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An update already after reviewing other posts:
To date (4/30/2021:
FIRST BROOD
Number of nests: 8 reported
Number of Eggs: 40 reported
Number Hatched: 37 reported so far
Number Fledged:David
Stafford, VAThanks Judy and Carol. It is fun to watch the parents deliver the mealworms to the young. With my “explosion” of mealies. I am trying to include some of the small to medium sized worms in the feeder for them to use for the little ones. I am not sure how it will work but thought I would see if having access to smaller sized mealworms would assist in their search for smaller bugs for the young ones.
David
Stafford, VAThat is quite a collection of birds to watch. Good to hear from you. Keep us posted on your progress.
David
Stafford, VAGlad to be of some help. I look forward to your next photos – possibly of the new fledglings :)
David
Stafford, VAGood to hear the news about both nests, Judy. The weather has been strange all over. We have had freeze warnings the past 2 nights but everything seems to be okay. I did increase the mealworm feedings so the mama bird does not have to go so far to feed when she comes off the nest. I put a few worms out every couple of hours.
David
Stafford, VAGreat news Carol. It is good to hear of your HOSP trapping also. Keep up the good work
David
Stafford, VAConnie, your photo did not come up. If you like, you could send it to me via email at dengle 912 dot gmail dot com (all run together like an email address) and I I will post it for you.
David
Stafford, VATroy. Sorry, your last post came up as I was typing my previous post. So some of it may not apply as you have a year of experience. That 1 sparrow can do a great deal of damage. The house sparrow warrants aggressive control. It sounds like a house sparrow. Check to be sure that it is a House sparrow and not a wren. Wrens can also give bluebirds a hard time, primarily on nesting sites and building nests over one under construction.
Other native sparrows do not seem to bother the Bluebirds.
BTW – where are you in Southern New Hampshire. I used to live in Windham, near Derry.
David
Stafford, VATroy, good to have you aboard. As the others have said, a very good, useable and understandable resource is the www,sailis.org website. It will help you to identify the house sparrow which is very dangerous for the bluebirds. They are not an native species to the US and may be eradicated as necessary if they become a threat your birds. Read some of the posts of some of those that have trapped this menace.
Here is a photo of my nestbox on a 5 & 1/2′ PCV pipe sealed in a concrete footer block. The baffle is a 6 x 24″ stove pipe that wobbles on 2 screws in the pipe. I put 1/4″ hardware cloth snake trap inside the baffle. It is away from the trees in back of it and on the sides so critters and wrens do not drop on it from above.
There are a lot of good people here that have made a great start on the season. I know that there are at least 9 and possibly 12 or more nest totaling more then 45 eggs thus far this season. Keep us posted on your progress. One suggestion, find a good nestbox for your bluebirds, not a decorative one like you find in many department stores. The Audubon Society and the North American Bluebird Society have lots of information on properly constructed bluebird houses. Make sure that you have a predator guard on the nestbox opening.
The results are something like this:
5 eggs in incubation
Do not hesitate to ask a question. We are glad to help.
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David
Stafford, VACarol, I made a 4-sided (2 sides, back and top) from 1/2″ Styrofoam that I had from shipping boxes. I glued the sides together, then covered those sides with pieces of cardboard. I had measured he foam pieces very carefully to get a good tight fit. I used a couple dabs of Elmer’s glue to attach it to the nest box. The glue is water soluble and washed right off after I took the foam down. No photos of this one.
David
Stafford, VACarol, I found the post. It was Gin (Moderator in Atlanta) that had the 5 eggs in her first nesting in April of 2019. We never saw any photos but they must have fledged okay as there were no other post following that announcement.
David
Stafford, VAMatt, a goldfinch egg is white and about the size of a bluebird egg. That said, I have never seen a goldfinch go near the bluebird nest box. Do you have a tree or large shrub nearby where the finches might have a nest? The only alien egg that I have ever found in my bluebird’s nest was a cowbird. I read that they only lay their eggs in other birds nests. But the cowbird egg is about the size of a bluebird egg and is brown with dark spots all around. (They are also very hard to handle when you try to move them from the nest
) I believe we had someone on the forum last year or the year before that had a nest of white bluebird eggs. Maybe Carol might remember.David
Stafford, VA -
This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by
