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Monitoring probably does bother them a little but the drive to reproduce helps them tolerate the intrusions. I rarely open a box unless I suspect something is wrong. If the adults are coming and going, acting normally and seem peaceful I just let them alone to do their thing. I am in HOWR territory so they get a guard when a first egg is laid but that’s about it.
Gin
Atlanta, GAStarlings lay blue eggs also but their nest looks way different from EABL.
Desperate times call for desperate measures! Maybe there is a severe lack of cavities. Other than that, I don’t know.
Gin
Atlanta, GAOh no! It does sound like a snake. Please post a picture of the baffle, pole and box. Also show how far the box is from any tree, bush or fence.
I can’t remember how old these were. Please refresh my memory.
Gin
Atlanta, GAThat does not look like a TRES nest, more EABL to me. They do sometimes lay white eggs. I guess a bird could be incubating that one egg but she could also be egg bound. If that is the case, she’s in trouble. I hope that’s not it.
You could help her by lifting that egg with a plastic spoon and adding some dry straw or grass to the bottom.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI don’t think I would check for a dead one. Most likely one of the eggs didn’t hatch. Not to worry.
Maybe somebody else here knows about the timing of nesting cycles where you are. I got nothing!
Gin
Atlanta, GAOnce again, timetables vary so much it’s impossible to predict when/if the next round will begin.
Monitoring does not deter them from choosing a box for a repeat if they were successful in it. Hatch rate doesn’t determine success but fledging does.
Gin
Atlanta, GATimetables vary so much it’s impossible to predict when/if she will lay eggs. In round 2 most birds are in more of a hurry but you just never know.
Is there any fine grass in either cup? That’s usually the sign of a complete nest around here.
Gin
Atlanta, GAIt could be that he is zealously guarding the food supply. He’s gotta feed any newbies he may have and this fledgling doesn’t belong to him anyway. He knows that.
Gin
Atlanta, GADefinitely leave the nest alone for now. Dot the eggs with a sharpie, take a picture of them if you can and then go back the next day to compare. If the eggs haven’t moved they could be abandoned, especially if the female died. If she is gone nobody will incubate those eggs but their presence won’t stop any new birds from tossing them and most of the nest material if they want the box.
You could candle the eggs but I’m not thinking you need to do that. http://archive.is/pS5DK
Gin
Atlanta, GAI think you’re through the hard part with the wren. Another 10 days and you can remove the guard. Yay!!!
Gin
Atlanta, GAI used to clean it out with bleach, then just cleaned out with water and now I just scrape the old nest out and leave it like that.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI think it’s a miracle every time a bird lives to fledge. Kind of like healthy human births are a miracle. When you think about it, the odds are against a 100% successful nest because so much can go wrong. People who always witness total success year after year lead some kind of charmed life!
What I would do is wedge a piece of grass in the hole and see if it is removed within 24 hours. You could also carefully put a dot on each egg with a sharpie. No rotation and the grass stays in place means they are truly abandoned. I always hate to remove eggs and a nest but I have done it more than once.
Gin
Atlanta, GAHere’s the thing. All of our experiences are, by their very nature, anecdotal. The sum of all of these experiences forms an evolving data base that we can use and add to with our observations.
Not all birds react the same to the same stimulus because they are individuals. Just as soon as we think a species can’t fit into a hole they’ll prove us wrong. Or we think we know what they want and they refuse it. Or we think we know what they will do and they do something completely unpredictable.
I don’t think any wild animals know we are trying to protect them and their offspring. In fact, I think they usually feel threatened by human interventions. Birds don’t know why a spooker or wren guard or a trap is in place. All they know is whether they can tolerate it in order to raise their chicks.
Gin
Atlanta, GA
