bluebirds and tres both skipped egg laying?!

12 years ago

I am bewildered by the way things are going this year. Plenty of HOSP euthanized but the weather and the birds aren't doing too well.

at two of my backyard boxes, blues are laying in one and TRES in another about 100 or so yards away. The blues had 3 eggs yesterday and the TRES had 2.

Guess what?! Checked again today. BOTH still have the SAME amount of eggs!!! If you read my previous postings, you know that egg laying quit for my blues at 2 eggs and those got buried and new eggs layed.

What is the world is going on around here?????!! Something is definitely up. I didn't see the blues or swallows. It's one thing that the blues skipped laying again...but the TRES too???

Anyone have a clue as to WHY? It was densely foggy in the morning and in the 50's. Should have been fine for laying. I'm distraught at the possibility of losing another female bluebird. They seem to be targeted in my neighborhood. But this is the 1st time in a while egg laying has been interrupted. VERY strange. Would like a little insight. Thanks everyone!

-Tim-

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Comments (5)

lisa11310
12 years ago
If you have lost yet another Blue you REALLY need to find out WHY! Do you have a Hawk that prefers blue? Do you have a busy roadway between where they nest and hunt? Something is just not right there. Im praying for you.
ohsoblue77
Original Author
12 years ago
Lisa, we have had frequent problems with Cooper's hawks in the past. But I've fortunately only had to witness one get taken by it. That was an awful day. Anyway I've only seen hawks a few times this year. They were more of a problem last season

BTW these boxes ARE near the road but not all that close. I've never found any bluebirds or swallows dead on or near the road. Bluebirds are especially cautious of moving traffic. Not to say that's not possible, because it is.

But I will let you know if I see the blues again. The TRES are here still so, IDK. I'll keep watch for a 4th egg tomorrow afternoon. If need be I'll make sure there isn't a body nearby too. Haven't been around in the mornings so IDK if I lost another bird or not. The fact that the swallows didn't lay another egg makes it really interesting. The weather wasn't bad...why did they skip?
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Hi Kathleen- I'll address you since the other posts are old. I am so very sorry that you have experienced this. Did you read what the responses were to the older post of one that lost a bluebird on the nest? I would just repeat everything that they said. If absolutely no sign of injury, I would suspect lawn pesticides, but considering what happened to the 1st person that posted & didn't see signs of injury on her bluebird, it did turn out to be house sparrows. I would highly suspect this. Do you think the female is dead too? If so, again I would be suspicious of HOSP. Answering your question, the male would not starve himself, nor is he able to brood eggs. If the female died too, the eggs wouldn't have hatched because the female is the one to incubate the eggs. She has a brooding patch on her lower abdomen that the male doesn't have. If she is alive, she may not be returning to nest because of the failed nest situation, especially if there was foul play. Make sure you know that she is not returning before removing the nest & eggs. If she is alive, she will probably try to find a new mate. Without repeating too much, make sure your birdhouse is on a pole with a baffle & put a sparrow spooker up after the 1st egg. If you know for sure that the nest has been abandoned & you don't get any activity, you may want to change the location of the box (birdhouse). If you immediately get a house sparrow setting up shop, then you'll know that was most likely the culprit. Again, if female is not returning, now would be the time to get a Van Ert trap for your house to trap the male & female HOSP. If you do, make sure you are monitoring every hour if possible so you don't trap a native bird. They can die in there if without food for too long. One of the previous posts left a website for the Van Ert trap. Again, the previous posts left great advice for your situation. This site is not as active as it used to be for bluebirders, so you may want to post to bluebirdnut.com. Lots of bluebird experts are on that site like this one used to have. That's where I go whenever I need advice. BTW, I lived in Atlanta for ten years (live in AL now). Very sorry to hear about your bluebird tragedy. Hope you'll have another pair come for a future nesting, but definitely get that sparrow spooker!
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Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....
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bandjzmom
12 years ago
I wish I knew what to tell you Tim. We know that a cold snap will cause them to delay, but otherwise, i just don't know. Keep checking the boxes. They must know something that we don't. ~~Angie
kendra2003
12 years ago
This is very strange. To have both skip a day of laying would be highly unusual. Are you sure you don't have a HOWR that could be stealing eggs? I've seen them sneak in quickly and not have a chance to destroy the whole nest because the parent birds catch them and take them to the ground. I have no idea if that's what's going on, but it's the only thing I can think of?
ohsoblue77
Original Author
12 years ago
Well I was so busy I was unable to visit the forums for responses.

Kendra I haven't heard or seen HOWR in the vicinity. To add to that, the blues and swallows laying are around 100 yards apart. This is my neighborhood backyard site that has 2 pairs spaced 20 ft between boxes and about 100 or so yards apart.

Nor have I found any destroyed eggs. I had HOWR problems in the past and that's why I moved the boxes...they are in my neighbor's massive field.

Okay...The TRES and Blues didn't lay any more eggs! The TRES still have just TWO and they don't appear to be incubating. the other TRES nest that has 4 eggs are still unhatched (presumably gone bad due to upper 40 degree weather a few days ago) Another strange thing...at site #2 the swallows layed just 3 eggs and not sure if THEY are even incubating! What it the world is wrong with my birds this year?!
By the way, I now think I've lost 3 female bluebirds already this year! If I lose one more I will top last year's record! Which was 3 in one season! I saw the male bluebird perched on the sparrow spooker in the Am and the powerlines in the PM. No sign of Mrs. Blue. Really wish I knew. This is the STRANGEST nesting season ever! My bluebirds can't even manage to complete a clutch! I might not see nestlings this year if this keeps up:( Mr. Blue might decide to leave:(..........why?!

bluebirds and tres both skipped egg laying?!

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lisa11310

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bluebirds and tres both skipped egg laying?!

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lisa11310

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