Bluebirds Mystery

by Cheryl
(SC)

Original female Bluebird

Beginning in January 2012 I had this bird that kept flying into my window, all day long. Concerned, I went to the internet to figure out what this bird was and why it was doing it!

It turns out, I had a pair of bluebirds interested in nesting in an old tree stump in my yard. They were seeing their reflection in the window and "fighting" with the other bird.

I covered the window, thinking that would solve the problem, but they discovered the side mirrors on both our cars (And the mirrors on any visitors cars who came over!) and fought those birds!

Even with all the fighting that they were doing, they managed to successfully fledge 4 babies, and one of the eggs didn't hatch.

That old stump was paper thin, and we had been meaning to get rid of it, but Chickadees usually nested in it.

I did not check on them like I did the bluebirds, so I did not know what bad shape that stump was really in! So we took the stump out after the babies fledged and put up an Eastern Bluebird Nesting box.

The first birds who showed interest in the box were Brown Headed Nuthatches, but bluebirds chased them away immediately!

Soon after, it appeared that we had the same bluebirds from the stump nesting in the box. After tedious nest construction, we had 4 tiny eggs!

The female was incubating the eggs, for a few days. Then the other day I noticed a female bluebird on top of the nestbox, and flapping her wings, and a male came to the box to peek inside. The Male from my nesting pair swooped down and chased them away.

Yesterday, I saw a female bluebird on top of the nesting box, with nesting material in her mouth, and she went inside the box.

I checked on the box, and there are the makings of a completely new nest being built on top of the already fully constructed nest complete with 4 eggs!

I don't know what happened or what I should do if anything. I wonder if the two bluebird pairs just began fussing over the nesting site and chased away my original nesters?

I don't know if I should remove the little eggs or leave them in there. They are not going to hatch if a female is not incubating them. So sad.