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Ha! So your profile name fits you! It didn’t ever dawn on me that you actually are a puppy groomer! It should have. Glad your momma is being a good one.
Tammy
Hi to all of you. Scot, you momma bluebird does not consider this nest a failure since she had one egg hatch. It’s a success in her eyes. The only time they aren’t interested in trying in the same nest is when there is a predator problem that they are aware of. Mine usually use the same nestbox. They have for about 10 out of 12 years. This year they chose a box in the back of my property…which I’m not happy about because I can’t see what’s going on. But these babies are going to fledge soon.
Tammy
Glad it worked for you, Dale. I’m sure you are giving those decoys food and water so they stay alive as long as possible in the trap.
It takes some patience to teach bluebirds to take your live mealworms. But if they have babies it should be easier. You have to just keep putting them out where they perch. Put them in a clear or white shallow ceramic or glass dish (smooth sided so the mealworms can’t escape). Put it low like on a step stool or plant stand and right under where they perch. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks of doing that.Tammy
It might be better to stick it in the freezer. That would kill any little bugs.
I’ve had HOSP that took out each baby one by one several times…so it very well could be a HOSP.Tammy
Sorry, Bob. I forgot to check in. :) Make sure you put the landing platform on. (someone on another forum forgot). ;) To get the house sparrows to come sprinkle seed on the landing platform and on top on the little wood area and of course liberally in the bait area. You can put it off the ground or on the groudn. Directions suggest off the ground but I keep it on the ground. Use white millet or mixed seed with white millet to start out. Later you can try other things. Put in under wherever your HOSP perch and then wait. check it all the time especially when it’s very cold or very hot out. It will trap native birds. You might want to check the weight arm. Two quarters taped together should make the arm go quickly to the ground with very little to no bounce. If that doesn’t work then adjust it. A decoy is a must. Either catch one with your Van Ert and put it in the holding area or wait ….eventually you’ll catch one in the trap. After the first one the others are easier to catch. Keep them alive in the holding area with bird cups that you buy at the pet store with hooks on them with food and water. You want to keep them alive as long as possible to draw the other ones in. Cover at night or in rainy weather to help keep alive longer.
Tammy
Dale, winter is a better time to trap Starlings with a ground trap and peanut butter works really well. It’s almost impossible to trap them now that way though. It would be better if you had a nestbox trap for them. I don’t have one but I’ve heard they work really well. The starling goes into a nestbox hole to start a nest and is trapped.
Once you have a decoy in the repeating trap you’ll catch more. It’s that first one that is hard to get. That’s why many of us have a van Ert inbox trap and we will catch a house sparrow with that and then put him in the holding area of the repeater trap.
You can still catch HOSP without a decoy but it take more time. If it doesn’t work off the ground, try putting it on the ground (that what I do). Try different locations, under a feeder, by some bushes that they frequent, under a fence where they perch. Is the weight bar right? Put two quarters (taped together is easier) on the arm and if the arm makes a quick drop to the ground with no bouncing then that’s perfect. (for house sparrows). Are you sprinkling seed on the landing platform? And maybe on the wood part of the cage on top? This brings them in. And of course a lot in the bait area too. I’ve heard recently of people putting nesting material in the bait tray and even in the holding compartment. Try everything.Tammy
Now I’m thinking that I count the next day as day one. I probably switch back and forth without knowing it.
Tammy
That is what happened to me the other day.
It started out with two HOSP in one ground trap (and more in a second). One of these HOSP I worked hard for several days to trap and he eluded me but I finally caught him. A chipmunk went into the trap so my husband put it in the car and took it to a park around the corner but in letting out the chipmunk he let out both hosp. I was not mad but frustrated. I checked a set trap on the walking trail and found one dead male hosp and a live female one in the box! So, that made up for my husband’s faux pas.Tammy
You are keeping your mealworms in the fridge, right? so they will go dormant and not pupate. Always err on the side of caution when removing eggs. I agree..wait this one out.
Tammy
I think if it was a raccoon it would have been back for the eggs. Put permanent marker dots on the sides of the eggs that are up and see if they are turned in a couple of days. You never want to just get rid of eggs because you are guessing that the Mom is gone. It needs to be pretty definite. Sometimes they are just sneaky. And yes, the eggs would be cold to the touch right now because if she isn’t finished laying then she isn’t incubating yet. Don’t rush in taking those eggs out. It does sound like something might have happened to the momma, but please make sure.
Tammy
