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I have three boxes on the property.There about 50 yards apart from each other. Over the years doing this I have had tree swallows that live in one box every year and on the far end is usually everything from chickadees to woodpeckers etc. all different kinds hit that one. but directly in the middle closer to my house I have had bluebirds five years in a row. Even had them trained so as when I came out with their mealworms I would just whistle and they would come right over. It was really the coolest thing. they got so use to me helping they would even let me know if the robins were trying to steal their worms. They get all upset fly back and forth till I figured out what was bugging them. I step over there and the robins would fly off and my blues would go back to eating. That’s why this is so startling that they haven’t returned we have done this same routine for 5 years. That’s why I wonder if they have past on.
Hi Carol, I had read a different post you had asking if blues have ever nested in a martin house and the answer is yes. I never heard of or seen bluebirds till the first year they came and had babies in our martin house. That’s when I looked them up online and got into this. I built my own bluebird houses and set up a meal worm station and the rest is history. They have never gone back to the martin house now they have one built just for them. The martin house is only 20 ft from their house but they have no interest. I would be very surprised if they chose a martin house over your bluebird house. They are probably just taking their time to move in.
I know a year ago I had a robin build a nest in our hanging basket with flowers in it. She built the nest right on top of them and this basket was in direct sunlight all day and I realized it was to much when she was sitting on them with her mouth wide open trying to just keep cool herself. I had to act quickly so I took my grandchildrens basket ball hoop one of those on wheels and lowered the hoop part down to just the right height and placed it right it front of the basket. It worked like a charm and shaded it completely most of the day. Mama robin was relieved and started leaving and getting food instead of worrying about the little ones. If you have anything big enough and have anybody around who is good at improvising, Maybe someone could come up with the shade you need. I think it’s the blazing sun on the box is the worst and they could probably tolerate the heat if you get rid of the sun.
I think the difference in maine as with all the birds in my area is they come here to nest only, raise there chicks and move on when their done. I have more species of birds in my back yard then most of my friends in my area. red breasted gross beaks, blue bunting, three types of finches,list goes on and on. By august all these birds just leave and all that is left is the locals. Chickadees , blue jays and my red cardinals. so I think it has to do with the area as carol says. So no I have to disagree that they will return. Like last year once they left that was it. I think there must be some awesome place they must go to that has a ton of bugs or something, maybe bedford nh with Randy. It’s just a shame that it is such a short period of time to enjoy them. we start losing daylight in june but wouldn’t it be nice if we got to the longest day of the year and it stayed that way for a month before going back. maybe 13 months in a year. LOL. it’s a long wait till next year and I still have another month before my new chickens start laying eggs but i’m excited about getting fresh eggs. Never raised chickens before but am liking it so far. Just got to go with the flow.
Sure enough, I emptied the nest box out last night and once again found another egg that never hatched. This is definitely a weird year. Last year they had 6 eggs and all hatched and this year they had 2 hatch and 2 that didn’t in first brood and now 1 more that didn’t. Wonder what gives here. Dad shooting with a half loaded gun or mom has issues. Not sure but I haven’t seen any of the new fledglings yet so I have no idea how many made it out this time. Hopefully next year will be better. At least there are some new blues in the area. Now that it is over Daddy blue is sitting on top of my tallest tree either singing or calling not sure which but it’s nice to hear them.
yes Lisa, I have been lucky in that aspect. I have seen all my fledglings leave the house, At least part of them. some have got out without me noticing but my timing has been pretty lucky to catch some. This time though i missed them all. My blues have yet to let any babies near the feeders they always attack them and drive them back to the trees but if this is the season finale maybe they will.
It’s been my experience with wrens to keep taking sticks out and that keeps them busy. I’ve also have had them make me feel defeated also but rather than take the boxes down I would just open the sides right up for a week and all the pest would go away. So if your boxes open up I would try that before taking them down. good luck with what ever you decide. dlibby
I’ve seen bird mites in my eastern phoebes nest before and they have fallen all over our bikes which happened to be under there nest. They were small but not microscopic and there were a lot of them. But looking into your house with a mirror,I wouldn’t think you would of had time to collect that many but it is possible. Depends on how much time and how much contact you had with the house. Rubbing up against or what ever.I would go back and look real close at the bird house in question and really stare closely at the outside and even the pole. These things crawl around in circles a lot so you should still have time to investigate. Also was the old nest removed or did she build right over the last one. That’s why it’s for the best to remove old nest because of all the lice and mites. Hope you figure it out. dlibby
As of last night the fledglings are still not allowed any where near the mealworm feeder. So strange when I look around I see no bluebirds in sight anywhere and last night one of the babies flew close to the mealworm feeder and out of nowhere comes the Dad dive bombing the little one and drives it away again. It’s like where did he come from is he just sitting up there somewhere guarding this from everyone. Mom is do to hatch the newbies around the 28th 29th this week so I’m expecting it to get busy but I’ve read that sometimes the fledglings will help feed the new brood but The way things are here I don’t see that happening.
i’m not sure that is quite true about the tres dropping to the ground, I have a box for tres and last year one was out on the ground and after quite sometime I felt bad and didn’t think the parents knew where it was so I put the little bird back in the box within a hour it came back out and flew up on the roof of my house. It was there for awhile when the parents showed up and off it went. I was quite pleased with the outcome. so there is some hope they can make it.
Mine fledged a couple of weeks ago also and I emptied the nest right away. They spent time just feeding the fledglings but now are constantly in and out of the box with new nesting material. I even threw a pile of dry pine needles down by the box and it’s all gone which I assume is now in the box. hoping for new eggs any day now.Depending on what state you live in would probably determine on whether they will attempt another nesting. Here in Maine I was cutting it close but everything is a go. Empty quickly and you may see another attempt if they are still around the house at all.
That’s very cool lisa, I can’t wait. everyone has mentioned how they leave the nesting area and come back. Which is what mine are doing but yesterday. I got out at 5:30 am and they were 2 houses down, came home for lunch and they were all back in my big oak and after work they had all flown one house down in the opposite direction. They sure do fly around a lot. Mama is still the only one feeding them and the male comes and eats a few meal worms for himself and just hangs around watching her go back and forth feeding the young ones.It’s really cool that some how the mother and I have got this trust and relationship this year. Have had a horrible spring here in maine, just keeps raining and raining and I think it’s made it hard for her to find insects in these cold and raw conditions. She usually sits every morning on a martin house I have and waits for me to show up with her mealworms. She use to stay back until I got 20 feet away from the feeder before she approached but now will fly right down as I walk away. Yesterday was a soaker and she looked very wet but is right there to get the worms just like clock work morning noon and night. It’s going to be an adjustment when I don’t have to go out and see them anymore.
Hope your right carol, My blues in the past have only come in june and then when they took the babies away they slowly flew further and further away making it hard for the parents to return and then It would be over till next year. So having april blues maybe I will get to see the babies stick around and maybe help feed the new brood. At least that’s what i’ve read. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will get to see this.
