?Ghost Bluebird? is the new Mom for single parent Bluebirds

Oh my, this is the 1st pic I've been able to get of the "ghost female" Daddy BB has brought home. She doesn't seem to be challenging him for the feeding dish, yet I've not seen her go to it yet. I think she is avoiding me. Does a new "mom" ever treat the fledges well, or do I just need to expect her to chase them away. She is coming close to the feeder and they are not. As I type this I am wondering if it is because they are so young (I have really just yesterday, been able to hear them when the male feeds them. With the last group, I seem to remember that they were audible to me in nearby treeas for a # of days before they were brought to the feeder. I actually wonder if their landing skills are refined enough to land on the feeder or nearby observation perches.
Feedback please!
Oh how I hope you can see this female. My house is wearing my telephoto $ as roof repair, so won't have one for a while yet. ;-(( What a bummer!

I think you can assume they will chase away the fledglings as soon as the male stops feeding them. That will be when they are about 45 days old (about one month after they fledge).

I have never heard of a female adopting another female's offspring. It may have happened somewhere sometime, but I have never heard of it. Last year I had a new female take up with a male that already had four 6 day old nestlings and she killed them. This year it happened again and the female started a new nest on top of the previous female's eggs and also chased away the stepchild fledglings within the time frame I outlined above.

I notice considerable differences in the markings of bluebirds. Some males, for example, are dark and shiny blue, while others are lighter and still others are blue but faded to the point where their blue looks almost gray and they can be mistaken for females, especially by the casual observer. I have had three different females in three years and they all displayed different coloring. The new female I have now has dark wing and back feathers but is lighter in the chest area than the two before her. But I have photographed some in the field that who's color was more washed out than she is. Nothing quite like yours seems to be, however. I will be interested to see a better picture when you get it.

Also, I notice my Papa puts each of his new females "in their place." By that I mean for the first several days he really beats up on them and never allows them to feed ahead of him and seems to be upset with them if they are not in the nestbox, sitting on the eggs when he thinks they should, for example. They seem to watch him carefully for clues as to how, what and when they should act. Could be your new female is undergoing a similar initiation process and will assert herself more when he lets up on her and she is more confident of her role.

I cropped your picture as much as I dared. It lacks detail but you can see it a little bit better.

Dave

This message was edited Jul 20, 2008 9:24 AM

She sure does look light. Will be interesting to see if you can get a closer picture over time.

Thankyou Dave for the cropping job. I still cannot believe this bird! How unusual is this coloring? I hate to think of her increased odds of becoming a victim with her coloring. But that is probably another reason she is so shy and rightly so. Do you think she is fertile? It is , of course, not true albanism since there is some color. (just a bad bleach job...er..hair day?) Wish I could recall the name for this , heck.... I will get a better pic, I'm sure, as time goes on, but was just so very anxious to show her to you all. I immagine her offspring will have a recessive gene for this color defect, so maybe the will be pale also?
Dave, help me here please with your wealth of knowledge. Have you had one of these coloring before? ;-) That's typical of me, wanting the answers now, and that is what is cool about nature...ya just have to wait and see............sooo.

leucistic. (i had to look it up) is washed out colors.

in this thread, Resin showed some drawings…(about 1/4 way down)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/724859/

I'm not sure why she would become a victim with this color (I plead ignorance). It is interesting that she turn up there for you right after Dave's new really dark female showed up! I wonder though how "interesting" she is to a male, as in--do bluebirds look for color in a mate? I know that female goldfinches are attracted to the very yellowest of mates.

Maybe you can put a second mealworm dish out for her on the other side of the house and you can get some pix??

awww, boo. hiss.

I believe the term "Leucistic" sort of means "whitish" and is most likeky derived from medical terminology which is based in Latin.......anyway, in medical terminology "Leuco" or "Leukos" (can't remember) means "white" (ie..Leukocytes = white blood cells).......just a little FYI for you all out there in "Birdieland" ;-)

I would luv to know more about how commonly this is seen, since most, shall I say "malanin impaired" animals have shorter than average lives, which is probably another reason they are so rare.