[Mel]

The bluebird hatchlings should be fledging soon.
This morning the parents were feeding them pretty heavily and those babies were making a lot of noise for their meal.
At about 1pm today Mama Blue started making a lot of noise and hovering in place around the house.
A few minutes later Papa Blue joined her in making a lot of noise and hovering.
I knew something was wrong so I got closer and saw a 4′ snake.
I called for my husband, he grabbed a shovel and joined me outside.
He identified the snake as a king snake.
He went to the garage to get a 5 gallon bucket to try and relocate the snake. (Kings are good snakes, they are known to eat the poisonous ones.)
He had trouble catching the snake by its tail and it hid from him under a stack of extra potting mix, azalea mix, mulch, etc.
My husband injured it while trying to get it out, so he ended up killing it. :(
He is now on board with installing a pole house.

Now, Mama and Papa aren’t going in the house. They’ll hover around it, but wont land on it. I tapped on the side of the house and there is no noise. I’m worried.

[Mel]

Hey, y’all!

I’m bumping this thread because a lot of posters here said my bluebird’s nests last year were too tall. (2017 was my first year to hang a house.)

Well, they did it again this year, 2018.
They started building 5 days ago and today I found three eggs in a tall nest.

[Mel]

Thank you for the reply!
I wasn’t sure if I should have left it on the ground or what.

Day 1 the first had hatched, day 2 one egg hadn’t hatched, day 3 they were all hatched.

And don’t worry, I’ll be taking my dog to potty in the front yard today.

[Mel]

Thanks for your kind words. I’m much better now and I’m gonna continue bluebirding!
The babies from the earlier pictures in this thread have fledged (my first clutch). I’m pretty sure three made it to fledge, but I’ve only seen two fledglings at one time since they left their nest. It was a roller coaster, but it was worth it!

Now
I came back to show y’all the new nest that my bluebirds have built, they are going for clutch #2!
I checked it 3 days ago and it was empty, not even one claiming straw. Tonight I checked it and I found a finished/almost finished nest. I thought y’all may find it interesting because it is super tall again.

[Mel]

My husband removed the CACH nest after dinner. The babies had passed away, he said there were 2 or 3 of them and that they still had pinky skin.

Sorry for the sad ending, y’all.

I told my husband that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this again, but he said he would help and that he wanted Bluebirds.
We’ll do things differently next year, but will try our luck with our set-up till these nestlings *hopefully* make it.

[Mel]

I’m a very new member here. I use FB moderately.

[Mel]

dogsandbirds, I live in North Louisiana, z8b.
I believe you answered all my questions. Thanks for answering the morbid question, it’s something I need to know.

I checked on the hatchling EABLs, they are 2-3 days old.

Daddy BB spent much more time at his home, much less time with the dee chicks.
The adult dees did stop by today, Papa BB chased them off.
Put out about 4 dozen plain mealworms this morning, only a few left this evening.
My husband will help me clean out the CACH box in a few days.
I’m happy the male EABL chose his family, but I’m preparing myself for CACH tragedy.

[Mel]

I stapled fishing line on my houses yesterday evening. (The guy at the Wild Bird Center recommended fishing line, he also told me it was safe to put up a close second house after the dees took my first one.)
And I have a mini poodle, inside dog, supervised outside.
Those are my only predator guards.

I live on the perimeter of a new subdivision. Front yard looks suburban, backyard looks rural.
On FB, some of my neighbors have posted pics and video of water moccasins and timber rattlers, field mice (giant mice), and wild hogs. I’ve heard coyotes, and a redtail hawk visits my backyard just about every morning.

I took down my mealworm feeder yesterday evening, it looks like half were taken.

Yesterday I saw the male BB tending to both houses.

It’s raining today, if it lets up I plan on checking the EABL house to make sure all the eggs hatched, and remove any that didn’t. If I can safely get my hand in over that tall nest.

[Mel]

Hi Bluebirdie!
I’m a bit south of Shreveport.
My first year story is exactly like yours!

I went to the Wild Bird Center today for live mealworms. I made a cat food and calcium paste to put on them. I guess I used to much because I think I killed them, a couple dozen out of a 500 ct container. I sprinkled another dozen live ones on top of those, and put them out.

I can’t watch the EABL as closely today.

[Mel]

I haven’t looked inside the CACH house since I took that picture. I figure we’re in the premature fledge danger zone right now. I may look today, depending on how the male BB acts.

[Mel]

There’s a mesh platform in the bottom, to help protect against blowfly larva, it came with the house. It’s probably 1″ tall or so, maybe that is adding height?

I hope he can provide for 2 families at one time!

I just noticed something in the egg picture I posted. The egg at 3 o’clock looks like there are a couple of pip marks, or possible predator marks.

[Mel]

I just took these pictures of the EABL nest!

I hear more than 1 baby peeping in the CACH house. EABL still tending to them.

[Mel]

Thanks for the welcome!

I’m gonna miss all my Hummers. At my old house one of my neighbors had several crabapple trees. When they were in bloom they hard swarms of hummingbirds, their wings beating so loud you feel them vibrating the air. It was insane.

[Mel]

The only looking I’ve done was when I first hung the houses. I saw a finished CACH nest, beautiful mossy nest with downy top- I took pictures of it.

At that time I also took pictures of the EABL nest. They had just started so it was just some bits of straw. I did look later, saw a finished nest, but didn’t take any pictures.

Other than that, I’ve just tapped on the boxes to see if I could hear babies peep.

[Mel]

Thanks for the pep talk, y’all. I was a little emotional, but I got my head in the game now. Go Team Bluebird!

A bit of an update:

I have not put a hole reducer on the CACH house.

Yesterday, after lunch, I spent the rest of sun up doing stuff and things in my yard, and keeping an eye on my EABLs.
I think this male is tending to the CACH babies!?!
He spent all his time grubbing and going into the CACH house, occasionally popping into his own home. The female EABL poked her head in the CACH box a few times but spent most her time flying in and out of her own nest box.
I didn’t see a CACH till late in the day. He showed up twice, briefly, and only got within 25 yards of the CACH house.

Today, so far, I have seen a CACH get chased off by the male EABL. The CACH stayed around longer and maneuvered his way to his house, had opportunities to go in, but he wouldn’t go inside. The CACH babies are still peeping and the EABL still appears to be tending to them, grubbing around and then flying in the CACH box.

Some questions:

About how long do y’all figure it’d take for hatchlings to starve to death?
Do you think maybe the female EABL accidentally laid an egg in the CACH house?
Is it possible that the male EABL is tending to the CACH babies?

[Author]

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