I'm pretty sure this is a first year female RB Grosbeak. A family was born here this year. Just checked Cornell, and I think she should be on her way to South America. Doubt that she would listen to me, but does anyone still have any RBGs around? Of course, I could be wrong and maybe she's a hybrid Lowes/HD sparrow, but she's the only one of her kind here. Jane This post was edited by corunum on Thu, Oct 16, 14 at 17:25

Twigs? Or do you mean GRASS? because HOSP typically use dried grass with weed seeds and garbage, plus an almost positive sign of their presence is finding white noodle droppings in the box or on the nest box roof. If you mean actually TWIGS, this is almost certainly the work of a House Wren; a native but bothersome bird that prefers wooded/dense/brushy areas for nesting. As far as abandonment on the first attempt, do you have any hawks or cats in the area or immediate vicinity of your boxes? bluebirds are unlikely to abandon young, but if you lose one or both parents, THEN it's possible. That's the 1st thing. The next question, was it young abandoned or eggs? As for the second nesting, did either parent disappear? If you lost a female soon after hatching, then the male wouldn't be able to brood the young to keep them warm, and they could have died. The possibilities are endless! Sounds to me like better monitoring needs to be done! Be sure to check out Sialis.org. Most comprehensive source available for Bluebirds! ~Tim~ Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis.org

Donna, it truly is amazing sometimes how these birds can manage to beat the odds, especially without our help! Sue, I'm in N.E. Ohio. I know, I'm jealous of her. I don't think I'll be having that many birds any time soon! Just not my kind of luck. 2/5 eggs have hatched. Tomorrow is day 14. Hopefully I awake to the remaining 3 hatched! But for some reason, there are MORE HOSP juvies flying around, and I've only caught like 1 in the past couple days! RRGH! Wish I had a good BB gun! Why aren't they going into the DRST with the rest? ~Tim~

Yes Lexa, HOSP will even nest in spruces! Tight evergreens are places HOSP LOVE to build their domed nests. It's angering. But take note that House finches STRONGLY resemble HOSP from afar. Make sure you here the distinctive chirp before using any guns! We had some HOFI nest around here. The HOSP don't nest in the pines near this property anymore. And I'm also overwhelmed seeing all the juveniles. They truly breed like RATS! ARG! 2 neighbor's they nest at...and are of course fed all summer... :/ What's worse is now I have NO decoys. I have 2 bb guns. Both miss about 90% of the time. I have shaky hands too. I was lucky enough to nail one juvie when the flock showed up in my yard, and one year nailed a male HOSP. I'm gonna resurrect my DRST again in a week or two. My neighbors have parties around the 4th so it would be a bad idea any time soon. I wish I had a better gun! D$5n HOSP! HATE EM! The 5 nestlings appear to be doing good. Mom and Dad are feeding well or so it would seem. Can't wait to finally have some juvie Bluebirds to counteract all these HOSP! ~Tim~