Debbie...I feel your pain! My bbs did the exact same vanishing act, shortly after the 2nd set of fledglings left! After a few days, I saw Daddy Blue briefly at the nestbox, which gave me hope that a 3rd nesting just might happen...then he disappeared and I never saw them again. I posted a similar message and can't remember all of the responses, but this seems to be normal in some cases. I guess the parents are off with the kids teaching them the ropes.

Maybe if you continue to put out the mealies, they'll come back pretty soon. I didn't have mealworms for the longest time due to the shortage, but I have no idea if that had anything to do with their disappearance! I am STILL looking for them each day and continue to wonder what happened. I miss them so much, too!

Maybe those with parents and fledglings who stay around, will chime in and offer some encouragement...to the both of us!

Donna

Aww Debbie, sorry to hear that. I do know those that don't get fed mealworms and such do leave the area's they were in, in time. They have to go out and see the world. My Blues don't overwinter here =( and they leave the area around the end of Oct. I decided this year I would stop feeding them (slowly of course) by the end of Sept as I always worry they stay longer than they should here because I feed them. I am happy to say I see my Blues several times a day both here at my house and at the park where I walk twice a day. They have never stayed in my yard but they go back and forth between our place and the park. I was hoping to cut back on mealies but the weather here has gotten cool again, temp was 43 yesterday morning!! The Blues have started eating more now. Plus like I said they don't normally stay in my yard so I seldom call them anymore. Today though I did call when I put some mealies out for the second time and they were immediately there. My momma is finally getting her tail back, she looked so funny for awhile without any tail feathers. I can't wait for them to finish molting, they will be so pretty again. The babies are getting more and more rusty breast every day and I was right, one girl and three boys. I guess if I were you I would just keep an eye and and ear out for them and put the mealies out if you do see or hear them. Hope they come back for you!!

Donna

Debbie and Donna,

Our blues are still here, and we delight in them each additional day they stay. But we fully expect them to vanish again (for awhile) somewhen soon. We've resisted ordering another bulk worm shipment and have rationed them down to very few and somewhat rarely. But they continue to eat our suet nuggets and berries from our bushes daily.
I think if your Papa was at the nestbox before they left it might offer hope that he's planning on this box for next year.

Many of us can also hope that some of our blues might return after their time away, and spend the winter with us.
We'll be more generous with the mealies again then:

look forward,

Kenn :)

well the strange thing about it is I never stopped feeding the mealies & at the same time daily. but they just stopped coming,so I am wondering if they may just be away exploring & will come back.
just seems strange. although they did do this once before for : for four days.sooo I am really hoping they will show back up tomorrow.
I sure hope so :(

debbie321, you have not said where you are located. They might be molting, or keeping new fledglings safe in the cover of woods, there could be hawks hanging around (they have probably fledged their young too and are learning to hunt), or maybe they have moved on for the season. Food for bluebirds is plentiful this time of year. They might come back if they are resident year-round in your area. I know we miss them and worry about them when they don't do what we expect. But they are wild creatures and they will do what they naturally do, whether we like it or not.
If they are winter residents, they will likely return looking for handouts. Remember to keep unfrozen water sources for them as well.
BlueBars

I'm having a similar situation---I haven't stopped feeding mealworms, yet over the last week or so my sightings dwindled from seeing the parents and 4 babies together for the first time to seeing just one baby on top of the feeder, and he didn't even grab a snack! I'm leaning toward the plentiful food sources and touring the great outdoors...because they certainly know where to come for if they're hungry! I hope they don't go far...because my day isn't complete without BB sightings!
Ann

I havent seen mine now in SIX days.
I am in ZONE 7 Texas. I dont think they migrate from here, but then this is my first year to have Blue Birds.
I miss them!!
Can anyone tell me if they migrate out of Texas? I has been really hot, but it was hotter when they were still here, then we had a good amount of rain and they were here a few days more then I havent seen them since.
It is strange, I keep putting out meal worms, never did stop - but they are still no where to be seen.
Their Fledglings are 7 weeks old now and last I saw them, they were looking almost like adults,
I am worried about them.

Mine have disappeared as well. I am in NJ, and it's not the weather.

I guess the fallacy lies in our tendency to talk about them as "mine" and "yours." It's just wishful thinking on our parts to claim ownership of them.

LOL! well I didn't mean "mine" litterally.
but I AM wanting to see if anyone on here knows if they migrate in zone 7

All I know about bluebird migration is that they are considered "short distance migrants." Here in Maryland, our backyard pair stays all year. If I did not offer them mealworms and such, perhaps they too would migrate, I don't know. Most certainly, if they could not find food sources in the worst weather, they would be compelled to go somwhere that food is available or they would perish.
Maybe this will help you: Compare the CBC and BBS maps at this link. It shows how many bluebirds were counted by volunteers. Click on their Glossary for fuller explanations of CBC and BBS.
Bluebars

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7660id.html

Debbie,
I panicked the first year this happened to me, but not now, because it has happened each year. I live in NW Ohio and my bluebirds do overwinter here, but every year in August they leave and do not come back until the end of Sept. or the beginning of Oct. They must be out enjoying berries and other food. But every year they do come back. I keep whistling for them, just in case they are around.
Tammy

I live in N Central OH.My BBs have disappeared since the last 2 weeks.Infact,I ordered a shipment of 4000 meal worms and the day after the worms arrived, the BBs disappeared!My meal worms sit and rot in the sun.I think that the BB family is very busy showing their young fledglings the world.They are enjoying the berries and the bugs.They always come back in Nov.for the suet in flocks.This year I built a "roosting box" for them.I hope that they will use it.
michelle

OH THANK YOU ALL now I have hope - I was hoping they were just out doing other things!!
Should I continue to put out the worms or just wait and see if they show back up and then put them out?
Some days I just dont have time to sit and watch and run the WREN off from the worms, SO I am most likely feeding her instead right now.
If I am home I watch from 8:30 to 12:00 noon and then take the worms back in before they die.
Today I just put out a few in the cage feeder and I also put some in the crock I used to feed them in on the ground (before I got them to eat in the caged feeder).
I had to be gone all day and I got back after dark. ALL the worms were gone so maybe they came. The WREN had NEVER figured out the crock on the ground before, but I guess she could have today. BUT I am hoping it was the Blues.
THANKS Again to all who have offered the help and given me hope that this is a "normal" disappearance!
I whistle every day and call to them, I used to be able to hear them in the trees but not for 7 days now!
I will keep whistling :)

Kenn :L What all do you have in your dishes?
I see three dishes with diffent foods in them. I am curious as I would love to offer mine( not mine literally lol) a bigger variety of foods.

Michelle: do you have pics of your roosting box? I would love to make one for the ones here!!
Thahks again!
Debbie

Hi Debbie,

Try not to worry that your Blues aren't coming now. I really think this is normal. They know where your nesting box is... and they won't forget where they get their worms. They leave us missing them for awhile, but they should be back.
And btw, we usually let the Carolina Wrens and the Nuthatches take a few worms. We love them too and always delight to see them up close. Our Blues always get the majority of them. :)

We use 2 little bowls mainly:
One is for suet nuggets which we leave out most of the day. All our Bluebirds stop by for 1 or 2 nuggets at various times of day, and several other desireable birds (Mockers, Wrens, Nuthatches etc) also grab these.

Oh, there is a 3rd bowl which we fill randomly with suet, seed, fruit, peanuts or whatever... ha it's a Today's Special kinda thing.

Hope you see yours again soon, and often.

Kenn

Here is a link that might be useful: Year-round Bluebirds

Kenn, I love that last shot of all the fledglings around the bowl. Too cute!

I am amazed I can have mealies out all day long in our feeder and they never die. Yesterday I put some more mealies out at 3:00, there were still some in there from noon (went to the fair) and they actually didn't eat that many, took them back in around 10PM. Today I filled the waxworms and the mealies around 11:00 (gone at the fair for the day) and at 6:00 there were still a 20 or so mealies left, doing fine though. Temps were around 80+ or so here. Maybe it is just cooler here but my feeder does have a roof so maybe that is why they are ok, depending on where the sun is though the dishes are in the sun for a bit. I use clear dishes. Thankfully I don't have other birds that eat the mealies/waxworms, at least not yet. Last year the chickadees found them and then I stopped feeding the waxworms as they would eat them all before the Blues would.

Donna

Same here, Donna. My mealworms would last all day...if the HOSP didn't eat them.
Tammy

I live in North Texas and do not feed BB's, but they
flock to the birdbath so much I have to refill it twice a day. I have counted as many as nine birds at one time trying to crowd into the water. It's quite a sight!

Fledged 20 blues from 2 pair and haven't seen or heard from a single one in over 3 weeks. Hopefully, they will stick around this winter to enjoy all the huge pokeberry I have allowed to grow all over my property.

Michelle, my purchase of 4 thousand mealworms was a total waste. Figure resources would be better put into planting berry sources and providing suet this winter. I miss the blues but my beautiful cardinal pair cheer me up.

Kenn:
You really need to get bigger bowls in my opinion.
Keith

Michelle:
Same thing happen to me, as soon as I got a new batch of mealies they disappeared. The next batch of adults that showed up won't touch them. As soon as their babies fledged they left, now they are coming back after being gone for two weeks or so. Now they are eating them. I put most of the new batch in the refrigerator as soon as I got them and they have been there for about two months. There is a few outfits that sell freeze dry mealies and bluebird nuggets, I'm thinking about getting some for next summer in case they do the same thing again.
Keith