OP Blue Birds #2

I'm starting a new thread as we are getting long in the tooth (beak). Here's a photo of the babies that were lost last month. They were absolutely adorable.

I checked the bbs late this afternoon. Everything looks fine. The parents zoomed right in looking for their mealworm treat. I'd like to eventually have them eating from the window feeder so we can enjoy them up close. I'm trying to move their supper dish towards the window feeder. I tried to move it two feet. They appeared not to see it, so like a good human, I moved it back!

Oh, yes, egg #2 has been laid. Hooray! Usually my closeups are acceptable. But you get the idea.

OP - I am so very glad they are laying again. LOL , I love the way they have you trained also as evidenced by your "like a good human..." comment. You're a gem. My Daddy BB is returning for mw's and flying off in 2 directions so at least 2 of the 3 fledges must have survived fledging in thunderstorms. AHHH, the joy of being a BB human g'ma!

Very good birdie. Hope daddy brings the babes to the feeder soon so you can be proud.

This is just great OP! Cracks me up the way they have you trained!! Hoping for BB fledges for you!

Thanks rose! It's very funny. I'll kind of sneak up, and look around the corner with my binoculars. They won't be in sight, but sometimes I can hear them off near the woods. As soon as I get to their hunting post and call "dinner" they swoop in.

So great that you have another shot!!

Thanks Nanny. Good night.

Three eggs today!

Two eggs today the 15th! I guess one wasn't going to develop, and mom decided it wasn't worth keeping in the nest. We'll see what the morrow brings. I'm putting some interesting info. below. My friend, Dave H. emailed it to me. Hope you find it helpful and informative.

Nancy
Thought you might find this interesting. Keith Kridler is one of the foremost authorities on bluebirds in the country. He is located in Texas.
Hope all is well at the school. Mary & I really enjoyed your visit Friday.


This is an interesting post to Bluebird-L by Keith Kridler. It is in response to a question as to how long it takes a bluebird egg to hatch.
Judy


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: txbluebirder@suddenlink.net
To: walshaw1@cox.net, BLUEBIRD-L@cornell.edu
Sent: 7/13/2008 8:15:34 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: A Hatching egg


Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
You are probably not going to catch the entire egg hatching ordeal on film
as the female normally stays in the box at this time brooding the eggs. Do a
search on Google "video of eggs hatching" and you can pull up some
interesting video. The link below was the best of six or seven of the top
ten that pulled up. Normally once you see the "pip" marks on the shell of
the bluebird egg that egg will hatch in 12

I did not copy the entire message about hatching blue birds. Here it is.

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
You are probably not going to catch the entire egg hatching ordeal on film
as the female normally stays in the box at this time brooding the eggs. Do a
search on Google "video of eggs hatching" and you can pull up some
interesting video. The link below was the best of six or seven of the top
ten that pulled up. Normally once you see the "pip" marks on the shell of
the bluebird egg that egg will hatch in 12

hmmm, still cuts off at "12"

Well, I'm sure it's not 12 days and 12 hours seems rather long when it has progressed to that point. Nothing ever happens in 12 seconds, so I'm betting it's 12 minutes. I stood and looked at mine for at least 10 minutes after it was cracked. I must have quit just before it happened.

Dave

If there are any brackets (the ones beside the question mark, above the comma and period) in the text of your post, it will cut the text of your post at that point.

Dave, I'm sure that it must be 12 minutes according to the pics I took of the BB's @ my house , that would fit exactly. the pic of the 1st to hatch and the 'still wet one' that had obviously just kicked off its shell & was nearly completely free of it & then also the third egg w/ the egg tooth showing thru its little hole ( +, if U look closely, that same 3rd shell is well cracked up @ the top.... I cont'd to take pics that day (a few more, when the parents had just flown away ) .... the last 1 , of the 6 to hatch, was at the bottom of the picture in 1 shot. ..man, the parents swooped a warning @ methat time, then the mom went inside for a lenghty visit, flying off w/ something other than a fecal sac....well I jumped @ the opportunity to get a quick shot in her absence & that egg had been moved to the opposite side of the nest with approximately 2/3 of the shell gone (ahh, that must be what she had in her mouth!), and the baby bird still curled up & yet to kick off the final part (it is in the upper part of the frame with the 5 nestmates below in the pic)..................to me this all fits perfect with the 12 minute claim.............whew. that's too much typing......

Dang. Sorry everyone! There was a symbol after the 12. The most interesting info. comes further down. Let's try this.

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
You are probably not going to catch the entire egg hatching ordeal on film
as the female normally stays in the box at this time brooding the eggs. Do a
search on Google "video of eggs hatching" and you can pull up some
interesting video. The link below was the best of six or seven of the top
ten that pulled up. Normally once you see the "pip" marks on the shell of
the bluebird egg that egg will hatch in 12 to 24 hours.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/Embryology/movie.shtml

This site shows candling of the eggs which is more fun to watch than the
eggs hatching. Notice that a baby chicken that normally hatches out of the
shell at day 21 is shown moving at day six. Chicks will begin peeping or
chirping a day or so BEFORE they ever begin with the egg pips. Females know
a week or so before the eggs hatch that they have viable young in the eggs
as they begin moving when barely developed. Baby chicks will recognize their
mother's calls BEFORE they hatch out of the shell.

With most of these bird eggs the chick will push a tiny dimple called a
"pip" into the shell which causes a tee tiny crack. The chick then needs to
rotate inside the shell a little and push again which causes a second "pip"
close to the first tee tiny dimple. Rotate again and again until the egg
tooth creates a whole series of tiny cracks pretty much in a straight line.
Normally this is at the mid point in an egg between the big end and the
small end.

Think of this more like a glass cutter scoring a sheet of glass and then
snapping it off. The chick has to rotate freely inside the egg. IF the chick
was incubated at say 101.7*F instead of the perfect 99*F then the chick
formed too fast and did NOT lose enough weight through respiration through
the shell. It will actually mature a day or so too early for hatching. It
will be breathing too much for it's body condition.

The chick will be too big and muscle texture too soft for the chick to
rotate. It will end up being able to push an air hole in the shell but
without rotating it will die inside the egg shell. It will be able to
breathe and peep or communicate through this hole but the hole in the shell
will allow moisture out of the shell and the chick will often stick inside.
You see this more often with bird eggs that take 20 or more days to hatch.
Bluebirds only need 12 or 13 days to mature in the egg.

IF the eggs are incubated constantly at too cold of a temperature say 96*F
instead of the 99*F or the eggs are kept in too low of a humidity then the
chick will take an extra day or so to mature. It will give off TOO much
moisture, lose too much weight through dehydration and will be too weak and
stuck to the shell to do anything more than break out a single breathing
hole. Again this chick can live for a couple of days stuck in the shell but
will ultimately die in the shell.

People all the time say that "I had five eggs one day and a few days later
we have only three or four young birds! There are NO eggs in with the baby
birds! Where did the other eggs go?" Some chicks die right after hatching as
their body parts can sometimes stick to the shell membrane and a leg or wing
rip will lead to massive bleeding as the female forcefully removes the egg
shell halves that have dried to the baby chick.

We had head peck marks a few days ago where blood was on the bluebird chicks
heads.. There are lots more birth defects in baby chicks than in humans! Some
species of birds will peck their chicks really hard. They are looking for a
specific reaction from each chick. A chick that has brain or nerve damage
from being exposed to excessive heat during incubation will respond
differently to pain. The female may or may not remove these chicks at an
early age. A nerve damaged chick that cannot raise up it's head to beg for
food will die.

Again remember that a baby bluebird at the age of 24 hours is as old as a
human at the age of 12 months. We know by one year old how a human baby
should be reacting. We assume that birds have small brains and cannot tell
whether or not their young can survive.

James Hartshorne I believe was the first to do scientific research into
raising and breeding Eastern Bluebirds under lab conditions. His was the
first paper I saw where the female would peck the heads or bodies of baby
birds and he reported how quickly the female could detect a dead nestling in
the nest and then remove it. KK

Wow! Great info. Thanks OP!!

Dave

That is just fascinating!!

wow! Op that is absolutely fascitating! thankyou so much for sharing this with us. It brings together for me a lot of missing puzzle peices and links info together that I've acquired bits and pieces of over the years. I am elated!

Thanks

There's just so much to learn!

No action in the nest box. The pair come regularly for meal worms, but did not begin incubation. I removed the two eggs yesterday. One was slightly cracked. They were two weeks old. Too bad. Just not meant to be this year.

I continue relocating hosp.

Oh darn...look forward to next year being better. So sorry OP.

OP - So sorry for your loss.
Last year a pir (Ii assume the same that nested this year) laid eggs in the nest box under my eave. 3 or 4 eggs were layed and I got so excited. They were not only the first Bluebirds that I had seen in "person", but they had chosen my home as theirs! Well, apparently a snake chose theirs to feed on one night and the eggs were gone.
This year they returned and had 2 clutches and now the male is back with that beautiful Leucistic female.
It was difficult knowing that I would have to "wait and see" for "next" year",....but oh how I have been blessed.

I know that you also will have the joy of nesting Bluebirds again in your schoolyard. Untill then isn't it wonderful to have DG to enjoy so many of God's beautiful birds and flowers from all around the world!

--Birdie--

Sorry to hear that OP.

Thanks pelle, nanny. Interfering with mother nature carries great responsibility. Birdie - DG is very inspiring, and fun.