First of all don't put worms right by the nestbox...you will be attracting other birds and predators. If they come to your feeders put the worms there for them. Second if you don't have a baffle add one. Just because you didn't have a predator get your Blues last year doesn't mean something won't get the Dees this year. Wobbling stovepipe is cheap and easy to put up and will deter climbing predators. Chickadees lay one egg a day until the clutch is complete usually with 6-8 eggs. The eggs are usually covered up by a layer of fur (blanket) to hide the eggs. Once the clutch is complete the momma will start incubation which takes 12-13 days. From hatching fledging usually occurs around day 16. Never check on a nestbox in the morning if you think they may be laying eggs, you do not want to disturb her while she is laying. Some Dees will stay on the nest during monitoring, that is normal. Once you know how many eggs there are (usually during incubation you may be able to see if she leaves them uncovered) and estimate when they will hatch, then count the days and do not open the box after day 10/11 from hatching to prevent premature fledging. Good luck!

You are doing a great thing by providing nest boxes to our native birds. However, you are not helping them by getting this close to nesting areas, photographing and even worst posting pictures of nests on Internet.

We were lucky enough to have chickadees use the nest box in our yard, and from as far as we can tell the babies have successfully fledged (we didn't see it, but I saw a parent bring food one morrning and they were gone by evening). We didn't take the nest box down yet and have seen a chickadee sticking its head near the opening. How likely is it another set of chickadees would use the box? If it's possible is it better to remove the old nest? Thanks. -- Lori

Often during nestchecks, momma dee will be on the eggs/hatchlings. When ours hatched I could see them under the momma but every time I checked to see if all hatched she would be in there. That is very common for Dees to stay on the nest during nestchecks. You wouln't have done any harm. Incubation is typically about 12-13 days for Dees and fledging about 16+ days after that. If you know when they hatch then you know when you can expect fledging. You don't want to check the box after day 10/11 from hatching to prevent premature fledging. Donna