I went out today to check the TRES house to see if another egg had been laid. As I stood next to the house, I could hear the Mother flitting about inside. So I knocked on the side of the house to see if she would fly out. She stuck her head out and looked right, then left where I was standing. She staired at me for maybe 30 seconds (as if to say, "yes, may I help you"). She disapeared back inside. Again I knocked. She stuck her head back out and looked straight at me for another 20 to 30 seconds. She went back in, so I opened the box and looked in with my mirror. She was hunkered down on those eggs and nothing I could do was going to pry her off. She had some real moxie, some real chutzpah. I closed the box and walked back to the house. I am still smiling and laugh out loud every time I picture this in my mind. Can you imagine the nerves of steele it took for this little bird to protect her eggs from this big hulking monster (me) looking at her and her eggs. What an inspiration and life lesson these little birds can teach us. Phil

Thanks everyone! I really don't think the male was just being scarce. I had been watching this pair for a week and a half before they started laying eggs. I would always see them together and I would always see both of them. If the female was in the nestbox, Dad sat outside watching. For all four eggs (being laid) Dad was there. If I went near the box I got scolded by both the male and the female. Then that one day as I was watching Mom just acted funny and that was when I realized I hadn't seen the male. Today was day five of not seeing him. I realized I could have missed him when watching but I really think if he had been around when I went down there he would of scolded me too, not just the mom. Now an update from today. I was watching and I saw a male BB! Watched them for a LONG time, lots and lots of wing waving going on by both but mostly the male. Mom would go in the nestbox, peek back out and then fly to the male who was in a tree near it, then she would go back in. She did stay in after awhile also and the male went to the nestbox at one point and peeked in. I went down during this and set some crickets out. Mom immediately went down to eat, male just watched and wing waved. When I went down there mom scolded me, the male did not. I think this is a new male but I guess I won't know for sure unless the eggs hatch and I find out if he feeds them or not, either that or if he gets her to start a new nest. What do you think?? I am going to post this question in a new thread too as I am curious what everyone thinks as to if this is a new male or not. Does wing waving happen during incubation by an established couple?? Donna

The last couple years I had Bluebirds nesting in snags in the back yard (both snags have since fallen over). I cut way down on the food in the feeders, which I usually do anyway in the summer, because I didn't want to attract House Sparrows. Would put out a little BOSS, but only put out the home-made suet nuggets if the Bluebirds wanted some. This Spring, I had a pair of Baltimore Orioles nesting in a large Pin Oak right above the feeders. Did the same thing, cut down on the food in the feeders, because the Orioles were very territorial about the tree. They were especially aggressive towards Blue Jays, Grackles, and Crows so I stopped throwing any tidbits on the ground (like old corn chips, which the Jays and Crows like). So I would favor the security of the nesting birds. During the summer and fall, there are normally abundant natural sources of food, so feeders are not critical. Birds eat a lot of insects and feed their young insects, so they are unlikely to starve if you aren't feeding them.

As I wrote in my post, my reference was to domestic cats, not to feral or barn cats who live their lives without being fed or receiving immunizations, deworming, external parasite prevention, and other routine veterinary care. I have precise first hand knowledge of what species my cats have killed over the past 40+ years and a good idea of how many of each because they bring their quarry home to my front porch and, being well fed, only occasionally do they eat one of their game animals. I could probably count on my fingers the number of birds my cats have killed over the past decades, and among these were a few English sparrows. I would say that on average 6 to 11 baby barn swallows have fledged from nests on our front porch and eaves of the barn each year, despite the presence of our cat(s.) The parent bird who fell victim this year is the only swallow killed by one of our cats ever, so I'd say that the survival rate is highly stacked in favor of the swallows. (Seven on average x 40 some years is a large sum of swallows that have come into being on my felines' terrain.) Toxoplasma gondii only poses a threat to developing fetuses and those with severely compromised immune systems. It is important that pregnant women avoid contact with litter boxes. Other than this caution, the risks posted on the inflammatory website you posted are highly exaggerated. As I also stated, this is a moot point since my current kitty has only perhaps another year of going outdoors and I do not intend to replace her when she is gone. We will have to agree to disagree on this point.