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Where did they go???

17 years ago

I put out 2 houses in May. I had a pair of blue birds within a few days. Hatched 5 eggs on May 11. I peeked in on them on Wednesday, May 27th and all was well. This morning they were all gone!!! Did they fledge already? There is no sign of feathers, dead birds etc. What do you think?

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Comments (6)

dzyg
17 years ago
If the eggs hatched on May 11th you shouldn't have been looking in the nestbox on May 27th as you could have made them fledge prematurely. Bluebirds typically do leave the nest around 16-19 days from hatching. You shouldn't look in the nestbox after day 13 (from hatching) to prevent premature fledging. Some are ready and able to fly on day 16, others aren't until day 19. I am sure your Blues fledged fine maybe you will see them around however the parents keep them pretty well hidden for the first 1-2 weeks. Clean out the nestbox and maybe you will get a second nesting. Here is a link to a site full of great info on hosting Blues and other cavity nesting birds.

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis....everything you need to know about Bluebirds
stovers
Original Author
17 years ago
I didn't realize that! Now I'm worried. There was very little nest (mainly droppings) left. I see the male flying around today. I'm not sure if female is here.
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dzyg
17 years ago
Do you feed the Blues at all? If not you may not see the babies at all. If they would have fledged prematurely they would have flown out when you opened the box, so they probably did leave when they were ready. Once they are out of the box there are so many other dangers facing them. Just keep an eye out for the adults, if you are going to get a second nesting you should be seeing both adults back around within 1-2 weeks. Read the sialis site, it really is full of great information and if you have any questions just post them here at this site, lots of great people here to help you.

Donna
lisa11310
17 years ago
If you mean very little nest left beacused it is all stopmed down and flat...thats the way it looks when the babies are done playing in there before they take to the skies. If you mean becaues it has been taken out and on the ground...not so good.
stovers
Original Author
17 years ago
GREAT NEWS!!! After the wind settled this afternoon, I walked around the trees near the box and spotted the female with as many as 3 of the babies! As soon as I spotted them, I left them alone. Later, the male was on the powerline and one more flew up with him. How do they grow so fast?!?
lisa11310
17 years ago
YEA! Praise God! Now read up on them at the sialis.org site so you know not to do things like open the box after a certain day etc,etc. This is where we all learned these things, we didnt know till we got here either!;)

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