Saving my Blue Birds

by Barbara Ciuffetelli
(West Grove, PA)

As a mother's Day present to myself, I purchased a second blue bird house. My first blue bird house had been taken over by a house sparrow.

So, my husband and I picked out the perfect location for the new house and he placed the pole in the ground and attached the box to it.

Within minutes, a pair of tree sparrows discovered it and set up house. Later, I gently removed the sparrow inside and the nest.

I wanted them to know that the box was not intended for them. Luckily, two days later, a pair of blue birds took over the box and I watched excitedly as they went in and out of the box building their nest.

One day, while working in my yard, I observed the two sparrows chasing the male blue bird. They actually grabbed him with their claws and brought him to the ground and began pecking at him. I ran over to them, swatting, chasing and yelling but they continued to chase the blue bird.

I continued chasing them and swatting until they stopped. It was so remarkable to watch the male blue bird standing his ground. He wasn't leaving and he wasn't giving up.

I remained outside to make sure he was ok and the sparrows just gave up and stayed away.

The next few days I continued to check on the nest and showed my children who are now birdwatchers with me.

Within a week, the eggs were showing up, first there was one, then two, and finally six. I could see the female blue bird through the entrance hole incubating her eggs.

I didn't want to disturb her, so I left the box alone for over a week. But, I couldn't contain my excitement and had to see if the babies were born and to make sure they were ok. (My neighbor found her blue bird eggs were taken out of her box and broken on the ground below the box.)

So, I carefully checked the box and the babies indeed had been born. I was so excited and proud to have helped a pair of blue birds have their babies in my own yard.

When I checked on them the first time, they were chirping loudly with their mouths open, ready for a feeding. I assumed the mom would come by soon and feed them. But, after realizing that I hadn't actually seen the parents in a while, I began to worry.

I checked again that day and again that evening after dark, still they were hungry and becoming quieter, still no sign of the parents. The next day, when I checked on them, they seemed very weak and my gut was telling me they were in trouble.

I set up a box in my car to carefully travel with them to my local bird rescue. Fortunately, I have an awesome bird rescue and rehab center close by.

The rescue worker told me that there were only four babies still alive but unresponsive. They were very young, still no feathers yet, but that they were very cold. She put them under an incubator and could only wait....there was still hope for them.

I will be a part of their recovery as I will check on their progress daily and will be there when they get strong and old enough to be released. I'm a proud blue bird momma and will continue my effort to help blue birds.