When will these baby bluebirds leave the nest?

I love these photos of the bluebirds going in and out! Bring on the babies! And your boys are so cute. Wonder if they’ll inherit your bird skills….

Dave,
Nice bluebird photos..they are just so cute peeking out from the nestbox and that other little one… peeking out from behind that bottle..he’s pretty darn cute too!! Big brother looks like he knows what he is doing!! :)

Those babies must be leaving soon.Can you imagine how the parents must feel by now.TIRED!

Great pictures, Dave. I remember last summer when I wanted so badly to see one of the babies fledge… I missed all of them!!! They must have left early in the mornings–since I watched the nest most of the day. I think I read that they leave –one a day. Right????

My bluebirds may have stopped with four eggs… Today was supposed to be FIVE and yet there were only four. I’ll check again tomorrow… Have you ever heard of them only having four????

Great picture of the boys.
Betsy

We are on day 20. Momma and Daddy have to be getting exhausted. This morning a squirrel got too close to the box and Momma and Daddy tore into him all the way to the feeders. Another squirrel was there and that poor squirrel got tore into also. It was pretty great.

Betsy, once one leaves, the rest will typically follow very quickly (think minutes or hours rather than days). Also, four eggs is completely normal. Sometimes they lay as few as three, and I’ve heard of as many as six. :-)

Awww..more baby pictures. I like both sets. Adorable!

The Retirement Chronicles

Awesome post Dave… Yeh I get the parents are quite exhausted now and soon the babies will fly away, one by one, for the relief of the parents. Are they breeding more than once in a season.

Nice family picture (I guess) at the end, and yes big brother knows what he is doing ;-)

Really a nice post. I went out and bought a new bluebird house and put it up. Will have to cross my fingers. But I think it is too late for this season.

Chris and Abe, bluebirds indeed do multiple broods, as many as three over the entire spring and summer, so AL, you still have a chance!

After the babies have hatched, what is the white stuff the mom and dad have in theie mouths that they take out of the house?

Julie, they’re fecal sacs. Mom and dad are taking out the garbage and keeping the nest clean. Great question!

Is there someone local (Wake Forest area) who would come and speak to a small group about bluebirds? We live in an over-55 community (Villas of WF) and have numerous bluebird houses, many of which are occupied! We’d love to have someone come on Friday, the 15th, to our clubhouse to speak to us and share information as for many this is a first time to experience bluebirds. A delicious dinner would be provided in return.

Donna, what time are you looking for someone to be there? I work in Raleigh and could possibly do it for you if you’d like.

The eggs hatched about 12 days ago but we have only seen the male 3 or 4 times in that period. Why isn’t he helping?

Hi Dave! Enjoyed seeing the photo of the bluebird babies and your family. A couple weeks ago we saw a rosy breasted grosbeak at our feeder for one day, first one I have ever seen…learned from bird book he was probably migrating to Canada, but what a neat bird.
Also have some baby house finches, and a baby red bellied woodpecker.

Bob, so sorry to neglect your comment for so long! I completely missed seeing it here until I saw Sally’s this morning. The male will not sit with the nestlings, but you should see him making food deliveries and trash runs (removing white fecal sacs from the nest). He will be an even bigger help once the nestlings fledge.

Sally, hello again! How are you feeling these days? Those rose-breated grosbeaks are beautiful indeed. We have seen only one at our feeder, and that was two years ago… The baby red-beelied woodpecker sounds like a fun bird to have coming! Never have seen them young, only grown up. Wonder what they look like?

Great information, my baby bluebirds are a couple days old, four in total. I hung a makeshift sparrowspooker (metallic tape off of paint stirrers) I have lost the babies every year to a sparrow. Heartbreaking, any advice to raise their changes? Also I put out mealworms in a feeder near the box, but they are not eating them?

Ann, thanks! We have not had to deal any with house sparrows, so I’m no expert there. Here’s an amazing page though, on managing house sparrow problems:

http://sialis.org/hosp.htm

There’s a large table of contents at the top of the page, but you can also just keep scrolling down and eventually get to it all that way, too. Hope it helps!

P.S. Not sure why they aren’t eating your mealworms. Are you using live or dead mealworms? Also, are you sure they’ve found them yet?

Love those blue birds,I have had two pairs and on the nest again the only thing I can’t figure out the babies are not leaving.I feed them meal worms and they all have decided to stick around,and I love it,we have barn swallows which my dog Trixie and I don’t like they chase us all over the yard and garden.You have two handsome boys reminds me of when mine was that size,love your pictures HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Brenda, thank you!

Hi Dave, I am seeing the baby bluebirds hanging out of the box this morning. One in particular about three fourths out sometimes. Does this mean they will be leaving the box real soon? I want so much to see them fledge, but have always missed it. I’m watching today and hoping. This is the second brood for our pair that comes back every year.

Marilyn, yes, sounds like they are very close! Watch as much as you can today and tomorrow!

Hello,
Have you ever heard of Bluebirds nesting in a paper box under a mailbox? I have a cedar paper box directly under an oversize mailbox. Parents built a nest and a week ago I went to get my mail and saw a beak to my surprise. I never even knew there were eggs in there. It has been a week and I have carefully checked everyday. I have seen 3 beaks. It seems as if the babies sleep a lot. I haven’t seen the parents in days, but a neighbor reports seeing them fly in and out on occasion. Is it about 2 weeks before they can fly? I am surprised the parents nested in such an open location. I have a bb box in my backyard that bb’s are at every year. Guess they wanted to move to the front yard.
Thanks for your info!
Lisa