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Donna, you should totally submit that last picture to NYSBS for their July Photo of the Month contest!
Central NY
TMB StudiosAwwww! That’s so neat! You’ll have to post pictures of this little cutie!
Central NY
TMB Studios
The baby cowbird will grow faster than the bluebird babies, and demand more of the food the parents bring, thereby putting the bluebird babies’ lives at risk. It may be technically illegal in your state to remove a cowbird egg from a nest, since the cowbird is a native species. That being said, I’ve heard of some people taking the egg out to examine it, and having it be so slippery it just falls out of their hands.
Central NY
TMB Studios
Exciting, indeed! Way to go!
Central NY
TMB Studios
Steve! We’re glad to have you!
Central NY
TMB StudiosHello Chrissy – can you tell me where the “Forum Guidelines” link is that’s broken?
Central NY
TMB StudiosOoooooooooh! PROW! Those are gorgeous. We need pics!
Central NY
TMB Studios
Very disappointing, indeed! Don’t beat yourself up, though – just learn from the experience and move on. If the birds don’t come back soon, you may want to clean out the nestbox. They may come back for a subsequent nesting. In the meantime, you should baffle that post just in case it wasn’t a HOSP, but another kind of predator. If there was visible damage on the box, a HOSP wouldn’t have caused that. In any case, getting rid of the HOSP was a good thing! 
Central NY
TMB StudiosIt can take them a little while to get used to the sight of the feeder and become comfortable with it. Make sure your mealworms are super-wiggly. It might help to replace the glass cup with a light-colored dish (plastic butter tub?) to begin with, as the worms show up against a light colored background. Propping the lid open is a temporary thing, not meant to be done permanently. I have gotten bluebirds used to the feeder by doing that for a day or even just a couple of hours. Be persistent, don’t feed outside the new feeder – you CAN teach an old bird new tricks!
Central NY
TMB Studios
Central NY
TMB StudiosHere’s where a nestbox cam would come in handy! Very hard to say what is going on here. I don’t think it’s possible for the Robin to get inside the nestbox – it would be too fat, IMHO. If anyone else knows differently, I’d love to hear it.
Central NY
TMB StudiosSue, no perches on nest boxes – this makes it too easy for predators or other bird species. If the female is getting around well enough to take care of her nest, then I wouldn’t do anything at this point. If she weren’t already nesting I might suggest calling a rehabber, but this could just be an old injury or even a congenital defect.
On the distant box nesting, I’d leave it be for now. You can be watchful, but unless you can watch every second, you can’t be certain that the nest has been abandoned. Do you know when the last egg was laid? Can you feel the eggs to see if they are warm? Can you place a piece of grass across the nestbox opening in such a way that the bird will have to dislodge it if they go into the box?
Central NY
TMB StudiosWell, that’s a tricky one, but you should be able to mount the trap on a post or something that the cats can’t get to, but the sparrows will be attracted to. The cats WILL be attracted to the sound of the birds fluttering around in the trap, and if they tip it over upside down, the birds can escape (about the ONLY scenario under which escape is possible).
Central NY
TMB Studios
Can’t say I know much about Western bluebirds personally, but the photos of WEBL nests on Sialis look about like what you’re describing.
Central NY
TMB StudiosAre you using Sparrow Spookers on these boxes?
Central NY
TMB Studios
