Great photo Donna! Giant eyeballs! I'm watching a family on the nestcam (a first for me). The boluses they bring in (balls of bugs - avg. of 18 per ball according to Dick Tuttle) are interesting. The skin is so transparent I could see a black bug going down the baby's throat to its stomach! The parents ate the egg shells, and are still eating fecal sacs (ugh)

It sounds like a HOWR to me also ,Your not the only one,I lost 4 CACH eggs Thursday to a HOWR,Now there are 2 fighting over the box.I would leave the box as is,I would also put another box,maybe it will keep him busy for a while,your blues may have a chance to get started.From what I understand,once the HOWR get going with there nest ,they settle down.I really don't have any other suggestions.I do know if you remove your boxes for a week or so,the HOWR should move on,but that is not going to help your blues much,because they may move on too.It is a tough one.Is it possible to place a second box in a more open area?

Hey Keith, You are right, they are the same thing. I use the terms interchangably. You can make your own or buy them already made. I get mine from www.sparrowtraps.net and have also bought a sparrow trap from them. I buy enough mounting brackets to go on each of my boxes, putting the mounting bracket on as soon as I make a house. I then add the spooker as soon as the first egg is laid. I have never had a blue bird not accept a spooker, nor have I ever had a sparrow try to claim a box after a spooker has been added. I had two spookers from last year and I bought 4 more this year thinking that six would be enough. However, I now have 10 boxes with blue birds and three with tree sparrows. I need to order (or make) seven or eight more to make sure I am covered. Phil

First putting up a spooker and a baffle would not scare away the Bluebirds, good to hear she had those on the box. Secondly what date did she first see the one baby hatched and what date did she look again? Bluebird babies typically fledge 16-19 days after hatching. It is important to keep track of dates to prevent opening the box after the nestlings are 13 days old to prevent premature fledging. You should never open the box after day 13, just observe from afar to know when they are fledging. Unless she knows how long inbetween her first check and second check I can't really tell you what to do with the nest/eggs that are left. If the adults are still there, I would just keep checking the box to see if anything happens like the eggs hatching or a new nest being built on top of the old nest. "If" one baby hatched and fledged the female blue would no longer incubate the remaining eggs. If she wanted to start a second nesting she would build a nest over the top of the old one. So it is confusing why they are still there. It is possible that something happened to the one that hatched and the other eggs are still be incubated. Important things to remember and keep track of when monitoring Bluebirds.... * Incubation starts the day the last egg is laid * Hatching typically takes place on days 12-14 however can be longer at times due to delayed start of incubation during cold spells. * Nestlings usually fledge somewhere between day 16 and day 19. * Never open a nestbox up after day 13 (from hatching) due to possible premature fledging which can put the babies in danger as they cannot fly well if their feathers aren't long enough * Once you know the babies have fledged...take out the nest and clean the box so it will be ready for the next nesting. In Wisconsin Bluebirds typically have two nestings per summer. Good luck! Donna