Take the bird nest location quiz!
Okay kids, let’s play a game today. You are a bird. You are about ready to lay eggs. In the above setting, the best spot to build your nest is…
A. Parking space
B. Bushes and underbrush
C. Small tree in parking lot
D. Larger trees beside woods
If you guessed B, C, or D…congratulations! You are well on your way to a safe and satisfying nesting experience. For those of you answering “parking space,” count yourself blessed to be a human. Next question…
Considering predators, car exhaust, and curious people, the ideal location for your nest in this scene is…
A. High up in the treetop
B. Somewhere in the middle of the tree
C. Down low in the thicker branches
D. On the ground in some mulch
If you answered A or B, way to go! Many happy and contented nestlings are in your near future. Those thinking C haven’t met our 7-year-old, pictured below. He would love to come and examine your nest site up close!
And, if you answered D…on the ground in some mulch, then you were thinking the same thing as this safety-conscious bird below.
Let’s look a little closer…
Beautiful bird, but what is it? A killdeer! They are actually shorebirds but often live far from the beach. And, to this bird’s credit, D was the right choice for it, because killdeer are ground-nesters. That’s the way God designed them, so it’s appropriate that this killdeer is, in fact, nesting in our church parking lot! Killdeer don’t even hide their nests because their eggs are so well camouflaged. If a predator comes, they fake a broken wing and lead the enemy away from the nest. Amazing!
This killdeer has been in our parking lot sitting on eggs now for at least two weeks. A friend of mine, Adam Johnson, is the one who discovered it and told me. His wife Ashleigh actually does a blog, and she has some pictures as well…one even shows what the eggs look like. Here’s a link to her site: Ashleigh’s blog post and to our church’s website: Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC. We’d love to have you come by for a visit one Sunday! Dave
P.S. Just discovering the blog? Click here for my previous entry about a conversation I had with our male bluebird and a neighborhood rabbit…
Another bluebird photo session…
Bluebird: Hi, Dave! Can we try that picture thing again today? It’s just me, and it’s gorgeous out here!
Dave: Sure, that would be great! I love taking pictures of you guys.
Bluebird: Thanks. Let me just get fixed up here. This will only take a minute…
Dave: Okay.
Bluebird: (still getting ready)
Dave: Do do doo…..do do doo…..
Bluebird: Now, I’m ready. How do I look, Dave?
Dave: Great, but you looked fine at the start.
Bluebird: Can you zoom in a little, Dave. This shot is too far.
Dave: Picky, picky. Who’s running this photo shoot, anyway?
Bluebird: That’s better. I want one with my GQ pose…what do you think?
Dave: Makes you look sophisticated. Very impressive for someone who eats worms.
Bluebird: I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. It would be a shame for this deck to suddenly start getting used for some family target practice…bathroom bombing raids, if you get my drift.
Dave: Yikes! So, any other poses? How can I be of service?
Bluebird: That’s more like it. I’d like one of my backside please. I have beautiful blue on my wings, you know.
Dave: Very true. Could you turn slightly for me though? The sun’s not as good on that side.
Bluebird: Like this?
Dave: Perfect! That’s a nice one!
Bluebird: Great. Let’s get one of me in the red plate too, for old times sake.
Dave: Looks good. Anything else?
Bluebird: Nope, that does it for me. I think there’s a bunny waiting.
Rabbit: I’m a rabbit actually, not a bunny. I thought a “blue jay” would know that.
Bluebird: Watch it, bunny rabbit. You’re fast, but my bombing aim is pretty good.
Rabbit: You bluebirds are so rude. You didn’t even thank Mister Dave. Think of all he does for you guys! Food, shelter, fresh water… Us rabbits have to fend for ourselves!
Bluebird: Good call, Rabbit. Get your picture, then I’ll take one of Dave and his family.
Rabbit: CHEESE!!!
Dave: Thanks, Rabbit. Very nice.
Bluebird: Okay, gather the whole family, Dave! Let’s see if you guys can do better than we did the other day.
Dave, Mrs. Dave, and Boys: CHEESE!!!
Bluebird: Awesome! Here you go Dave. And thanks…thanks for everything!
Dave: You’re welcome. And great job on our family photo! I’d been wanting one of those.
Bluebird: Hey, have you noticed we’ve put some eggs in the box again? You’ll have to come over and get some pictures soon…gotta fly. Later, Dave!
Even more baby bluebird pictures!
Getting a good family picture can be so hard. Someone’s moving, someone’s not looking at the camera, someone’s eating, one of the kids is hungry…sigh!
Anyone interested in a picture over here? Say cheese…uh oh, we lost one of the kids.
Let’s try one of just dad and junior…maybe a little closer together. Um, close your mouth, junior.
How ’bout just mom and a kid. Anyone? Bueller?…….Bueller? My, what are you feeding that bird?!
Okay, let’s try a different backdrop. Just the kids please. We seem to be missing the other three, but oh well. Squeeze together…nice! Now act like you like each other…um maybe looking at each other would help.
Um, dad, can we get some assistance here, please? One’s looking the wrong way again.
Let’s try it again you two…say cheese! Hey, you in the back, pay attention!
Right. Well, I can see we’re done for today, then. Um, nice effort everyone. We’ll try this again another time. Dave :-)
More baby bluebird pictures…
Just a few pictures to show you quickly this evening… These were from Friday morning, and half of them were taken by my wife, including the one up above. The baby blues are around more and more these days, so it’s definitely a fun time to be watching. Looks like I’ve got some work to do on the cleaning front there on the deck rail and nestbox roof. Sorry bout that! Anyway, gotta run. More pics coming soon! Dave
How do you get rid of ants in a bluebird nest?
“Dave, we have a problem,” says our male bluebird. “Ants in the nestbox. Help!”
Okay, so you’ve got ants in your nestbox. What do you do? This question has come up a lot recently in your comments, so let’s go at it in length. We actually just dealt with the issue ourselves in our own nestbox last week. My son and I went to clean out the old bluebird nest, and YIKES…we had ants! Thankfully it was after the baby bluebirds had fledged, but this illustrates a good point: CLEAN OUT YOUR OLD NESTS QUICKLY. There were hundreds of tiny black ants going up and down the pole into our nestbox, and we probably could have avoided the whole mess by cleaning the nest out as soon as the birds had left. Lesson learned.
So, we promptly dumped the nest (far away from where the birds could find it again and reuse pieces) and flushed the nestbox with water. Probably we could have scrubbed it with soap and water, but we kept it pure and just saturated it. Then my son engineered a nice stick support to keep the box open and let it dry thoroughly over several hours. By the way, the other reason you clean out old bluebird nests is so they will nest again. Eastern bluebirds will typically do up to three broods over the spring and summer, and emptying the old nest makes it more likely that this will happen. They can, of course, re-use old nests, but then you may run into a problem of say, maybe, hypothetically, um, ANTS.
Ants are dangerous to baby bluebirds (or bird nestlings in general) because they can cause the parents to abandon the nest. This obviously can result in dead nestlings. The ants can also swarm the nestlings and kill them on their own (especially true of fire ants in the South). It’s possible the parents will continue to feed the nestlings until fledging if the ants have just recently invaded, but they will typically abandon the nest if there are only eggs. So, even though the ants may appear small and like they aren’t causing any real trouble, you do need to take action. Go to a local hardware store, Wal-Mart, or Home Depot/Lowe’s, and buy some Terro (pictured above). We love this stuff and use it in our house whenever ants appear. Ants love it, too! They will flock to it, tell their friends, and pretty soon MORE ants than ever are on your Terro. A few days later, though, everyone is gone. They all go back to where they first came from and die. It’s awesome!
Next, get some Q-tips, and dip them into the Terro. Now duct tape or staple them to the bottom of your nestbox and the fun will begin. Pretty soon your Q-tips are black with ants, but don’t worry. Laugh a sinister laugh as you welcome these tiny pests to their own death and out of your nestbox forever. Hear the sounds of your bluebirds thanking you in their songs from nearby trees as they rejoice that they are so blessed to have you as their knowledgeable caretaker. While you enjoy this proud parenting moment, tape a few to the pole as well. Now victory is yours. Well, it’s worked for us anyway.
We have also tried grease and Vaseline on a pole before to stop ants but with no success. What has worked in protecting our hummingbird feeder from ants is a little moat of water that the ants are unable to cross. The same idea can work on bluebird poles as well if you can engineer a way to keep the water or it’s container flush against the pole (and keep the water full) so the ants can’t cross it. I wrestled with this briefly and then went with the Terro. The Sialis website (which is a tremendous wealth of info on bluebirding) also suggests a small bundle of crushed sage or crushed peppermint leaves sprinkled under the nest to deter ants. Birds and Blooms Magazine has suggested sprinkling ginger around the base of the pole. I’m sure there are many other successful ideas…please feel free to comment on your successes or failures with any of these methods or to suggest something different that’s worked for you!
Now our bluebirds have built a fresh new nest (this photo above and the one previous), and the ants are gone. We’re ready for action! The only problem is they’ve been raiding one of the new plants we got for my wife for Mother’s Day (below). Mama blue thinks this hanging straw basket petunia is her personal nest supply store!
Last thing to show you today is this picture of me and our Carolina wren from earlier this week. It has built a nest into our neighbor’s grill and is desperate for mealworms! Gotta run…please leave your comments about the ants below! Dave
A bluebird commercial?
Many of you know that I work at a TV station (NBC-17 here in Raleigh, NC), which is where I write my blog. I just found out today that they’re going to start running a promo for my blog on our air…my first commercial! A big thanks goes out to to Roger Hobbs for putting it together and for the creative idea with the xylophone music. Check it out! Dave
First pictures of baby bluebirds out of the nest
We got our first look at some of the bluebird fledglings this morning! Only saw two of them at the same time, but hopefully all five are alive and doing well. Nice to have them back again! Dave
Carolina wren nest (mystery eggs revealed)
Me: Okay, way back on April 16, I introduced you to these mystery eggs that were in a nest here at work.
You: Yes, we remember. You said you would show us the picture of the angry mama “tomorrow.”
Me: Um, yes, well, I did say that, didn’t I. Well… how bout, instead of waiting until tomorrow, um, I’ll go ahead and show you today! Does that work?
You: Bad joke. Do we have a choice?
Me: No, so let’s get on with the big show here. This (above) is the actual nest that those same eggs were found in!
You: I don’t think you’re supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, Dave.
Me: As I was saying, this is the actual nest. It was built into the door of a large metal storage container here at work. You can see the door handle there in the picture.
You: How do we know that’s a storage container door? The picture is too tight. And that doesn’t look like a bird nest, either. What if you just stuffed the pine straw and leaves in there yourself?
Me: Tough audience today. C’mon, we’ve got a rapport here now! I’m Dave, your friendly amateur bird lover! You know, Dave’s Bird Watching Blog!
You: Hmmm…maybe, but you’d think we’d get a picture of the whole storage container.
Me: Anyway, it is a real nest. Here’s what’s inside…two cute little birds!
You: There were three eggs in the old picture you showed us way back on April 16. Why aren’t there three baby birds?
Me: Maybe there are three, but we can only see these two here at the front. The nest is kind of like a deep tunnel.
You: Okay, but can you zoom in closer so we can see them better?
Me: Sure. Here you go!
You: Wow! Those really are birds in there. I guess you didn’t just stuff those leaves into the container door yourself after all. That one on the left looks like a porcupine…kind of prickly. What’s that on top of his head? It looks like little brown feathers! Can we get in any closer still?
Me: Glad you asked! Absolutely!
Someone else: Excuse me, I just found this site while Googling “bluebird eggs.” You have a nice blog, but are there any bluebirds in this post today?
Me: Hi! Not today, sorry. They’re still high up in the treetops with the new fledglings. I did see the male this morning though, sitting on the nestbox.
You: Surely you have a picture of that for us to see…
Me: Actually no. This post is about the mystery birds. Here’s that close-up for you.
You: Yikes! His eye is open! That’s a little scary there, Dave!
Me: Well, you asked for it…but it does give us a good look at the feathers. I’d say these nestlings are about nine or ten days old. So, are you ready for the big mystery to be revealed? To finally find out who these babies really are and who is the author and owner of the eggs? This is the moment you’ve been waiting for!
You: For almost a month, but Dave, um, the title of the blog says…
Me: Okay! Drumroll please!!! It’s a Carolina wren nest!!!
You: Never would have guessed.
Me: Here’s a picture of one of the parents that’s been fluttering around the nest and squawking at me.
You: That picture is a little far away and not quite as crisp. Is that the best one you could get for us?
Me: Well, yeah, but those little wrens are hopping and flying all over the place out there! They aren’t tame and trusting like the ones in my backyard.
You: Okay, that makes sense, but did you get any shots with their mouths open? That would have been really cool to see here.
Me: Ask and you shall recieve!
You: Nice, but you misspelled “receive” up there. It’s i before e except after c, remember? Better turn your spell checker on, chief.
Me: Oops. Good point. I’ll go back and fix that before this gets posted. Hey, want to get a closer look?
You: Oh no, that’s plenty close already.
Me: Come on, where’s your spirit of adventure? I’ll go ahead and show you what it would be like and then you can decide for yourself.
You: No, Dave! Wait!!!
You: Ugh! I feel like a mealworm! Dave, that’s way too close. You really shouldn’t put that in there.
Me: Sorry, but it is pretty interesting. Is that its larynx down in there?
You: Dave! What if people are eating! And really, this blog entry is getting quite long. Are we done yet?
Me: Well, I had thought about showing you a family picture. My wife had a birthday recently.
You: Yes! We love how you show us your family and those two cute boys you have! And it wouldn’t hurt to let us end on something pleasant…so we don’t feel like we’re about to be swallowed.
Me: Right, another excellent idea. Here you are.
You: Lovely! That’s much nicer to end on. Gotta run, Dave. Thanks!
Me: Bye! Don’t forget to leave a comment below! :-)
Bluebirds feeding nestlings video
Well, by now you’ve guessed that last Thursday on day 19, those cute little bluebirds finally left the nest. Sadly, I once again missed the big event. They must have gone at the crack of dawn, which is earlier than even I get out there (I’ve been out about 6 or 6:30 trying to catch it). Alas, they are now high up in the treetops learning survival skills from mom and dad for the next 10 days or so. I’m still hoping to get some pictures of them to you, but in the meantime, here’s a little video I put together of the parents feeding the babies from about two weeks ago. Hope you enjoy! Dave
Click here to see another video of our male bluebird eating out of my hand (from last summer).
When will these baby bluebirds leave the nest?
These are pictures from yesterday, day 18 for our Eastern bluebird nestlings. Lots of trips in and out of the nestbox for the parents right now.
And here’s one of our new residents below, giving us our best look so far…nice profile shot, little fella. There’s definitely a lot more peeking out going on.
So, if these pictures are from yesterday, what was going on this morning, day 19 (besides a bottle feeding)? Hmmm… :-) Dave
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