Eastern bluebird eggs…getting close to hatching!
Okay, it’s day 12 now, and the eggs are still unhatched and okay. All five are under the careful watch and care of this fella and his wife, so predators come near at your own risk!
In my last entry I promised you a story about a house wren who recently tried to take over our nestbox, so here it is…we had just finished the first bluebird brood, and all five birds had fledged. Different sources I checked had differing opinions about removing the old nesting material. I decided to go ahead and take it out to remove any risk of blowfly larvae which can infest a nest. Anyway, we now had an empty nestbox, but the bluebirds were still “claiming it” by using it as their favorite perch spot in the yard. Early one morning while I was out sitting on the deck, a house wren landed in some bushes 
about ten feet from the nestbox. He starts chattering like crazy and then goes and lands on the empty box. Since no eggs or nestlings were inside, I figured I’d just watch and see what would happen.
Well, the bluebirds either weren’t paying attention or didn’t care that this guy was using their perch, so he keeps chattering and then flies inside the house. In swoops the male bluebird and sticks his head inside the hole (body still hanging on the outside of the box). I’m thinking,”Uh oh, trouble,” but this is my first encounter like this, so I’m not sure how it’ll turn out. Then the male dives all the way in, and it’s on! Now, to get an accurate picture of this next scene, you have to imagine one of those cartoons from long ago where they did 
fights with a cloud of dust enveloping the combatants, arms and legs flying in and out of it as punches were being thrown, lightning bolts flashing, “BAM!” and “POW!” would appear around the dust cloud as you heard groans and punches landing. Got it? I mean the nestbox is shaking violently, there’s screeching going on, and at this point I’m not sure who’s going to win! I knew the smaller house wrens were predators to bluebirds and that they could puncture and throw eggs out from a nest, so I’m scared for our guys!
No joke, this goes on for a good 15 seconds and then everything is still and quiet, and the bluebird flies out. He perches on top of the box briefly, fluffs his wings a little, and then flies away. I’m thinking, “Great. I’ve got a dead house wren in there to clean up.” Well, about ten seconds later, out pops the house wren who calmly flies over to the bushes. Meanwhile, I’m shocked that this little guy has made it out alive. Well, he’s quiet for a few minutes in the bushes, then starts his chattering again. 
Eventually he gets another house wren to fly over to the bush with him. Now you would think he’d learned his lesson by now, but this guys flies over again to the top of the nestbox, chatters, and gets his mate (presumably) to come over too. They both fly into the house. Well, Mr. Bluebird will have none of this, so he reappears and flies in the box too! All three in there at once, and it is on AGAIN! One house wren escapes within seconds (I’m guessing it’s his mate who is thinking that this may not be the best house choice for her after all). Then it’s the same scene as before. Eventually the dust settles, 
and the bluebird comes out thinking, “That should just about take care of that,” and flies off again. Little house wren flies out last, licking his wounds, and true story, I’ve never seen him close to the nestbox again!
Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment and let me know what you think or share your own story. If you want to send me one of your bird pics, you can email me at dheiser@wncn.com Maybe we’ll have babies to show you tomorrow! Dave
Here’s a picture of our mama building the second nest back on May 20th and then a picture of one of the baby bluebirds on the same day. Now compare the baby with a picture from this morning, and you can see how fast they’re changing! The one from today (far right) is much sleeker, darker, and bigger.
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Comments
While visiting my sister in Gonzales, Tx. we watched a cardinal nest with 3 eggs in it on a fence covered with rose of montana vines. The next day a solid colored blue egg showed up in the nest, and the next day another. On researching the eggs by color and size, the only bird that fit was bluebird eggs. They have now hatched, but my sister cannot tell anything about the characteristics of the babies yet.
I have searched the web and cannot find any articles that indicate bluebirds will lay eggs in another’s nest. Please help. The family in very interested in this bird behavior. I have a picture of the nest with eggs, but I cannot attach it to this comment box. Thanks for any help you can give on this issue. I can send pics to another email address if you are interested in seeing the eggs in nest and one of the hatchlings.
Greta, very interesting! I’m surprised all the eggs hatched and am curious as to how the bluebird and cardinal got along in the process! Who incubated the eggs? If everyone is still getting along, I guess you can just wait and see what happens…alternatively, one set of nestlings could be moved into a substitute nest very close by, with the hope being that each set of parents would care for their respective nestlings. Sounds like a tough situation brewing though!
I’d love to see your pictures! You can email them to me at dheiser@wncn.com
Thanks!
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Great story, Dave. And, great pictures!