Nest Box Cam Report - Starring Ms. Blue

[happywebl]

Congratulations! It would have been very stressful for the pair to raise nine chicks, but five is no problem. We had a disaster this weekend when my neighbor called to tell me her cat had killed the male bluebird! The cat was in her yard, but close to our fence, and the male was diving at her and got too close. She's just a young cat and she took a swat at him and got lucky. My neighbor and her husband ran out trying to prevent it but it happened too quickly and they were very upset. I went to the window to see if the female was around and saw two bluebirds sitting together on my neighbors roof. The sun was setting and I couldn't see their colors because they were in silhouette, but it was definitely two bluebirds. I was intrigued and watched the box and a male flew to the roof and sat there looking very much in charge. This morning I saw the female fly from the box, and there was a male on the fence. He caught a bug and flew into the nestbox, so he is feeding the chicks. Do you think that sweet little mama bird had two males at once? Shameless! I was relieved because I know the chicks will get better care with two adults feeding them. I'll check on them the end of the week. It's gotten very cold here again, highs only in the 50's, so I don't want to open the box till it warms up some. They should fledge around Mothers' Day, so I'll only check on them once or twice more before then. I learn something new every day.
Barbara in Cloverdale, CA

[Evelyn Cooper]

Hi Barbara:

I was very sad to read about the male bluebird being destroyed by the cat. I felt better that the female had already found someone to help her. That is usually the case. Makes you wonder if the male she took up with had a female. I know this intruding female never showed back up and she probably found her a mate and is nesting somewhere on my trail!

I just read a post by Paula Z on another birding list and I just had to laugh. I thought I would pass it on as it does lighten your heart a little. She was responding to someone that wrote that someone called her a "crack pot" for the way this person handled cats. Read on:

By Paula Z:
Hmmm.... Interesting, regarding the way you handle cats. I would not call you a crackpot nut case. I think your logic is very sound. Unlike a
BB-gun, paintball gun will leave a telltale mark that does not really injure
the cat, but definitely gets the point across to the cat and the owner.

I'm curious as to whether you ever saw same cat in yard after you "tagged" him/her? A friend just yesterday told me another great way to deal with
stray cats on your property. My friend purchases some sort of awful musky scent (skunk?) that you can buy in store that sells hunting supplies - she sprays it on the cat and then of course, the cat would return home and the cat owner would have to deal with the smell.

paula

[happywebl]

Well, Evelyn, I'm a "crack pot" when it comes to roaming cats, too; and I've always had pet cats myself. I considered borrowing my grandson's paintball gun, but my daughter pointed out that my yard would be splashed with paint, as well as the misbehaving cat. I'll have to look for that skunk scent! It's not easy to spray a cat, because they run as soon as I open my back door. Yes, bluebirds do adapt and adjust when they lose a mate. I see the female coming and going and feeding the chicks, but I'm not sure that new male is still around. I'll have to spend some time watching for him. He may have just been passing through the area. I do know that there are more bluebirds around her now than there were when I moved here, almost seven years ago. And that makes me feel good!
Barbara in Cloverdale, CA

[Evelyn Cooper]

Barbara, that is great you are seeing more Western Bluebirds in your community. I know you've been working with your neighbors getting the interested in helping the bluebirds.

Today, Mama Blue removed the dead Bluebird and another baby is gone, so I am sure it died and she removed it. She and Papa are feeding the other four non-stop. I put some meal worms on the feeder and Papa Blue found them. Oh, he wasted no time taking some to the babies and he also fed Mama Blue some. It was as if to say "Hey, look what I found!"

Evelyn
Delhi, LA

[happywebl]

I need to peek in the nestbox in my garden today; I expect the chicks to fledge in about ten days, so I don't want to disturb them next week and trigger early fledging. The female has been traumatized by the cat attack that killed the male, so she's kind of edgy about us being close to her box. I see the male with her all of the time and I've seen him going into the box which makes me assume he's also feeding the chicks. I'm surprised a strange male would do that for chicks that aren't his! Live and learn.
I know that some of the chicks die before they fledge, but it's still sad for me. I guess that's why they have so many of them. This hen started with six eggs, too, so I'll let you know how many chicks are there now, ten to twelve days after hatching.
Wish I had a nest box cam!
Barbara in Cloverdale, CA

[Evelyn Cooper]

The four babies fledged on May 5th. One baby was always smaller than the rest. When this little fellow fledged, he hit the ground. I watched it and it did not get up to fly. I went out and put him on the top of the box. He flew off, but hit the ground about 15 ft. away again. I decided to try putting him back in the box and taped the hole hoping he would settle down and the parent would feed him a while longer. Watching on the nest cam, he was about to beat himself to death bouncing around in the nest, so my husband told me I better remove the tape. Well, the little fellow flew out of the box again. I went out to the check on the ground in the direction it flew as I could see it didn't make it to the tree. I couldn't find it anywhere. I saw Mama Blue come to the box after that with an insect in her mouth and I felt she was looking for the baby.I didn't give him a 10% chance to survive on the ground where we have so many other creatures around.

However, this morning, I got myself one nice surprise. The nicest thing about this endeavor is getting to count the fledglings when they come back around to where they were hatched in a week or ten days or more. I saw four fledglings (now juveniles) on the ground near this box in the backyard. This is the only box that produced four in my yard. Three of them flew up and one was left on the ground. It fed on the ground for several minutes. I walked out to it and got pretty close and when it flew up to the tree, it was still flying pretty wobbly. I kept a close watch and saw this foursome again on the ground and the other three stayed close by and they forged for at least 20 minutes. During this time, I saw two adults come and feed one of those fledglings on the ground. I have no doubt in my mind that he is the little runt and that the parents fed this baby on the ground until he could make it up into the trees. I was thrilled beyond words.

I saw the three fledglings that fledged out of the box in the front yard sitting on top of it yesterday. It is so exciting to see them and count them. These fledglings made it through all these storms (horrific weather) that we've recently had. I am counting fledglings on other parts of my trail too, sitting on the power line above their nest box along with the adults. Most pairs have eggs in the boxes on second cycles.

Observing is one of the most wonderful parts of our endeavors. It teaches us things that we can record and we know for sure what we saw happen.

Mama Blue has almost completed another nest in the box. This morning, my husband took Punkin, our Parson's (Jack) Russell puppy out to do her morning business. It was barely daylight. Mama and Papa Blue were sitting on the power line not far from them and all of a sudden, they hit the ground in copulation right close to them and Punkin was right in the middle of her business and she cut it off and ran to investigate and that broke up Mama and Papa Blue and then all of them had to recover and resume. I see Mama and Papa Blue have continued their courtship because there is much wingwaving by Papa Blue.

Evelyn
Delhi, LA

[Evelyn Cooper]

It has been thundering and lightening pretty bad here and barely sprinkling. I saw the four juveniles again before dark and they were flying from the power line in the backyard near the nest box to the trees back and forth even though the weather was ugly. I am certain that it is the four from the famous box in the backyard. I am thrilled the little runt has made it so far as I was afraid a predator would get him before he got the strength to fly to safety in the trees. We have all kinds of snakes that come from the wooded area near the yard and they come into my yard.

Evelyn
Delhi, LA
P.S. Six babies hatched out of this clutch of nine, but one died right after it was hatched. The female removed it immediately.
05/28/09 - I am still seeing the four juveniles come to the yard and feed on the ground.

This is not a situation where there has been egg dumping. Both females were re-working the nest, both laid eggs, (even seem to be taking turns, one waiting on the other to get out) and then, an attempt to incubate together on the nest. This is a case where the dominate female won out and finished the job. When there is egg dumping, the female just lays her egg and moves on.

[Evelyn Cooper]

I was so pleased to see Papa Blue and the four juveniles from the backyard box come to the feeder and feast on the chunky peanut butter/lard mix. Mama Blue is incubating 4 eggs. I was concerned about the runt that could not fly to the trees when he left the box that day, but all of them look to be in good shape. They are so big, big as Papa. They have learned to feed themselves and were pigging out on the suet mix.

Evelyn
Delhi, LA

[Evelyn Cooper]

I thought the second cycle was going along "normal" and it probably is, but me seeing things on the web cam that I have not witnessed before makes me think it is not normal. This morning, I turned on the nest cam and saw immediately that one of the fledglings had a piece of grass hanging from its mouth. The female was in the box with an insect, but she didn't try to feed it nor did she try to remove the grass. It was hanging out his mouth and he was trying to swallow it. I went out to the box and lifted the baby and pulled the grass out of his mouth. It was about three inches long down in his mouth and throat. If I had not intervened, I don't know if the parent would have pulled it out. I am sure this happens a lot of times on our trails, and not seeing what goes on inside, if the baby should die from it, we tend to think it was something else.

Evelyn
Delhi, LA

[Evelyn Cooper]

Things were going along smoothly.

Then, today one of my neighbors called me and told me she had 3 baby bluebirds hopping under her carport. She had shown me a couple of days ago where the Bluebirds had built a nest up on a board up in the corner of her carport. Something must have spooked them and she was fortunate enough to come along at the right time and picked rescue them. She has a small puppy and a cat and the bluebird babies would not have lasted long had she not been there at the right time. She didn't know what to do. I was skeptical of trying to climb up and place them back up on the ledge in the nest. So, I told her I would come get them and see how old I thought they were and would foster them to some of my nests. They were the same age as the four in the backyard box with the nest cam and I placed them in that box. Papa Blue got off his duff and has been helping Ms. Blue feed them. The parents mediately realized there were more mouths to feed.

I placed some chunky peanut butter/lard mix on the feeder and the parents immediately came to it and were carrying it to the babies. The fostered babies never made any attempt to get out of the box and now I cannot tell which ones they are.

I have the solar screen on the box and they seem to be doing fine. The thermometer registers 103* on the side of the garage in the sun.

Evelyn
Delhi, LA