First bluebird egg has hatched!
Just a few pictures today and a quick update on the eggs…as I was leaving the house and rushing off to work, I gave the nestbox one last check, and one egg had hatched! We have a new baby bluebird! Sorry to not get a picture to you, but I’d already taken some earlier, uploaded, and was just out of time. So tomorrow, we’ll have new pictures of 1-day-old baby Eastern bluebirds! How exciting!
The top left picture shows the male in one of his favorite perches: the gutter 
right on the corner of our house overlooking the deck and nestbox. The top-right is my favorite picture from this morning: one of 
the babies (guess we’re going to have start calling these the “juveniles,” or “kids,” or “older siblings”…I’m not really sure what to call them anymore!) is stalking a mealworm on the rail and debating how close he really wants to come to where I’m sitting! Here’s the mama perched on the same rail also from this morning. One last good one from the morning is the same baby/juvenile in a pose that makes it look kind of falcon-like. The last two at the bottom are just some pictures I took in the last few weeks of our male and female. Hope you enjoy, and I’ll see you tomorrow with a look inside the nestbox at our (less-than) 1-day-old bluebirds! Dave
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Comments
GOOD MORNING TO ALL, HEY DAVE , TELL ME IF I HAVE A PROBLEM. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING MY BLUEBIRD BOX FOR A COUPLE WEEKS. THERE’S A NEST BUT I DON’T SEE THE MOM AND PAPA GOING IN AND OUT. SOMETIMES I SEE THEM SITTING ON THE ELECTRICAL LINE, BUT NOT GOING IN TO THE NEST. WHAT’S UP DOC? SIS IN KY.
MY MAMMA BLUEBIRD IS NOT STAYING ON HER EGGS. I SEE HER FLYING AROUND, BUT NOT GOING IN ANY MORE TO SIT ON HER EGGS. OH DEAR1! I’M IN A PANIC NOW. WE HAD A BAD COLD SPELL LAST WEEK. DOWN IN THE THIRTIES. COULD THAT BE WHAT’S WRONG OR MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE THE DADDY’S GONE. THEY SHOULD BE HATCHING ANY DAY. WHEN SHOULD I REMOVE THE EGGS. THIS IS NERVE RACKING. I SO HOPED EVERTHING WOULD BE OK.
SAD,SAD, SIS
Hey, sis! Sorry I just found your questions here on this older entry… Don’t panic, things could still be okay. You might want to check your box for insects or a wasp nest or something. Is the mama in there at all? If she’s solo right now, she’ll be out getting food more often, but hopefully she’s in there some. Do you have any dogs, cats or pesky neighborhood kids that could be scaring her off? Loud construction nearby? These are just guesses…
Check this link out for other troubleshooting ideas:
http://www.sialis.org/widows.htm
We have had blue bird families every where we have lived in Georgia and this year the little garden outside our breakfast room has a blue bird house we moved from another part of the garden and what a joy to watch all the activity and beauty!! I have learned so much from you today and I thank you so much. I have discovered that many people have never seen an Eastern Blue Bird……many have thought that the Blue Jay was what I have been raving about…..far from it!!!
Dave, thanks so much for that site. That’s the best one I’ve been on. All the info anyone will need.
I cleaned out the old nest with ants, and put it back in the box. I now have some new visitors. They went in, but did not stay. I knew something was wrong. As I watched, the front of the box had worn down and got too smooth. At first, I thought it was the nest. Sooooo, I took it out. I roughed up the outside and the inside of the lid. Now I will see if they begin their home.
I will have much more time to be a good blue bird caregiver after school is out here in Ky.
thanks, sis
Dear Dave:
We have had such wonderful success with our blue bird box. Sometimes as much as four new nest in less then three months. This time the female bluebird has laid her 4 eggs. I think it is about two weeks and I do not know if the mommy and daddy are coming back. How long will a bluebird box with four bluebird eggs in it take for them to hatch. What amount of time can pass before you feel parents won’t return. It is on our deck and very safe. At least I feel it is.Worried foster parents.
Marilyn
Marilyn, hatching usually occurs 12-15 days from the time the last egg was laid, so you definitely could still have four live eggs that are just about to hatch. Even if you are concerned the nest has been abandoned, keep waiting another week or two before you empty the old nest and eggs out…better safe than sorry! Thanks for the question. :-)
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Hey Dave and family,
this school teacher has survived another winter season. Looking foward to summer vacation. Just wanted to let ya know that my bluebirds are back again and I am thrilled. They have build their nest in my box, and I hope this spring they all survive. Last spring, I lost the first brood. I had never had them nest before, so now I am looking foward to watching out for these little ones.
sis