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Welcome to the forum Berkshire. If it’s a baby bluebird it will follow the parent around with its mouth open. The parent will frequently feed it. That doesn’t sound like what is happening.
House sparrows are very aggressive. I would suggest looking at a lot of pictures and trying to determine if it’s a house sparrow. AllAboutBirds.org is a good place to start.
Carol
East TennesseeI’m so sorry Courtney. I hate wrens, too. I had one successful bluebird nesting this year. Then I had HOSP trying to take over the box and got rid of them. The wrens have been trying to take over ever since. I keep removing sticks from the box, and they won’t give up.
Carol
East TennesseeWelcome Judi! There are a lot more experienced bluebirders on here than I am, so I will let them help you. I did want to let you know that on sialis.org there is a wealth of information about bluebirds. They say that a temperature of 107 is the highest they can survive. Many people put heat shields on their nest boxes if they’re in direct sun. I believe there are instructions for that on the sialis website.
I will post in the main forum and let everyone know you’re introduced yourself. A lot of people no longer check the Please Introduce Yourself forum. Please go ahead and post in the main forum. Congratulations on your new nest! I’m sorry you lost your first female. That’s always so sad.
Carol
East TennesseeWelcome Molla. I just noticed you had posted in the Introduce Yourself forum. I’ve only had one bluebird nesting this year, too, but it’s because I’ve had house sparrow and house wren problems. Are you still feeding mealworms? I don’t know why you aren’t seeing them if you’re still offering the mealworms. There are a lot more experienced bluebirders on this forum than I am. If you post again in the main forum rather than in the introduce yourself forum I’m sure you’ll get more replies.
Carol
East TennesseeThat would have been so exciting to hold the tiger cub Judy. Interesting that the fur was wiry.
Carol
East TennesseeBlue Diamonds, I hope you’re right that I’ll get another nesting of bluebirds. The HOWR left for a while, but I saw it going in the box today. Where was your picture taken with the tiger cub? It’s beautiful.
Carol
East TennesseeI would love to see a pileated woodpecker. I have Downy woodpeckers and Red-bellied woodpeckers come to my feeders.
Carol
East TennesseeThanks Carol. The babies fledged on the 19th. I’m feeding dried mealworms, which they seemed to like. I did see the male bluebird at the mealworm feeder today. I hope I’ll get to see the babies before they grow up.
I emptied the sticks from the nest box and left the door open. It pulls up instead of down, and it closed on its own after a few hours. I haven’t seen a HOWR since, but I’ll keep an eye out and remove anymore sticks that I see.
Carol
East TennesseeThanks Carol. I was reading about HOWR last night and found out that I can’t remove the nest once it’s fully built. I wish they weren’t protected but will respect that. I think I’ll remove the sticks and leave the box open for a week. I think that was suggested on sailis.org.
I have a small yard and really can’t put up another nest box. I did put up a 2nd box one year–a Peterson PVC box–and had a HOWR build a nest and have babies. I hadn’t realized it so couldn’t stop it.
I really am not seeing the bluebirds anymore. I’ve only seen them a couple of times since the babies fledged.
Carol
East Tennesseephillyblues, did you read the sailis link that I posted about how to change out a wet nest?
Carol
East TennesseePhillyblues, there is some information on sailis about preventing hypothermia in baby bluebirds. It gives instructions for changing out a wet nest and for preventing wet nests in the future. I hope this is helpful. http://www.sialis.org/hypo.htm
Carol
East Tennessee
