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Is this normal?

17 years ago

I have had several seasons of successful bluebirding (thanks to this site and others).... My Mom lives about 1/2 mile away and I gave her a bluebird house for Christmas. She has been so thrilled to see a pair apparently stake out her new house. We live in Ga. My nestbox has 4 eggs and things seem normal. Her box is almost empty! Yesterday she saw the female inside and the male perched on the top for quite awhile. When I went to investigate today - there is bird poop inside but no nesting material.... BUT there were tiny soft feathers sticking out from inside - almost looked like she plucked out her breast feathers.... they were very tiny and soft... not lying in a layer on floor of the box - more just kinda sticking out from the bottom and stuck to the rough edge of the wood. Is she a young bird who doesn't know how to build a nest yet? If they have another nest would they both be spending this much time in and around her box? We have been observing them since Feb. entering and leaving this box.... and lastly - is there anything I can do to "encourage" this pair? I really wanted her to have a successful nesting as this was the last thing my Dad did for her (install the pole and house) before his death in Jan. Thanks for your help..... Gamom

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Comments (2)

bluebars
17 years ago
Sometimes a bluebird will use a feather or two in their nest. They would not "pluck out" their breast feathers.
They also do not poop inside the nestbox, although sometimes grown nestlings might make a bit of mess on the walls a day or two before fledging, as they get a bit rowdy and maybe crowded.
To me, this sounds like an altercation, and most likely with a house sparrow. HOSP often poop in the nestbox to stake a claim, and they can easily kill other birds if challenged, because of their finch-like beak, especially within a nestbox. If the bluebirds are still hanging around, perhaps they won this battle. Let's hope they win the war. The best thing you can do to encourage the bluebirds is to be sure that you and your parents are well-informed about the dangers of HOSP, as well as other dangers. Here is a great website with tons of info. http://www.sialis.org/
Best of luck, Gamom!
djohn36755
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you bluebars! I have never seen HOSP in my area (except 8 to 10 miles away at one of the "big box" stores). I will warn my mom to keep closer watch on the house but she has not seen any other birds around the house except a small wren. She ended up choosing another house that was only meant for decorative purposes. So these behaviors were very strange to us. Do you think the female bb will still build in the box if she is going in and spending time there? I am so curious as to what she is doing in there without any building material? We have seen her coming and going for weeks and just assumed she had nesting material inside that we had not yet seen.... I have been to the sialis site before but will re-visit and educate myself some more.... Thanks for your help....
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