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Tim, normally, from what I have read about the Bluebirds and what I have seen with my nests, the female starts to sit on the eggs for 14 days after the last egg is laid. So if your final egg was on April 27, she would be sitting on the eggs until May11 or 12. The female will be on and off the nest during that time but mostly on if the temps stay that low. She may come off periodically to feed and definitely on all night. I have seen my male bird bring food to the nest box while she is still sitting.
Try not to disturb her while she is nesting.David
Stafford, VAVery happy for you. Mine are due to fledge tomorrow (Wednesday May 6). I hope to get photos also.
David
Stafford, VAHere is day 5 for the new hatchlings. I do not see the 5th bird. It may be under these. This is around 4:30 in the afternoon. I did not see the parent birds around. but they seem to be feeding the young from the mealworm feeder.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Tim. Our weather has been strange this year also. Last week we had 3 90 degree days and the rest in the mid 80’s. Today it is in the 50’s with a possible freeze watch for the next couple of days.
David
Stafford, VAThanks Tim. What a year. Take it easy for the rest of the year and enjoy the young and the adult birds.
David
Stafford, VAYou haven’t said hoe close your nest box is from other structures and trees. If you have the space you should have more that 50 feet from the box to the nearest structure/trees to keep snakes, squirrels and other predators from dropping on them. Hawks need some space to begin an attack on it’s prey, so keep that in mind when siting the nestbox.
David
Stafford, VAI think that you are on the right track, JTL. You have a nestbox up and if you have seen Bluebirds in your yard or residential area, a pair will find it. Blues usually have 2 or 3 nestings each year. Sometimes you will get a pair of birds that have lost prior mates and find box for a final brood.
I feed my bluebirds live mealworm exclusively and year round since I raise the mealworms. I have a bag of dried mealworms that they do not touch. I might try to put them in a suet mix for the winter.David
Stafford, VATammy – the trick is to sterilize the substrate/bedding,food. I buy a 40# bag of Wheat Bran from a friend who owns a Feed store. It takes a day or so using my wife’s stove/oven but I heat the bran in the oven at 275 or 300 degrees for about 2 hours and put it into a dry dog food container. Kills the moth eggs as well as mites and anything else that might have gotten into the bag. No moths, no mites, no other critters. :)
David
Stafford, VAI grow my own mealworms. I started with 1,000 mealworms from Wild Bird’s Unlimited. Then I ordered 5k from The Hive Queen in Raleigh, NC. I now have about 600 female beetles lying eggs. I should see lots of little worms in a few weeks.
I know that Hive Queen in limiting deliveries during this heat wave. Check the MW sites for their “hot Weather” shipping notices.David
Stafford, VAWell I missed another fledging. I thought that I could catch this one as the birds did not seem too active. I put our the morning feed of mealworms and periodically watched through the back window to see if there was any activity. I only saw the male and female bird take meealworms to the nestbox once. They both went to the opening and seemed to be coaxing one of the birds but I never saw it leave They went away and I made breakfast for my wife and I and waited. I took some laundry down to the basement and came back up – still no activity.
Finally about 1:00 PM I decided to check the box with my iPhone camera. Went to the nest box and did not get attacked by the parents. So I opened the door to an empty nest. Darn – missed again.
But we now have 3 new ones in the air.David
Stafford, VA
