Bluebird question

I don't post here very often, but I was wondering if I could get an answer to a question here. I've been feeding a bluebird couple mealworms in my yard for the last 2 or 3 years. Unfortunately they choose my neighbors nestbox to nest in, but I do get to enjoy them when they come in my yard to get their mealies. Their third brood fledged about 2 or 3 weeks ago and they have been feeding the one surviving baby the mealies. This morning the couple were getting mealies from my window feeder and feeding them to the baby who was sitting nearby waiting. All of a sudden I realized that there were 2 adult male blues getting worms, plus the female. The new male has adult plumage, no sign of baby feathers, and the other male was not fighting the new one off. The couple's first brood fledged back on April 4 - do you suppose this is one of that brood now showing up??? How soon after fledging do the babies get their adult plumage? TIA for any information!

That second male is probably a juvenile from an earlier brood. I have read that they might do this. Neat, huh??

Ok, here's a comparison. The first pic is the new male, which now that I see it closer up in the pic looks like a juvi. The second pic is the papa to the 3 broods this summer, and probably the new one's daddy.

Second pic... the male who's been around all summer.. papa to all the babies.

That's my answer, and I'm stickin' to it! You can tell that the second BB is molting, so he must be a juvenile. I have seen a whole brood follow their parents while they are feeding the second brood. Possibly the juveniles were helping........or just hoping for a handout!

2dcousinDave might have some ideas about this too, would be cool if they all are family!

Hello birdfinder

To answer your first question, fledglings begin to lose their speckled gray and white little feathers when they are around 50 days old (about 5 weeks after they fledge). It will start as two up and down streaks on the sides of their lower belly and gradually work its way upward, exposing their white belly and rust colored chest. At the same time the wing and tail feathers are growing longer, so on the males, more and more blue is showing. By the time they are 90 days old they should only have a few white feathers around the neck and usually a few wild feathers on the head. By 110 days they should look very much like an adult.

I have pictures of them taken throughout the process, beginning when they came back to the feeder at 25 days old, and every day after that until they were 100 days old and then indistinguishable from the adults.

The white feathers on your juvenile's belly are very interesting. I would guess he has recently taken a bath and as a result looks a bit disheveled. But he is finished molting and will not molt again until the end of next summer. But the size and shape of the blue feathers on his shoulder indicate that he is a juvenile about 100 days old. My guess is that he is from your April nesting. By this time he would have had time to get rid of all his fledgling fuzz. That would also explain why your adult male didn't chase him away.

I would like to see another shot of him, showing his belly from a different angle and on a different day.

Dave

Thank you Dave for your information! You are right-on in guessing his age, if he is, indeed, from the first brood. They fledged from the nestbox on April 19, which would make him a little over 100 days old now. I didn't see him again today, but whenever I do and I can get a different angle picture I'll post it here. Thanks again!