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baby bluebird deaths

13 years ago

I am upset. We have been watching a wonderful pair of bluebird parents nest and feed their little ones. A few days ago, the parents began eating the mealworms we provided and flying off away from the nest. We waited until today and finally checked the nest. There were four little ones: one had died a while ago, but three had their blue feathers and were good size. All had died, one with its mouth open. We have had a lot of rain and very cool temperatures at night. As there were no predators, (the parents chased all away) and no signs of attack or poor feather cover, could the temps have caused their deaths? It is so sad to see such devoted parents fly away.

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Comment (1)

kendra2003
13 years ago
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I would very much doubt that the cool temps could have caused this. I've had baby blues, in early spring, survive wind and ice storms just fine. Did you check under the nest? It could be parasites of some kind. Are there blow fly larva under the nest? Could there be ants, or a mite infestation? Sadly, it could also be if one of your neighbors puts insecticide on their lawns, the birds could have fed the babies poisonous food (insects).
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