My first Bluebirds & then Tragedy!!!

My first Bluebirds & then Tragedy!!!

by Mary
(Nashville, TN)

The day the babies were hatching

The day after I put my first bluebird house up (complete with baffle) 2 bluebirds started building their nest. I was so happy! Before I knew it, 4 eggs had been laid! I couldn't wait. The chicks started to hatch on a Thursday and I took photos (above). The next day I took more photos but they didn't look too good.

Horror of horrors on Saturday when I went to check on them. They (all 4 of them) were completely gone! No evidence of them anywhere. I don't think it was a bird attack as their nest was completely clean and there was no evidence they had ever been there. Nothing on the ground, no sign of a struggle - just completely vanished! I was so upset. The only thing I can think of is that it was a snake - although what's the use of a baffle???

The male has consistently come back, but I didn't see the female for a full 2 weeks - and now he's wooing a female but I'm not sure it's the same one.

In any event, he is desperately trying to get her to nest, but she doesn't seem to want any part of it... I did remove the nest after the tragedy.

Am hoping they will return to nest; nonetheless, it is wonderful to watch them!

If anyone can put my mind at ease as to what may have happened to them, that would be great! My next question is, will they nest again in the box?

Comments for
My first Bluebirds & then Tragedy!!!

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Jun 22, 2011
Rating

Bluebird attack
by: Nick

It is very tragic to hear of your loss. I have had bluebirds nesting on our property since the summer of 2004, but the years before that the house sparrows either killed or chased them off.

From what you have said it is a pretty good chance that a house sparrow got in there killed and threw the babies out, which they will do and probably either killed momma somewhere or chased her off.

It is very sad but you can help them by removing any sparrow nests. If this happens again, remove their nest and clean the box because most likely they will not use that nest again, but they will use the box again.

May 18, 2011
Rating

Why babies died?
by: Mary

5 baby blue birds in the box, checked on them from when they were 5 eggs till they hatched. I check on them every other day. They were about 10 days old, looked real healthy. My thoughts in about 5 to 8 days they would be coming out of the box. I checked on them in the morning all 5 were dead. I picked them up to see if they were just sleeping, they were not. I don't know what happen to them. So sad. I am hoping the mother and dad will come back to the box.

May 11, 2011
Rating

bluebird tragedy
by: Anonymous

I check on my bluebirds daily except right before they are ready to fledge just so I don't cause them to fledge early. My first bluebird family experience I didn't check up on for day 17 or 18.

Day 19 I was curious because I saw the mom panicking and flying around the box but never actually landing on it. I opened the box really slowly and found myself face to face with a snake.

He had eaten all four of my babies. It was of course his last meal but I am still puzzled as to how he got up there considering I had a baffle and the house was not under a tree or anything...I have a cone shaped baffle on my other bluebird house that has five eggs in it so I am hoping it works better!

Wild-Bird-Watching.com Says:

A cone shaped baffle will not prevent snake attacks. Consider purchasing some deer/bird netting. (available at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes,etc.)

It's used to protect plants from deer and birds. Ball a larger bunch of this netting up and attach it to your post, then fluff it out.

Snakes will have to crawl through the mesh and will get tangled in it as they cannot back out.

We use this method to protect our Purple Martins.

Do a search like: using bird netting against snakes - You might get a picture of what I'm suggesting.

Apr 28, 2011
Rating

Tragedy
by: Anonymous

Look out for bluejays. I saw them in the act of killing and eating hatchlings. I saved the rest of the clutch and brought them to a local Wildlife Rescue organization. Amazingly, they had over 50 babies in care at the time.

Apr 06, 2011
Rating

they will come back
by: sylvia

Yes, they will nest again...
We watch blue birds..Same thing happened to my daughters babies. twice....So she went to Lowes and bot' a metal protector that goes around the pole to keep predators away. We never knew what got the babies. but w/n a week they had started rebuilding again..

Jul 23, 2010
Rating

bear raid
by: Anonymous

We had a pair of bluebirds using our box for the first time this summer. They built nests in two, but had not laid any eggs, then a marauding black bear tore down all three boxes! The male came back for one day but seems to have left now. We hope they'll try again next year. Any suggestions for keeping the bear away. We have no feeders up in summer here.

May 23, 2010
Rating

Our guess is......House Wrens
by: Kelley

We have nesting pairs of bluebirds as well. One of our nest boxes was occupied by a black-capped chickadee. We welcome all birds but House Sparrows so we were fine with the chickadee using one box. We check our boxes daily.

The chickadee had 5 nestlings that were 4 days old. The next day...GONE!! We couldn't figure out what happened. Then we witnessed a House Wren trying to build a nest right over the chickadee nest.

Additional online research revealed it is common for the House Wren to toss the babies out. They are competing for food and the less competition the better.

If the babies are tossed out possibly a predator most likely ate them while on the ground. Keep a look out for a House Wren in the area!

May 01, 2010
Rating

My own sad tale....
by: Anonymous

I've been watching my bluebirds nest for weeks now. Finally I see mom and dad bringing food into the nest. I walked around a few days later and spotted a baby dead on the ground. Opened the birdhouse and it was cleaned out. No sign of anything. What could have happened? I'm so sad.

Apr 17, 2010
Rating

baffle size?
by: Anonymous

How long is your baffle? I have seen recommendations of at least 24 inches to keep out raccoons. The same thing happened to two different bluebird couples in two of my nest boxes last year. I am looking for a good baffle now to prevent this from happening again. I believe my nestlings were taken by raccoons.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Bluebird Invite

Hummingbird House

A Home For Hummingbirds

More Ways To Attract Birds

Dove/Robin Nesting Shelf

Fruit Feeder

Subscribe To Our Wild-Bird-Watching.com Newsletter/E-zine It's Free! You'll get the lastest news and happenings of the Wild-Bird-Watching.com Website - Delivered to Your Inbox. Know When We Add Live Cams and New Videos