[evie]

I can hear how strongly you all feel about this and I honestly can relate. Last year I became buddies with someone in town who loves bluebirds and seems to have had successful nestings for years. One day he called me thinking he had TRES in a box near his bluebird box. I asked to see a picture as it was very late in the season. It was of course a HOSP nest and parents. I explained what HOSP do to bluebirds and how most bluebirders handle the situation. He was appalled. I begged him to addle the eggs or prick them. He refused to talk to me after that.

Years ago a nest on my school bluebird trail got attacked. It was, indeed, awful. Right now, I’m doing nothing as I have seen no sign of the HOSPs. I am someone who brings bugs outside rather than kill them. (Vespids because I’m allergic are the exception, and mosquitoes). I will have to either bite the bullet or take my houses down as none of you has said that a spooker or the fishing wire (which actually worked years ago) will make a difference.

I’m grateful for the advice. (Just hate what I’m hearing. Hope you understand. )

[evie]

Thanks for your reply. A little over ten years ago, before I retired, my class and I oversaw a bluebird trail we erected around our school. We did get house sparrows there, and as I remember, I addled their eggs. The one year had them on my property, I used fishing wire on the bluebird’s house to discourage the HOSP. Would that or a spooker work if I put it on the box they’re interested in? Is it possible for the HOSP and EABL to co-exist in different houses 15 feet apart? Or are the house sparrows unwilling to share the airspace? One last question. Is it early for the house sparrows to consider nesting? My only experience of them is that they’ve arrived after the EABL.

As you can tell from my questions, I’m very reluctant to trap and euthanize. If it came to it, I might prefer taking down my houses. I know from what you told me, you struggled with the situation yourself; so I hope you’ll understand why I’m asking all these questions before I make any final decision.

[evie]

Gin,

I’m almost certain I know what they sound like, and I heard that trill again this morning. A little later a wren landed on the box, poked his head in one of the ventilor holes, and then scooted on in the entrance.

I’ve opened the box. The door is hanging down. So that’s that. 😕

[evie]

Once again, thanks for the responses. The saga continues. A couple of days after the eggs were tossed, I found some sticks inside the house. So I’m assuming the HOWR was the culprit. I tossed the sticks. The day after I found two tiny sticks and a leaf inside. I’m pretty sure I heard the HOWR chirping. I never any sign of the male wren on the box. Yesterday all was quiet. Today a bluebird pair visited the box and the male has been perched on the roof.

I’m fine making a wren guard, but I don’t want to invite catastrophe. What do you people think? I assume the wrens give up after they’ve nested elsewhere.

(As an aside, I’ve had house wrens in the past. Not every year by any means. Actually most years have been wren free. Since I have no TRES this year, can anyone in the northeast tell me whether they’ve fledged already? It’s been my belief that the TRES have kept all but the wicked house sparrows at bay. )

[evie]

Gin,

I’d like to see the story you have. However, I just checked my box with an additional baffle in tow only to see that tragedy has struck again 😢😢😢😢 I assume it was the wren. Two tossed eggs outside the box. One egg seems to be missing. But my dog in theory could have picked that he up as he had just been out. I now, after 20 years, think I need to research wren guards. 😁 But please check the paragraph after the next one.

I have a question about the placement of my boxes. The Peterson box definitely preferred by the bluebirds is the one closest to the woods. The other box is only 10-15 away from it. Is it worth switching the two?

I have one more weird piece of information which might have to do with the latest tragedy. The widowed female who had been incubating the eggs got a new partner! As of yesterday a new male appeared and stayed with her. I watched him check out the nest box. I’m not sure whether he went all the way in, but I think I saw him do this. In fact he behavior was more like a father feeding the chicks than a partner with eggs in the nest. Is it possible he tossed the eggs???

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Should I at this point, toss the nest and see what ensues?

[evie]

Once,again thanks for your thoughts. Here is the latest. As I mentioned, two eggs were tossed from the nest. I returned one. I know everyone thought a wren was the culprit. And maybe that’s so. But there has been absolutely no sign of one. My experience has always been, they toss and then they claim the box.

Instead, the widowed female laid another egg and is incubating the clutch despite being alone. I’d like to help her out with mealworms. However, for the first time ever, the robins only come to the dish. I shoo them away to no avail. And this female has no clue about the worms. My whistle and the white dish mean nothing to her. I’m not sure how to make her aware without the robins usurping the action. Any suggestions? (I think the robins have taken up the nest boxes as viewing sites because I have no tree swallows who I’m sure would not have tolerated the robins’ presence.)

This is a season like no other.

[evie]

I agree the hole is too small for a Robin, BUT I have this Robin sitting on top of the BB house chirping away as if looking for a mate. It’s so weird since I’ve never had Robins land there and perform this way before. He/she almost reminds me of a house wren in behavior.

As for the cam, I might be interested depending on the cost. Any suggestions about that or the latest insanity. (Still can’t get the picture of that magnificent dead male out of my head )

[evie]

This is a year like no other in an awful way. This morning I spotted a male on top of the house. So I guessed that maybe this is a new male since I’ve had no response to my whistle.
I’ve been trying to keep my eye on the box all morning. About an hour ago I saw a robin sitting on top of the box holding worms in his mouth. He stayed there for quite a long time, maybe five minutes. The mother kept peeking her head out while he sat there. (I don’t know whether this fact is relevant to my story. ) A short time ago I went out and found a dead bluebird male right by the box. He had no bloody marks on him. His chest looked a little disheveled but that’s all. I walked around with him in my hand for a while hoping he’d revive. Then I put him in a safe place out of the sun next my house, again hoping he’d revive if left alone. But he’s dead.

I imagine the female will abandon the nest in the next few days. This season I’ve lost at least two males, have seen two(soon to be three) females come and go, and lost nestlings to a snake. In addition for the first time in 20 years I haven’t had tree swallows in the adjacent box.

Feeling pretty sad right now.

[evie]

It is a bluebird nest! One egg was laid
this morning. However, I have not
seen the father around for two days. And he has in the past always come to my whistle. Mother is a new female who has no clue about the mealworms.

I intend to modify my baffle in the next few days.

Thanks for all the support.

[evie]

My mystery has become a little more confusing and upsetting. I believe house sparrows have taken over the box. They were around maybe ten years ago when a neighbor had horses for a couple of years. During that time I may have addled the eggs. I also installed monofilament line as a deterrent and no damage was done. The HOSPS disappeared when the horses did.

Shortly after I posted here, I saw what I thought was maybe a HOSP on the bluebird box. The next day I removed the empty bluebird nest. Within a day another nest appeared. This nest is made of wider pieces of straw and although not as messy as I remember HOSP nests to be, not as tightly woven as a BB nest. I haven’t seen any HOSPS around. But the nest looks complete. Papa bluebird was sitting on the house briefly but feeling as c fused as I am, I have done nothing to encourage him to stick around.

What I’m wondering is whether the HOSPS could have simply plucked the bluebird babies out of the nest. My only bad experience with them and nestlings involved them pecking the babies to death and starting to build a nest over them. Here no nest building was started until I removed the old nest.

I’ve tried to watch the box but so far have seen nothing going on besides papa BB briefly sitting on the box.

Feeling very confused and eager to get input from others.

[evie]

Thanks Dogs and Birds. The cup of the nest is way down. As for the mealworms, during the years I was teaching we kept ours as well in a box with holes and no bedding. There was no place to refrigerate them either. The mealworms seemed to do just fine. But the I brought them home and refrigerated them once school year was over.

[evie]

Hi,

First things first. The same female is here all the time. A new male is
hanging about though he has not yet learned about the free handouts. The nest looks to be remodeled. It’s very neat. The side against the door is quite high, but I assume there’s no harm in that. I can’t see the old eggs. Do you think it would be okay to leave them? Don’t know what the chance of breakage would be. As of yesterday there were no eggs. The weather here is foul: rainy, chilly with much of the same predicted until Sunday. I assume this will slow down or stop the breeding. But send your thoughts along.

Interesting to learn how you feed your mealies. I put apple wedges at various levels in my one container. Right now I’m using a 4 lb sugar container. The worms seem okay. But it sounds like I’m not giving them optimum living quarters. Is it worth a change?

[evie]

Thanks for the advice. I had just read that not long ago. I bought my worms from Grubco. I have them in oatmeal in a large sugar container with holes in the top. It’s quite dense on there. But everyone seems to be surviving relatively well. Just had them out yesterday for 24 hours with apples.

Worms seem a lot more predictable than bluebirds.

BTW…I’m glad to know someone is even more optimistic than I am. 😉 (I ordered 5,000.) I has some worms I bought at Petco last summer that lived untouched and unfed from August to March in my fridge. My only question is whether the oatmeal I have these new ones in is okay for them.

[evie]

Thanks for the advice and thoughts. I’m still a bit baffled. The female has returned. I’m certain it’s the same one because she knows my whistle. In the mornings I see her perched on top of the Peterson box and a new male (does not know my whistle and doesn’t seem to stick around all day) perched next door on the NABS house. The eggs are still in the box at the bottom. The once neat, then messy nest is now a neat nest again. It’s not a very cushiony nest, so maybe more will be added.

I’m guessing that this is a new mate and there will be new eggs at some point. What do you all think? I feel as if I read somewhere that BBs will take eggs out of the nest if they don’t hatch. I’m biding my time, but at some point do I consider removing the buried eggs?

Yes, Tammy I’m refrigerating the gazillion mealworms I ordered in a burst of optimism. Hopefully they’ll survive the winter in my fridge. No way will I use all of them.

[evie]

Hi,

I’m going through a similar situation with the next in my yard. I’m fairly certain there was no raccoon as I have a baffle and there were no marks on the box or pole. My female disappeared and then returned. My eggs are now under a nest which has definitely been reorganized. (I’m about to post more on the thread I started …missing mate…). I’m also going to mark the eggs. Please update when you can.

[Author]

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