Wow, I've had that happen with my Carolina Wrens (landing here and there all over the fence, etc.), but never with my Blues. The Blues have always flown right up into a tree. You must have been so nervous waiting for them to take flight into the trees. Sounds like a crazy fledging day, but congratulations on having them all successfully fledge.

Thanks, Lisa, for the great story! I hope some day to see the bluebirds fledge.

Thanks Kendra,I was a little nervous after that hot spell that I may have lost some but fought the urge to check in, the parents were acting as if nothing was wrong. And yes VERY nervous with the baby on the ground. I have had to go out and walk around under trees I hear babies in, carefully looking through the brush, no peeping no dive bombing. The parents are looking quite relaxed so I have to keep telling myself the baby is fine. I am also now out of worms. Slap me and tell me that they are not going to starve! LOL OK TRES flege in about 12 days then back to Blues! Lord help me!

Congrats Lisa! Fledging can be risky business, and you hate to see them flail around in a panic. But, it is part of the process. They will learn, and they will do fine. Remember when you first got onto a two wheeler bike? :o)

Gee Lisa, I got all tense just by reading your account! I am glad they all seem OK. Do you count the day they hatched when you say day 18? Mine were hatched on May 31, so is today day 15 or day 16?

I am getting more nervous by the day, what are the signs of babies about to fledge? Should I give the parents more mealworms to help? I have 4 babies.

Sara, I would call it day 16. This means you should start seeing little baby faces peeking out of the box soon. At first there will be just shy little peeks then they will get braver. Mine Started peeking on Sunday and left Tuesday. The parents will start preparing to call them out and may keep the area clear of other birds, squirrels , etc for a couple days. They have a soft little "baby talk " coo. They may withhold food for short periods and even dangle a nice juicy bug in front of the hole but not give it to them. This is to motivate the babies to leave. There seems to be a pattern 2 days before fledging they feed them well and there is lots of activity , fighting to look out etc. The next is quieter and is a day of rest. Fledge day the babies should be returning peeps to the parents coos (however I had a very quiet bunch last year). They will be sticking their whole heads out then popping back in the box and flapping their little wings. Once you see toes sticking out you know they are ready. This is the first time I have had Blues fledge that close together, several times I have had 2 or 3 fledge and the others not go till the next day.
I have seen somewhere around 30 fledges and they are all different but most have had these thing in common. Extra meal worms are of great help! Good Luck!

Lisa, Thanks for the detailed info. I started to see little head peeking out today. I will watch carefully tomorrow and see what happen next, and more mealworms for the parents. Keep my fingers crossed.

All 4 chicks fledged this afternoon. The parents had been making the sound (I took it as the sound to encourage the babies coming out) since the morning. They were there encouraging the first 3 to fly off, by the time the last one came out, the parents were not there. Is this unusual?

The parents came back later, they continued to make the sound for hours. Is this normal? Did they loose track of their babies?

Anyway, I put more mealworms out this evening, the parents took some away. I don't know where the babies are now.

I think it's pretty normal. The parents were probably up in the trees tending the first three when the fourth one fledged. Sometimes I wonder how (and if) they're keeping track of all their young fledglings, but somehow they do! My last nesting had babies that fledged three days apart, and I wondered how the parents would keep track. But within a week all of them were back at my mealworm feeder, so they had to have been feeding all of them. I couldn't see them at first, but the parents knew where they were. It is really hard to see them in the trees, but if you listen for them after the parents take the mealworms, you might figure out where the babies are.

Thanks for your detailed description of the fledging time, Lisa. I have never seen what you have described of the babies peeking out. I hope to see that with my next bunch which should fledge by next Friday or Saturday. I sure hope they all get in the trees this time around and none of them end up on the ground like the last time. A very scary couple of days for that one little bluebird baby.

Mine fledged yesterday, I only had one end up on the deck this time, last time it was 2 and one was in a potted plant. The deck is behind the box several yards so that seems so odd to me.