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Missing bluebird pair

13 years ago

Last spring/summer I noticed a bluebird in my backyard. I live in suburbia Oklahoma City, so I wasn't sure I was seeing correctly. After a week of trying to lure this amazing bird via iphone media file, I had success. For the past year I have gone through thousands of mealworms. Soon after getting trust from the male, his mate showed up. Again this March-April the pair visited. But about a week ago, they disappeared. They are not nesting in my yard/bird box. Is this common? I had robins stealing the mealworms. Could my friends have been scared away? Perhaps because its spring, they are staying near the nest? Please - need encouragement!!

Thanks!!

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Comments (2)

ohsoblue77
13 years ago
jtokc,

It's possible they decided to nest elsewhere. What kind of habitat is the box located in?? Bluebirds prefer open, sunny areas.

They may also be visiting your box in the morning and you're not seeing them. They could be an inexperienced pair that would take time to get started.

Don't lose hope. There's still plenty of time to attract bluebirds!

~Tim
NE OHIO
jtokc
Original Author
13 years ago
Tim

Thanks for your response. The birds feed in my backyard - which oddly is a suburban neighborhood. Not alot of tall trees and were close to open farm land & fields. They have never gone in the box to my knowledge. But for over a year I have been feeding them. I recall them disappearing for a bit last spring/summer.

I guess I wondered if they might leave my feeding (which was a daily morning & evening ritual) to hatch & fledge young? Then return to feed on the mealworms? I never saw babies last year, but the male & female have come back to my house.
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Hi Mary- the only other possibility that I can think of is if something happened to one of the original mates & the remaining one found a new mate, the new mate will rarely have anything to do with the eggs/babies since they weren't their offspring. In this case, the new mate often steers the original mate away from the eggs/babies so they can try to produce their own (may not even try to produce since it's late in the nesting season). I would think it would be one of those scenarios. Research shows that it's about 10 degrees hotter in the box than it is outside. If it's in 90's, it could be too hot for them. Hatchlings can't regulate their own body temps for first 6 days. Risk would be same if too cold at beginning of season. If lawn pesticides (could be neighbor's if yard is close), babies are usually bloated. Did you notice anything unusual with them? Bloating or markings? Those are my only thoughts. Such a bummer & so sorry!
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