Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thanks for your replies. I want to explain that removing the eggs was not a decision I made lightly. I carefully candled the eggs on day 20 with the intention of putting them back if they were viable. I posted pictures of the eggs and a member of our Bluebird Society confirmed they were not viable. The female was incubating at the time and I felt terrible not putting them back. The reason we put the nestbox in the front yard is that we have several feeding stations in the backyard, which is a wooded lot. Therefore it’s not really open. How far from feeders and woods does the nestbox need to be?
Therese
Hello,
My name is Therese and I live in southeast Michigan. I’ve been birding for about 20 years but never saw bluebirds until last year. This February they were back at the suet feeder so we decided to put out a nestbox in the front yard, which is the most open space we have. The bluebirds built a nest in May and four eggs were laid, with incubation starting on June 6th. Unfortunately the eggs did not hatch. I carefully candled them with a flashlight on day 20 of incubation, and an expert confirmed that they were not viable. At her recommendation, I did not return the eggs to the nest. The bluebirds realized the eggs were gone and left together a week ago. I know the male is still around because I saw him twice in the past week and heard him call for his mate yesterday. The nest is still there, and I’m hoping they’ll try again, although it’s looking unlikely. I’m trying to understand why the eggs were not viable, and if the location of the nestbox was a factor. They appeared to be half full of yellow yolk. Were they not fertilized or did she not incubate enough? During her incubation, I observed her flying out any time a person walked down the street, sometimes two or three times in 15 minutes. Also, we ‘ve had wren and house sparrow issues, but I found solutions and they did not damage the eggs. I’ll talk more about that in another post. If they don’t come back I’m considering moving the nestbox to the side of my house away from street traffic, although it is a narrow strip of land. I’m hoping to find out more information on this site to be able to give these birds the proper environment to have a successful nesting season.
Therese
