Great news! It is hard to count especially when they are newly hatched as sometimes they are just curled up and you can't tell where one starst and another ends. LOL!

donna

Congrats! Agreed, and as they age you will eventually be able to count how many there are.

I have 5 that are closing in on being 10 days old.

Hope they are left alone too! I know it's a big and nerve racking time period for their nesting!

~Tim~

Looked in the nesting box again this evening. Still only saw two little heads. Really , really , really small ants on the inside of the box on the side. What to do?

Oh how exciting on your new babies! I am watching about the ant problem. Good luck on getiing your babies safely raised and out of the nest!

I hope nothing has happened to the other two eggs. I didn't see them anywhere. Maybe there are 4 and I just can't tell. Will check tomorrow. What should I do about the ants?

sagrinin...how is your box mounted? If it is on a slick metal pole with a predator baffle, grease the pole with vaseline under the baffle. Ants shouldn't be able to get in there then. I would try to clean out what you can from the nestbox too...ants will bite the nestlings. Good luck!

Donna

Donna, my box is mounted on a metal pole. I will put Vaseline on it and keep you posted. Thanks for the information. Will try to count heads again. What if only two eggs hatched?

Leaving unhatched eggs in the box is not a problem. Usually they are just fine in there so if two didn't hatch, you don't have to do anything. If you are seeing the nestlings though and not an egg, chances are they are all four hatched.

Only put the vaseline up under the baffle, to prevent any birds from getting on their feathers.

Donna

I looked today, I saw three this time. Probably is four. Hope so. Eyes are open. When is the last day I can open the box?

Don't open the box after day 12/13 from the day they hatched so 12/13 days from the 18th, I think that is when you said they hatched.

Donna

Donna, you are right, it was the 18th. I guess the last day to look will be May 29th. There were still some ants around, could be under the nest. The babies didn't seem to be in any distress. Donna, thank you so much for all of your help. I will keep you posted.

sagrinin...if you think there are some ants in there I would try to get them out. If you can see them during a nestcheck try picking them out..if you think they are under the nest get a hamburger flipper and lift the nest up..babies should be fine...(I do this to brush out the bottom of the box to help prevent blowlfy larva from harming the nestlings) check under the nest and see if you see any ants, brush them out if you can. Ants can bite the nestlings...hopefully there were just a few left over...

Donna

Thanks Donna, will check on it. I just a noticed either a sparrow or wren building a nest in my other empty box. I can't really tell what kind it is. Should I clean it out and plug up the hole?

First....dyou have a sparrow spooker up on the blues box? If not get one up asap. Second id what birds it is...if it is a HOSP I would try to trap it if you have a vanert..if not order one...just look up vanert inbox sparrow trap. If it is a wren just keep taking the sticks out. How close is this box to the Blues box? Both wrens and HOSP can and will harm the nestlings. Bluebird nestlings aren't safe from wrens until they about 7 days old. YOu could check out the wren guards too...will only work if the wren doesn't already know the hole is there plus it isn't the best time to be adding one if the female can't figure it out then she can't get to the nestlings. Good luck!

Donna

Donna, the bluebird box is about 50 ft from the other nesting box. I just cleaned it out. So far it had a nice nest made of sticks all in a neat circle. Should I plug the hole. Or would that make her find the bluebirds box and try to make a nest and hurt the babies.

OH man what to do??? I wouldn't plug the hole cause that for sure would make them go to the bluebird box. Adding a wren guard now to the blues box would be a bit risky unless you could really watch closely after up put it up to make sure mom and dad accepted it. A really easy gaurd is using a shoebox, cut one side off and attach to the roof so the other side is covering the hole, this way it has sides too. You could try it anway as long as you could watch closely, I think that is what I would do. Chances are though with the boxes that close the wren may have already seen the hole in the blues box. I sure hope it doesn't go over there. Like I said those nestlings aren't safe until day 7.

Donna

The nestlings are 8 days old now. They hatched on the 18th. I will take the nest out again and again if I have to. Like you, I am a little afraid to put up a wren guard now. I didn't realize how small the wrens are.

Yeah...I didn't do the math on how old they were, the wren couldn't toss them out anymore. Whew!

Donna

I checked on the nestlings today. Everything seems to be ok, but the wren is still around. It was on the bb box, but was chased away. Still trying to build a nest in my other box. Pretty funny to watch actually. Nestlings are ten days old. Will check on them a couple of more days I guess, then will leave the box alone so they don't fledge prematurely. Parents seem to be pretty attentive. Did see both today.

Still only see three babies, but still cant tell. Will check again tomorrow.

Just checked on the nestlings. Still only see three, but one was outside the nest on the side. Had white furry stuff on it. They were all breathing. Still haven't seen the fourth egg.