The three eggs are still there, and mom and dad have been busy at work. They're eating up the dried mealworms, too. I haven't seen any house wrens, but I'm not great at picking them out, either. I just went to my Sibley book, and it says that they are at edges of woods and overgrown gardens, we really don't fit that bill. No woods, and not much of a garden. This neighborhood was corn fields until 2006 and they scraped off all of the good soil and left the clay. Two neighborhoods side by side, same outcome. Any trees here are under 7 years old. I've put in bushes in the last 2 years, all are still quite small. I do have a carolina wren that nests every year in the propane tank, about 15 feet from the bluebird feeder. I've left that nest alone, but found it on the ground after the propane guy came about a month ago. I don't know if the wren will rebuild or not, I hope so. That's a funny bird, when we sit on the back porch it'll jump around the porch just out of eyesight and peek over to look at us as it goes around. Like it thinks we don't see it!! Would a carolina wren disturb it? My daughter just started taking lessons at that horse farm, I was actually shocked when I heard and then saw those HOSP. They were only there that one time, but they were there. We are quite rural, and close to the bay with a lot of swamp around. I never feed birdseed beyond the winter time and it is always BOSS or safflower seeds, never millet and that filler crap that those HOSP seem to love. I really hope I never see one of those here!! I have a killdeer nesting somewhere way in the backyard, I haven't gotten too close, I got a warning last time I walked back there, and my purple martins are back, too :) Each of the plots in the neighborhood are an acre, and it is only about 40% built, the builders left after the market crashed. The empty plots are regularly mowed, lots of empty fields around here. Christy

Hi Kathleen- I'll address you since the other posts are old. I am so very sorry that you have experienced this. Did you read what the responses were to the older post of one that lost a bluebird on the nest? I would just repeat everything that they said. If absolutely no sign of injury, I would suspect lawn pesticides, but considering what happened to the 1st person that posted & didn't see signs of injury on her bluebird, it did turn out to be house sparrows. I would highly suspect this. Do you think the female is dead too? If so, again I would be suspicious of HOSP. Answering your question, the male would not starve himself, nor is he able to brood eggs. If the female died too, the eggs wouldn't have hatched because the female is the one to incubate the eggs. She has a brooding patch on her lower abdomen that the male doesn't have. If she is alive, she may not be returning to nest because of the failed nest situation, especially if there was foul play. Make sure you know that she is not returning before removing the nest & eggs. If she is alive, she will probably try to find a new mate. Without repeating too much, make sure your birdhouse is on a pole with a baffle & put a sparrow spooker up after the 1st egg. If you know for sure that the nest has been abandoned & you don't get any activity, you may want to change the location of the box (birdhouse). If you immediately get a house sparrow setting up shop, then you'll know that was most likely the culprit. Again, if female is not returning, now would be the time to get a Van Ert trap for your house to trap the male & female HOSP. If you do, make sure you are monitoring every hour if possible so you don't trap a native bird. They can die in there if without food for too long. One of the previous posts left a website for the Van Ert trap. Again, the previous posts left great advice for your situation. This site is not as active as it used to be for bluebirders, so you may want to post to bluebirdnut.com. Lots of bluebird experts are on that site like this one used to have. That's where I go whenever I need advice. BTW, I lived in Atlanta for ten years (live in AL now). Very sorry to hear about your bluebird tragedy. Hope you'll have another pair come for a future nesting, but definitely get that sparrow spooker!

Sounds like you really have some challenges. You have my sympathies! A tiny poked hole is more likely a house wren's thin sharp beak, sometimes taking them some distance away, or simply tossing them out. The house sparrow will toss the eggs out, but their finch-like beak would not as likely make a tiny poke hole. And the HOSP is more likely to stick around, harass, or even take over the cavity. "Do BB's destroy their own eggs" ... No "the nest possibly could have been flooded?" ... are there leaks that could be fixed? "Are the HOSP really sneaky" ... yes, but HOWR are sneakier ... "and resistant to the Sparrow Spooker?" ... yes, and house wrens will not be deterred by a sparrow spooker. House Wrens are even sneakier, faster and silent, leaving no evidence behind, only destroying eggs or young. You might hear them singing, but might never, ever see them! There are some links to sound files of house wren song and chatter on Bet's web pages, so you can learn to hear the unwelcome sounds of house wrens. Visit Bet's web page for more info. And by the way, the Carolina Wren is a very different bird, welcome almost anywhere; not a threat to other birds. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

my sister has tons of birds around her place and many eat off the ground under the seed feeders. she just about gave up on feeding birds cause the stray cats wound lay under her shrubs and bushes and pounce on the birds. She found some green enameled fence at home depot and put 4 green metal fence posts in the ground and wraped the fence around them. it did not take long for the birds to get used to it and the green color was not very noticeable except close up because it blended in with the surrounding plants. she can still fill the seed feeders from a short step ladder. and says she has not lost any birds lately.