My sister just called me with a similar problem with the phoebe nest on her deck. The first thing that came to my mind was the cowbird. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this notorious brood parasite. Even though the cowbirds most common host is the yellow warbler, the brown-headed cowbird often targets Eastern phoebes for its host. I've actually seen female cowbirds egg-dump phoebe nests. It's an extremely fast process. Now before people have evil thoughts towards the brown-headed cowbird, I have to say this: it's not the cowbirds fault... Cowbirds evolved following roaming buffalo herds around, and therefore developed a breeding strategy (brood parasitism) that allowed them to do so. The cowbird used to be an uncommon species here in the northeast, but during the 17 and 1800s almost all forests were cut down for farmland. Since cowbirds are an open spaces/prairie species, this is the perfect habitat for them. They also like edge habitat (powerlines, forest edges etc.) So, I told my sister to keep watching the nest for a cowbird chick. The young, a week or two along, should be larger, louder and healthier by far than the others. It's more agressive behavior as a nestling makes it sure that it gets fed at the expense (often fatal) of the others. So if the young in a nest all look and sound the same, chances are it "cowbird-free."

Thats to bad Tim, but at least they are somewhere where they can survive now! Will you be able to see how they are doing or get updates at all? Glad you have another pair there anyway, hopefully it wasn't them that broke the TRES egg...was the other nest abandoned before or after the BLues showed up? I have seen some bigtime fighting between Blues and TRES when the BLues have gone to a TRES box...the TRES won in my case and the BLues took the paired box..then they both nested peacefully side by side... Donna

Thanks everyone, We are so delighted to see so many fledglings up close everyday now. Here are just few more taken in recent days. This little one sits atop the nestbox (which contains 5 more eggs in Missy's 3rd nest), and calls to Mom who's perched on the spooker: This one is on the deck rail waiting for a spot to open up at the mealworm bowl: And for those of you who liked the "mad bluebird" shot, here's another wet fledgling up close: We're about 5 days away from the hatching of clutch #3, but we're still seeing all 8 of the fledges from the first two nests. oh joy, Kenn :)

Yes there are a few people that still visit this site. I check it from time to time, but it's very inactive compared to the bluebird nut cafe, and that can be a bad thing if you have an emergency and need help quickly. I am not a moderator there but I do check in almost every day. I wish we could get everyone on the same site lol.