Just checked again and the birds have left the nest. Don't see them anywhere on the ground. Maybe they fledged already and are in a tree? re: How is your box mounted? It should be on a slick pole with a predator baffle. It's a Peterson box on a pole and has a predator cone on the pole. I have no idea how the snake got in there. Been out there for eight years and has produced over 40 BlueBirds.

Katie, I replied to your other post but will reply here also..... I am so sorry about that baby Blue. You would think they would have kept feeding it unless something was wrong with it that you couldn't see but the adults could. I do have some advice though if this ever happens again. I had heard from someone that has been Bluebirding for quite a few years that he thought the adults forgot about two babies that remained in the box when the rest had fledged, so what he did was open the door of the box and propped it open. It worked for him, the adults then started feeding the ones that hadn't fledged yet. Not sure if this would always help but can't hurt. You wouldn't want to do this say at day 16 or earlier but by day 18ish, I would think it would be ok. You would think at day 20 that little one would have been a pretty good flyer! It is important not to check after day 12/13 to prevent premaure fledging but it is also important to keep track of everything. If that baby was at day 20 and the others fledged you could have checked on things cause by that time they should be able to fly well. Normally once they are about 17 days old they should be able to fly ok (not all the time though) You didn't do anything wrong though so don't feel bad that way. It is hard though if you think you could have helped and didn't but it sometimes is worse if you try to help and things go wrong cause then it does seem like your fault. kwim? Donna

I only had one poop sack and the female brought it. When she put the one on the deck...I yelled at her and she never did it again. She would bring them and set them in the tree by the deck lol.I get all the goofy bluebirds :) Dad would fly across the street and drop them in the corn field so I know it wasn't "poop sack Dad" :( Yes, I am also glad the weather cleared up...not much for the BB's to eat in the pouring rain either. I really missed my tres. Those dang wrens.... I hate them as much as the hosp!!!

My nesting box is mounted on a cedar post 5.5-6 feet off the ground, facing the east. No, we didn't put a baffle on it. I am still so sad about my babies. I could barely function last night, and I feel lost. Those babies and their parents were a large part of my daily enjoyment. I cleaned out the box with a paint scraper, hosed it out, sprayed with a 10% bleach solution and took the door off for a day, to hopefully let it dry out. (We have had too much rain over the past week.) We will get a baffle on the post by the weekend, believe me. Thank you for responding to my plea for help.