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Yes, they are a threat, to the point where I used to shoot near them with my pellet gun to keep them away from the blues. Never hit one but got close enough to get them off the fence or out of the nearby trees. I even had to target the top of my old nest box for one that was trying to look over the roof into the entry hole. That is as close as I saw them come to the birds. I ended up getting rid of that box because the roof edge was too close to the entry. I mentioned before that I took down my seed feeders because of squirrels and HOSP. Blue jay’s were also a nuisance but I had a feeder that had a spring loaded perch that I set to close when larger bird tried to get to the seeds. Worked pretty well but it still attracted the HOSP, so it came down.
David
Stafford, VACarol -We have a lady at church that used to have a bluebird nest box for several years but she said the Blue jays were terrible. She lost one batch of 5 fledglings to a female jay that sat on the nestbox as they fledged and grabbed them by the neck as the peered out to take flight and nipped off their heads. I don’t know why she didn’t do something after maybe the second but she said she found all 5 beneath the box. She took down the box and hasn’t tried again.
David
Stafford, VAI agree with Carol and Jamie on removing the nest. The male will try to induce either his current female if she is still around or he will look for another to occupy this nest. If you back yard can hold ta nestbox safely (no fence or tree branches close by) I would move it away from the high-traffic area. Mom birds do spook easy and with a box of eggs the time away might hinder a proper incubation.
Keep us posted on what happensDavid
Stafford, VACongratulations Carol. Sounds like that youngster is going to be a fast starter. Good luck with your 3rd nesting.
David
Stafford, VAGood luck to both of you, Jamie and Gardensong, on your new nestings. The baffles will definitely help with climbing critters. There are some plans on sailis.com for hardware cloth wire guards that may deter the larger birds from the entry holds also. Just do what you can. The birds will love you. what ever you do.
David
Stafford, VAGardensong, the baffle should be a great protector. Nature has a way of letting us know that we have to be observant and aware all of the time. Just because it has not happened in the past does not mean that it will not happen today or tomorrow. I am sure that you will find a way to keep your nest safe.
Editing. When you submit a post, you will notice in the upper right corner of the message, a message number and the words “EDIT, REPLY and QUOTE. You can click on EDIT to make changes to your post – but EDIT is not on the post forever. It disappears after a time and your message stays as typed. Maybe Gin or Tammy can answer the time for editing.Used it myself. I found this in the “Tips for Posting” sticky:
“If you make your post, and realize you’ve made a mistake, you have 10 minutes to edit your own post. Edit by using the “Edit” button above the post.”David
Stafford, VAGee, Carol. That must have been quite a blast to have done that much damage. Glad that you were not hurt and that your house is okay. I only have to deal with wandering deer in our neighborhood although I haven’t seen them since the “at-home” started 3 months ago. Maybe they are staying put also.
David
Stafford, VACarol, I didn’t read you full post and missed the storm damage. Those mid-west storms can be devastating. I lived in Iowa for many years and remember the power going out for long periods of time. This was before the internet so all we missed was the TV, radio, and sometimes telephone.
Sure glad that you are okay.David
Stafford, VAWaiting for the new mealworms seems to be the biggest time consumer. The sources vary on eggs hatching (from 4 days to 6 weeks to hatch) and then for the new larva to grow large enough to feed (6 to 10 weeks). So I am projecting a possible hatch as early as next week. If that occurs I could have feeders by around mid-September. I may have to get another order of mealworms from Grubco to bridge the gap if the hatch goes beyond the end of July.
David
Stafford, VASo sorry to hear of this loss. It is rare that a male would sit on the remaining egg until they hatch. I would remove the nest and eggs, clean the box and hope that the male will be able to attract a new mate for another attempt. Does your nestbox have a predator guard on it and a baffle to keep out climbing predators such as snakes, raccoons, squirrels, etc.?
Good luck on your next nesting.David
Stafford, VACarol, It is not like the young ones to leave the parents so soon. They probably found a cool tree to stay at for the day and came back when they got hungry.
Jamie, I had not heard about the blackberries. Another reason for some fruit in the garden.
Have a good day.
David
Stafford, VAGin, Thanks for the info about the pupae. I did count them when I did the cleanup last week just to see a theoretical number of what could happen based on the different numbers that appear in the information on the Internet. I got a bit concerned when it looked like I could have 350 female beetles laying 200 eggs per beetle – 70K mealworms. It will not be that many as some of the pupae have died off -like almost 25%, but that is okay. I am doing a test to see how many eggs 4 female beetles would lay in a week. I was able to find 4 pair in my beetle drawer and put them in a small container. I will try to count on Saturday. It gives me something to do during this “Stay-at Home” time.
David
Stafford, VAI also think Carol is right about them going to the “tough love’ routine. This is my first year for meal worms and it has been interesting to watch the fledglings. I have 4 out of the 5 that fledged coming to the feeder. Sometimes they are with papa bird as mom is incubating the new eggs. Sometimes only 1 or 2 show up without the parent. Like Carol and most of those that feed mealworms I only put around 50 or so in the dish twice a day, and I whistle something like the male bird when I go to the feeder. Mom bird generally comes out of the nestbox and flies to a tree where she watches. and sometimes she flies off and comes back with 1 or 2 of the other fledglings. It is really a crap-shoot as to whether they will appear right when you go out or if you will have to leave the mealworms in the feeder and go get a cup of coffee and wait. Like we said – they seem to ignore the instruction manual, rule book and every other “logical” things we know about these birds
David
Stafford, VAWe are just going to have 4. She is incubating so I expect the 4 to hatch around July 6 – after all of the fireworks. With a little luck and warm weather we could possibly get a 3rd sitting in before fall.
A friend in a support group here in Stafford says that he already has a third hatch of bluebirds and could have a 4th nesting if his are true to form. He indicated that he has had 4 nestings in 2 of the past 3 years. He must be doing something right.nest with 4 eggs from yesterday
David
Stafford, VA
