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!

The story doesn't end there, I'm afraid. As I said, I plugged the hole in the nest box where the TUTIs nested. While I was distracted with them, a pair of bluebirds who have been hanging around here started a nest in my second video box which is in my back yard. I hadn't been paying enough attention because I had intended to put that one out of commission also. By the time I turned my attention to that box, the nest was almost done. Mama has been working on the nest and at the same time working with Daddy to feed the 3 (maybe 4) fledglings from their first brood which grew up somewhere else (I'd seen the parents come to my feeder and carry mealies off beyond my yard a few houses/never did find where the nest was; I'm guessing they got evicted by our little brown bird 'friend'). So for the last few days I have been so happy to see the whole family in my backyard, all 5 or 6 of them. They go back and forth from the mealie feeder to the top of the nest box which is not far away. Anyway, I WILL be monitoring the box as carefully as I can. My husband rigged up a cord that goes from the nest box to inside my kitchen. If I see a HOWR on the box or in the box, I pull on the cord and can shake the nestbox! Hope I never have to use it. The box is also easier to get to than the one in the front (no steps, yeah!). I have evidence that having the whole BB family around will offer them a lot of protection. As I watched (and recorded), a HOWR went into the nest box & started to pick at the nesting material with the intention, I'm sure, of throwing it out the hole. However, 'The Family' showed up and blocked the HOWR IN the box. I swear that HOWR must sit somewhere and watch the BBs cause it had the guts to go into the nest while Mama is actively in and out of the nestbox while working on the nest. Actually prior to getting trapped in the box that time, the HOWR had gone into the box & started picking at the pine needles but I chased it out quickly. So if you go to my dropshots page (guest password birdbrain), there's a new video 'HOWR gets trapped in box by bluebirds'. If you listen carefully to the video, you can hear the bluebirds 'chatting' while the HOWR quivers at the bottom of the nest. Not sure what the quivering is all about but I know that some animals (like cats, for instance) 'quiver' in anticipation of pouncing/striking. You can see that it tries to get out the hole twice to no avail (it seems to 'throw' itself at the hole). I was afraid that one of the parents was going to go into the box and get hurt. Yes, maybe there would have been a battle and the bluebirds MIGHT have won but I didn't want to take the chance so I opened the back door (this was before I had my 'shaker cord'). My two male dogs got out in front of me and not only chased away the bluebirds but also the wren. Amazing video, though! The nest is done now and when the first egg is laid, up goes the wren guard, and I go into active monitoring. Blessings, Lina... Here is a link that might be useful: Video HOWR gets trapped in box by BBs

Hello Michael, First I am glad you found this site, I was happy when I found it to, but I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe and we will provide you with all you need to know about these birds. It is way more active and you will get fast answers to your questions. Hope to see you there. http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/ Secondly your bluebird pair have committed to that nest with eggs so they won't abandon it easily. How much rain are you getting? One year I had blues there were several days of rain and no bugs except earthworms around to feed the babies. They didn't survive despite the parents efforts. My guess is your pair has left to find a food source and will return. I do find it odd that they left when you are providing mealworms. I would recommend you ask this question on the bluebird nut cafe site to get other's input. -Tyler

Nicole, my mom's best friend found them her hospital's gift shop! I will see if they have more! You've been my hugest support through the bluesy bluebird year! I think I am going to display them and never wear them though! The other present was from my nurse practitioner's 10 year old daughter who I let have a peek at the babies before fledge. We don't have robins here but it was such a sweet sentiment!