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Yep! Chicks do way better than eggs in extreme heat. Best of luck with these little ones!
Gin
Atlanta, GATammy do we have a way to PM on the forum?
Yes. Scroll all the way down on most pages and you will see “Your Café Mailbox” on the right.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI hope I addressed the first question in another thread!
When they raided the box in the backyard this year, sticks didn’t show up until a month after the second raid. Go figure. There have been years when all they did was kill eggs and never load in a single stick.
Gin
Atlanta, GAOops sorry to be misleading. I have week old EABL in a box. Finally! They were doing just fine last time I checked.
Gin
Atlanta, GATammy, I haven’t witnessed a wren pecking chicks in the nest but I don’t put much past them. They are for sure a danger to eggs and nestlings, even after 5 days. And, yes, they seem to just remove anything not too heavy for them to carry.
I wouldn’t think they would peck nestlings as old as these. If there are no HOSP around and the hole is 1.50 inches that would stop jays, crows, EUST, etc. BUT if the hole is larger there is danger from all of those.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou know how I feel about wrens? lol Wonder how.
Yep, same female.
Luck here with EABL has been dismal the last couple of years but the CACH and TUTI keep me from being too bored! They need a little help also.
Gin
Atlanta, GAThey don’t always load sticks right away. Sometimes they never do. Around here they are very unpredictable.
If you have the right size entrance hole my money is on wrens most of the time.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI would leave the guard as it is. No sense inviting a wren to visit. I know you are concerned about the heat but you have good side vents, right? Cross ventilation is key.
Gin
Atlanta, GAOh Renee. You know I feel for you. It’s heart breaking.
The thing about these birds is they will kill ANY eggs and young they find, in a box or not. I guess given their small size they can’t tolerate any competition for food in their territory.
They killed all 8 of my white egg female’s eggs in her first two attempts but never did find the ones in the other box. Today all three of those hatched and are looking healthy. I hope the wren is busy elsewhere for the next week or so.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI think this white egg laying female has intelligence problems. Her first clutch was killed by a wren and then she laid 4 more in the same box pretty quickly. Wren got those. I hadn’t even removed the old nest!
Now she is in another box and we will see what happens. It took her a long time to get around the guard and she already had two rounds of experience.
All I know is this should be her last clutch of the season. Laying 12 eggs in quick succession takes its toll.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou can leave the unhatched egg right where it is. They so rarely cause a problem.
No way would I put a cup of worms in the box. If they aren’t eaten immediately they can draw ants unless you have taken steps to keep them from climbing the pole. Dusting with calcium carbonate isn’t so necessary. I have some but I don’t always use it.
Gin
Atlanta, GAJudy, most of the time when eggs go missing the nest is abandoned. Notice I said “most of the time”.
I have that situation in my backyard right now. There were 4 eggs and one remains. They have abandoned that box and now have 3 eggs in another box. The backyard box had a wren guard but it wasn’t effective this time. Hoping they will be successful in the front yard box but there are no guarantees even with a guard.
How do I know it’s the same couple? White eggs!
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou can look. Just plug the hole like Carol said but don’t be surprised if it flies out of the open side. It’s rare for an EABL to be glued to the nest but it can happen if the housekeeping has been sloppy.
I have had them fledge at a whopping 22 days.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou might have to think about shading at this point to avoid overheating the eggs.
There are lots of ways to do this: umbrellas, shade cloth, Styrofoam pieces with spacers to allow air flow, increasing ventilation of the box itself, etc. People have done lots of things to combat the heat and most methods work quite well.
I’m sure others will pop up with ideas and pictures.
Gin
Atlanta, GA
