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partially hidden eggs ???

18 years ago

Yesterday when I first seen that they had eggs, the eggs were in plain view....but she was also in the nest and i flushed her out...today....i waited for her to leave as to not scare her and they were partially hidden.......so much so that at first glance i thought the eggs were gone...is it normal for the blues to cover their eggs like this when they leave the nest?...

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Comments (3)

donnalovesblue
18 years ago
Brenda, I think it is normal for some birds to cover their eggs...are you using a mirror to check the box? I don't know about others, but I didn't monitor my nestbox as often as some do. Checking things out occasionally, does help in alerting us to problems, if any...ants, etc. Normally, they lay one egg a day until their clutch is complete....don't monitor early in the morning or very late afternoon, and never at night. I would leave Mama alone for a few days, and let her do her thing, however, she will leave the nest on and off during incubation, to feed, bathe and probably rest for a few minutes!!!

I think I checked the box about 2, maybe 3 times a week...once I knew the eggs hatched, I waited several days to check again, since the parents were very busy feeding the nestlings. Too, once the eggs hatch, NEVER open the box after day 13, to prevent a possible early fledging.
Although the blues seem to tolerate our presence and monitoring, I chose to leave them "be" as much as possible, and that was not easy for NOSY me!!!LOL....

There are so many bluebird experts on this forum who know far more than I do...but one thing is for sure...You will become addicted to these blues!

Donna
brendabayou
Original Author
18 years ago
Donna.......become addicted ?....it doesnt take long, because i'm already there !!!...i've been watching her come and go,as you said they do, since i found the eggs partially hidden and she doesn't seem to be acting like anything is wrong...i guess she didnt want NOSY me to be minding her business right now....lol...Papa blue perches on a low tree limb close to their nest. Sometimes he goes in but most of the time he doesn't. He'll just go peek in on her...its so hard not to go check to make sure everything is ok but i'll try not to for a couple of days.....i'll just sit "perched" in my swing all day watching like i've been doing since they've been here...lol....thanks for your reply but i hope some of the experts chime in and tell me everything is ok....she's just hiding those pretty blue treasures from me !!!!
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blue_belle
18 years ago
Brenda, I've been bluebirding for 16 years and I've never seen a female bluebird cover the eggs. That means NOTHING! :-) LOL They all have their quirks and personalities and they don't ever inform us if they change the behavior rules. Dees and titmice routinely cover their eggs during egg laying and only uncover all of them once incubation starts. Sometimes, not all of the time, those species pull a little "blanket" of nest material over the eggs when they take a break. And now your female bluebird is doing this? She's got a good idea if you ask me! It might offer them a little more protection in the event of a passing, nosy HOWR.

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