are definitely ready for them at the evening meal. I probably don’t have enough worms but for a couple weeks (even after getting more at a fairly local Pet Smart store $$$$$ – don’t want to do that much!!! If the weather ever cools off some I may be able to get my five or ten thousand like I normally do – come October I will be switching to peanut butter suet!
Glad for the fledging of your blues – BUT they need a lesson in keeping the boxes clean, don’t they?
Lisa. glad you got up some sort of heat shield – 1″ Styrofoam is probably the best choice. As far as the unhatched egg, it is recommended to leave it alone – it will usually get pushed down into the nest – however I believe you could remove it if you are absolutely sure it is not going to hatch. Good luck!
Yes, I have tried the umbrella a few times – too much wind here – it is gusty all the time and just blows the umbrella down or inside out! But thanks for the suggestion.
Sounds like you have things under control – good for you! I am concerned about my nest #3 which is in full sun (not supposed to put them too close to a tree where snakes could crawl down and onto the box). I have very good heat shields on it and that is about all I can do. I have had these boxes up in the same spots for lots of years and the blues seem to take to the open territory. Also been trapping some HOSP in the extra boxes and also keeping the wrens busy putting sticks in a box or two. AIN’T THIS FUN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT ALL THESE THINGS!
In reviewing my post above, Vanessam, I noticed a slight error, the dead air space is between 1/2 to 1 inch from the box itself – more is better but 1/2″ is the most used I believe. Hope you understand – if not let me know. The heat shields are really a lifesaver!
So sorry, Vanessam – if you live in the Dallas area you would definitely need to put a heat shield on your box – even here in Mid-Missouri the temps are in the 90’s and I have put on my heat shield for my 3rd nest box. A heat shield definitely will keep the temps down inside the box by a lot (there are statistics on this) – BUT it MUST have at least a 1 inch dead air space between the box and the shield or else it will just make the box hotter. You can check at http://www.sialis.org for more information on this. Others may chime in on this matter for you. Good luck. (P.S. I use Styrofoam as my heat shield but others may use different material.) Oh, the shield needs to be on the south side, west side and top of the box (those receiving the most sun).
Glad they hatched, Chris. You need to try to stop that leak in the box – that is not a good thing at all – also probably need to put up some kind of heat shied (with appropriate 1/2 inch dead air space between the box & shield). The shield needs to be on the south and west sides and top of the box. My mama will be laying her 2nd egg on this 3rd nesting today and I will be putting up the heat shield and wren guard – it will be in the upper 90 degrees here in mid-Missouri. For good information on this go to http://www.sialis.org. Good luck.
Lisa, you need to have a heat shield on the box when it gets to around 90 degrees – not hard to do but does take some work. Basically you need to put some type of shield (preferably styrofoam) on the west and south sides and top of the box, with appropriate (1/2 inch) dead air space between the box and shield. See http://www.sialis.org for information. Good luck. Hope others jump in here to give their information.
