Bluebird Nestlings Peeking Out

They are 14 days old and already they are peeking out at the world. This is new for me since with the previous 13 nestings I have watched, no nestling ever showed his face until day 17, the day they usually fledge. I figure this is partly due to the cramped quarters. Five birds need a little more room than they have in a four inch piece of PVC. But I may have played a part too. Mama built a beautiful nest in this box for their first nesting and when the eggs didn't hatch, I removed the nest box. the nest had a beautiful cup so I left the nest in the box. She then nested in a NABS style wooden box. When they were ready to start their third nest, I put the Gilbertson back up, with her previous nest still in it, thinking she might lay in it with little or no additional building.

Not so. She worked three or four days and added at least an inch to the nest. As a result the nestlings are that much closer to the opening. This worries me because the are closer for a preditor to reach and they may climb out or the box before they are ready to fly

Here is a good shot of the step dad. His feathers are a bit disheveled and he looks like he is about to begin molting. But he should look nice in the Fall when his molt is complete.

This message was edited Jun 19, 2009 11:50 PM

Another shot of step dad. He brings as many worms as he can pick up. Then he will stop half way and sort them. In the process he usually drops a couple. Then he picks them up, dropping a few more. When he gets there he ususlly shoves the whole wad down the throat of the closest chick.

Here's Mama.

Very nice pics! I also have a pair nesting, but it's the first time for this particular nesting box, so I doubt I'll see the nestlings until they're ready to fly. And knowing my luck, that'll be on a workday!! :)

My 2nd birdhouse is empty..sparrows tried to take it over, so the bluebirds abandoned it. I'm really surprised that the sparrows didn't try to get the occupied nesting box too!

Keep posting the pics, please :)

Another shot of Mama.

Are you putting out mealworms for them? How do you offer them..what type of container? The heat here kills them too fast, so I haven't been putting any out. Maybe they would take the dead ones, but I haven't tried that.

This box is in all the wrong places. It is too near the house (3 feet). It is next to a fence and it is in direct view of a host of house sparrows that sit on my neighbor's roof and watch to see when the good birds are eating. The bluebirds really prefer privacy but there is none of that where they are. On top of all that the box is turned toward our kitchen window so they are looking at us when they are peeking. Also, there is no tree nearby for them to fly to. I plan to move a couple of shepherd's hooks so the adults can perch on them and coax the chicks out.

The heat is a problem. I have a fridge in the basement where I keep the meal worms. I buy them 10,000 at a time and put out just what they will feed at that time. I have a wire cage box with a glass cup that I put them in. The blues come up to the deck where I can see them and tell me when they need more. I bring out maybe 50 and they work in tandem so one stays in the cage all the time to keep the sparrows out. If they seem to lose interest I take the mealies in until they come back. I am determined not to let the sparrows have any.

I feed them early in the morning and late in the evening mostly. During the day they are always coming in with spiders and crickets and grasshoppers but it is hard to keep five fed when they are this far along in their development.

Here is a picture of my cage feeder with a couple of juveniles from last year.

This message was edited Jun 20, 2009 12:30 AM

Thank you for the pic of the feeder..that's gives me a couple of ideas on how to feed mine. For the longest time, I raised my own mealworms, but finally got tired of it and gave the bluebirds a "last meal" of them. I'll just buy them from now on lol..

Thanks for the new thread Dave! The pics are beautiful and everyone looks great!

A beautiful new thread Dave and the education and shots of the "housecleaning" on the last thread are awesome!! I showed them to DH and he was amazed!

I think you have a winner with Mr. Blue...it looks like he is a special kind of a guy.

Thanks for the gorgeous updates on your Blue family.

may i butt in on this thread and ask a question? do baby bluebirds return to their box once they start to fly? when i peeked in day before yesterday, the little ones had good feathers and could probably fly and now the babies are gone. today i see the parents hanging around and maybe just maybe some little ones in the bushes. i hope you say that once they start flying they leave the nest for good. i dont want to think that a cat may have munched on them. thanks

I always love seeing your photos and learning all you've got to share with us. I do hope the babies survive being up so high in that nest.

Step-dad looks like a great provider!

Wonderful photos!!

Pandora, once they leave, they do not return. The normal routine is for the parents to take them to a remote place where they improve their flying skills and undergo survival training. During this time they generally stay put and the parents still bring food to them. After a week or so the more venturesome fledglings follow the parents. If you fed them meal worms or nuggets, the parents would keep coming to you for that and in a week to 10 days you would see the fledglings. But they would be coming for the food, not the nest box.

In your case it is likely they are looking for insects near the nest box since they are familiar with that area and not likely the fledges are in the bushes. They are probably high in a tree. Unless this was their third nesting of this season, it is also possible the female is thinking of making another nest. You should clean out the nest box if you haven't already done so.

If they fledged yesterday and one of them flew to the ground, it is possible they would look for it for an hour or so, but a day later? Not likely.

Duc, thanks for the comments. There is so much to this hosting and I am still learning too. I am always happy to share the little I have learned. Here is the step-dad, loaded and headed for the nest. They feed them about every 15 minutes now.

I worry about the chicks being so oblivious of the dangers. A little while ago I was in the yard with a camera, shooting closeup pictures of daylilies with a macro lens. As I came up to the nestbox I could see one of the nestlings had his bill stuck out several inches. I walked right up to within 3 feet and took his picture. Since I was several feet below the box, he was looking over me and apparently never realized the dangers that could come from below.

There were about a dozen house sparrows in the yard this morning. Most of them were fledglings or juveniles. Several young females flew up on the nestbox but step dad buzzed them off before they had a chance to peek inside. I think they were mostly curious. At least I hope so.

This message was edited Jun 20, 2009 11:07 PM

Here is a shot from this morning. You can see four of them. I hope they weren't all standing on the fifth.

Here is the step dad arriving with as many as he can carry.

Probably more than he should carry. Here he tries to shove the whole load into the mouth of the closest nestling, and a few fall to the ground.

But he drops to the ground to get the ones that were spilled.

Dave, thanks so much for your reply. This was the 2nd group of babies this year, each with four.
Love seeing your pics!

Great pics Dave! Can't wait to see them fledge!

Well, I am thinking they will go tomorrow (Sunday). They sure seem ready. I have not seen so much peeking before fledge day. It has to be due to the type of nest box they are crammed into. One (I think it's the same one) had its head stuck out of the opening almost all day today. I had a short trip planned but I think I will postpone it.

Step dad continues to do most of the work. Here are some pictures. The first shows how he looked after a hard rainstorm we had this afternoon. He stayed right out in it, looking for insects to feed to the nestlings. Then, the ones after that were an hour or so later, after he had dried out.

Here he is after the sun came out again.

Another

Here's Mama at about the same time.

Now I want to switch to another camera and show you some shots of the parents feeding at the nest box.
First, Mama.

Then Step Dad

Another shot of Mama

Another of Step Dad

And one more of Mama.

Here's one last shot of the step dad, wet

Thank you for sharing these lovely photos!

Wonderful shots!

Step Dad is really sopping wet!

I realize that I'm anthropomorphizing, but step dad really hauled his share of the load, and then some.

He is a gift from heaven as far as Mama is concerned. Can you imagine her doing all these things alone?

What a little trouper stepdad is and what a wonderful outcome from such a tragic event, Dave.

Just wonderful shots Dave! Mr. New Blue has really stepped up to the plate...he is a super Dad!! Which reminds me...happy Fathers Day to you, Mr. Blue and all the other Dads and Step-dads out there!

Thank you Rose. I wish the same to your lucky husband.

Well, no fledging pictures yet. I watched that box from 6:00 a.m.until about 7:00 p.m. and all I saw was intermittent peeking. So I decided they were not going to go today and I started getting my cameras ready for tomorrow. Then, suddenly, it did not look like there were so many crowded around the opening. Turns out two of them fledged about 8:00, while I was moving pictures from my cards to the computer. There was still nearly an hour of daylight left and the adults continuously tried to coax the others to follow. But darkness finally fell and the three are spending one more night in the nestbox. I expect the adults to be at the box at first light and the chicks will probably be ready. I only hope they wait until there is enough light to take pictures.

Mama