You need to add a hole reducer to the box, probably asap in hopes mama dee can begin incubating if she has laid her last egg. I think the bluebird site (sialis.org) has instructions on how to make one or you can order on-line.

I have heard of a Bluebird killing an adult Chickadee when the Dee looked in the Bluebirds active nestbox. However I doubt a Blue would harm the Dees just because they want the box. With the nesting material pulled out it sure sounds like a raccoon, although normally a raccoon would eat the babies, unless like Cathy said, it got interrupted. I know cats can jump to the top of boxes but I am not sure if they can reach in the box like a coon can and would pull stuff out, cats are notorious for killing and not eating their prey. How old were the baby Dees? I would think if they were around 16 days which would be fledging time (since you said they were ready to fledge) they would be too big for a wren to mess with. The HOSP could easily kill the babies but they wouldn't mess with the nest like that. Did you look at the babies at all for peck marks on the head or teeth marks on the bodies?? So sorry this happened!! Donna

The 3 babies are still in the box this morning, a few hours short of 14 days old (they hatched in the afternoon hours). The baby birds in my pic do not hunker down, that is their normal position when they are at rest in the nest cup and at complete ease. They do gape when I inadvertently make a noise, even a soft noise. This is not like usual monitoring where the baby birds see the monitor. I know this all because I peek several times a day in my special spybox and have watched them at rest, move about, fluttering their wings, etc (I have also done monitoring the usual way) Yesterday late evening I peeked in the box, briefly turning on a faint light and saw the mother bird sleeping and fluffed up big time. It was a bit colder than the previous days at 8 degrees Centigrade. She looked very much like a mammal with very long fur, LOL.

7 eggs? If they all hatch that will be one busy mom! I have 5 baby dees and they are the sweetest little nestlings ever. If I had a nestcam in my boxes, there would be no hope for me! Monitoring the box worries me enough. Linda