I'm really sorry your babies were taken and the nest destroyed. Is the nestbox on a metal pole with a baffle? If not, that could be the problem. Raccoons are everywhere, even if you haven't seen one. If the box is mounted on a wooden pole or a fence it is easy for a raccoon, a cat or any other climbing animal to get to it. If you haven't already looked at the sialis.org website you should spend some time reading and make sure you have a proper setup. You know, even when you are being really careful sometimes tragedy just happens. I don't put out any feeders at all because I'm afraid of bears coming around for food. I know the birds have plenty of natural food and if they can't make it out there then maybe they shouldn't.

I am no expert, but most birds feed nestlings whole bugs and worms. When I have Carolina Wrens nesting in the area, I provide meal worms for them and they shove them in the babies as fast as I put them out. My blue birds also feed them whole to thier babies. The white sacs that you see are fecal sacs. After the babies are well fed, they will "poop", it is contained in a sac, easy for the parents to carry off far from the nest so that no preditors find the nest and the nest stays clean also. Carolina Wrens are so much fun to watch. They usually have two to three broods a season here, maybe you will be lucky to see them nest again!

These little cutie pies are one of my favs! I've had them nesting around my house for several years, and they are well known for nesting in very unusual places! A friend of mine had them nesting in a football helmet on a shelf in her garage! I find it best not to peek at them at all, but you can observe from short distance. As long as the parents are going in and out, everything should be OK. As fledging draws near, don't be alarmed if the parents are not frequenting the nest as often as they did when the babies were young. I was fortunate to see a group fledge last year, but this year, they fledged when I was not at home! They are such fun little birds to watch!

For about 5 years there were a pair of Carolina Wrens who built a nest on our screen porch inside a grocery bag filled with other grocery bags that hung on a hook outside the kitchen door. The little rascals squeezed under the screen door through a space so small that until I saw one of them do it I would have said it was impossible. And each year when the nestlings fledged and left the nest there were always at least two of them who couldn't follow their parents under the door. My wife or I would have to leave the door hooked open so they could leave. Once it took three days for one chick to figure it out, even with its parents repeatedly coming in to lead it from captivity.