Fledging time: careful checking of boxes

In case there is anyone out there reading the blog who has just started doing bluebird boxes, I have some tips below under the CHECKING heading

South Side

Only checked boxes on the South side today. The four active bluebird nests are there. At the far end, the swallows in Box 13 had fledged, and bluebirds in Box 14 had hatched.

In Box 12 there were two bluebirds, so two had already fledged today or yesterday:

You can see some of the spotty pattern on the backs, but both have some blue on the wings. They were eyeing me suspiciously. As soon as I closed the box, both flew out through the nest hole. I tracked down one of them in a nearby tree. It looked a bit wet on the underside. Perhaps the nest keeps some moisture. You can see the bill is more yellow that on the adults.

When they fledge, the bluebirds never go back in. Empty box:

The one box on the south side still has just eggs.

CHECKING BOXES

It's been a two year process to learn to check the boxes as carefully as I can. It's not that it was that difficult to decide not to check some boxes, it was just that I was curious about some boxes and decided to open them quite often. The situation inside might be figured out just by looking with binoculars for 5 minutes (without opening). The swallows in particular are not ever cooperative. I got this box open but was never able to move the feathers aside before swallows attacked. This pair should have had all nestlings gone by now but nothing moved inside. Still, the parents dive bombed me. Left it for next week to figure out. Closed box. So here are the rules.

1 Both swallows and bluebirds are migratory birds. Interfere as little as possible. There are laws protecting migratory birds.

2 Wrens are also migratory birds.  Move your boxes as far from the trees as you can to avoid wrens. They can be trouble to bluebirds. Once the wrens nest, leave them alone.

3 If you can't decide what to do with a box, and the situation inside is not clear to you, just skip that box. Bringing binoculars along will help you figure out who is inside.

4. Avoid taking a nest out. A nest with eggs is easiest to take out, do it carefully. You would only do this to take care of some problem such as ants. Grease on the pole will discourage ants climbing in and setting up a nest.

5. We only need to interfere if it helps the birds' nesting success. Quite often it is best just to do as little as possible.

6. It is good to have a count of the birds for a report, but not essential. Make a good guess and mark it as 4 or 5 eggs or nestlings.

7. When the birds are starting to jump at the hole for food, it might be best just to leave that box alone. Opening the box may cause them to fledge. I did that today, but two from that nest had already left, so no harm was done.

Swallows mostly finished, 4 active Bluebird nests

South Side



This is the Box 12 set June 17. On June 24 they were bigger but feathers seem to be slow in coming.

Box 1 finally hatched three eggs, They were nappping at 8:30 but by 9AM one was hungry. This is about a month after this pair lost their first four nestlings.

This is their home, first one out on the South prairie:

My trick is to go up to the swallow nest box and stand there. If they dive bomb me, I know they are still nesting, I went up to box 13 and nothing happened. I opened the box. Swallow nestlings are fully grown. I quickly closed it and got away. No photos.

North Side

The swallows that lost a nestful in Box 14 have built a nest in Box 13 and lined it with feathers. No eggs yet.

Four Active Bluebird Nests in June

South Side

Box 12 nestlings June 17 (top) and June 19. They were quite sleepy but I could get three to open their bills a bit. In two days the pin feathers clearly broke through in the wings

There is a nest with eggs in Box 5 that had no eggs a week ago. 

House Wrens

There is one active male wren on the South side. These males fill up every hole with sticks to impress females. No eggs. 

Swallows

Two boxes have swallows  fully grown. If I opened the box, they would just fly out.

Fourteen Bluebirds, lots of swallows

I was able to inspect all 18 boxes on the North Side. Swallows and wrens are coming along. We've fledged 10 bluebirds and four more have hatched so optimistically at least 14 bluebirds. Plus 8 more eggs.

South Side

The four eggs in box 12 hatched a couple of days ago:

My good camera was missing a card, but next door, swallows were flying or jumping to the hole every time parents showed up. They peek out here:

In the end boxes, Box 14 indeed has a bluebird sitting on white eggs.

North Side

My notes for nest boxes look like this, with lots of blanks, but some info on all boxes. So all 18 were checked, data here for 11-18 on the North side, The swallows did not allow me to open Box 18 but as long as they are active, nestlings inside are fine.

Wren nestlings well feathered. Long bills. They will be half the size of bluebirds when fully grown.

It's an enormous box for such a small nest in the corner.

Typical swallow nest at this stage, Box 15

House sparrows

The nestlings look just like all the others, but the bills are extreme yellow. The house sparrows like to use the same feather lining as do swallows. Now I know, house sparrows nest in June,

Life Out of The Nest

What are bluebirds again? Small thrushes. Nothing to do with blue jays.

I see the bluebird parents near the nest boxes all the time. They hunt for insects on the ground and feed them to the young in the box. But I almost never see the fledged birds. They never come back to the box. They head for the nearest trees. There they wait for the parents to bring some food at least for a few days on their own. Usually they have blue wings and tails, and a spotted gray chest somewhat like robins. Both are thrushes. The adult and the juvenile are shown below.

Young robin for comparison

Looks like some bluebirds renested

We were worried about low nesting success, but it looks like there are up to 12 bluebird eggs now in the boxes. They may not all turn into something, as last year the last four eggs were not hatched. Not sure if there was a problem with those eggs. Bluebirds tend not to abandon viable eggs.

South Side

The first two boxes have been quiet for weeks, though there was a grass nest of the bluebird type in Box 1. Now there are finally blue eggs in it. Two were distinctly blue, two close to white. The absence of feathers tells me it is a bluebird nest.

Boxes 3 and 6 had swallows inside, so I assume they are still nesting. Box 7 bluebirds did not renest, but they fledged four birds. Next door is a box I do not need to open (picture via iPhone) but swallows have hatched in Box 8:

In Box 12 there is no change, but eggs should hatch soon enough:

Box 11 swallows hatched a week ago and the box was not opened.

Box 13 and Box 14 closest to Coyote Point were the mystery. I had seen both swallows and bluebirds around these boxes in April and May.

Box 13 definitely has swallows nesting,(hatching not known). Box 14 had swallows before that fledged. It now has four WHITE bluebird eggs. They are slightly bigger than swallow eggs. I had never seen white bluebird eggs before.

North Side

There are no active bluebird nests that I know of. I checked Box 13 and the pair nesting there have not renested. It was empty. I was returning from the rounds and noticed swallows going in and out of box 13. Yet there is nothing inside, Their nest is next door in Box 14.

I became suspicious. I approached Box 14 ( I had seen nestlings there earlier) and they did not attack me. So I opened the box. Their nestlings had died and they had abandoned the box. The swallows have good success, but as we lost some bluebirds this May, it is not surprising we lost swallows too. I will need to open all the boxes in a week or two because of this.

There are a number of empty nest boxes still, so I will not inspect all the North Side boxes for another week. The swallow nestlings in most boxes are a week old, though one box had just eggs. Box 15 is typical.

Then there are the house wren eggs in Box 17. They have hatched. The young look just like bluebird or swallow young at this point:

So there are now three nests of Bluebirds still to track.

10 Bluebirds fledged, 4 are still eggs

The Box 7 set of four fledged on the South Side and Box 13 pair on the North Side. So we have 10 fledged now for this year. Empty boxes:

These are the four eggs, South Side Box 12

Most Tree Swallow Eggs Are Hatching Now

North Side
My Bluebirds in Box 13 are still ignoring me, but are ready to go. Parents were seen.

Some of the boxes are easy to monitor as I just need to slide an iPhone through the slot.

Inside, swallow nestlings have just hatched and two eggs will hatch later today.

In Box 17 the house wren eggs are still eggs. 

Life Goes On

Birds are nesting and new eggs were laid. The disasters a week ago are forgotten. Click the pictures for full view.

South Side
The last box has swallows nesting. The parent is shown here

The neighbors, rare for two pairs of swallows, raised their young and the box was empty:

Surprisingly, Box 12 that had nothing last year had four bluebird eggs.

I greased the pole with axle grease, as I did in other active nests. to keep ants out. Swallows nest in Box 11 and the eggs had just hatched hours ago. The squirmy little nestlings were barely visible in a pile of feathers.

Box 7 nestlings (should be 4) are almost ready to leave. Fully feathered. Parents were attentive.

Box 1 had a new grass nest (bluebird?) but no eggs. The ground in front looks awful from tractor activity:

There is a box alone, 3, whose partner 4 got run over by a tractor. It now finally has swallow eggs. The bulldozed box was an earlier nest with no eggs a few weeks back, probably from the same pair. The female is inside in the second photo.

North Side

Two nestlings left in Box 13, ready to go in a week.