i was reading this thread with interest. i have a situation where it appears i have 8 bluebirds who have hatched in one nest (thursday may 2, they were born). it may be 9, it's hard to tell. while monitoring the nest in late april i noticed what appeared to be eggs missing from the 3 that had been laid earlier in that week. the reality was that the eggs had been pushed down deeper into the nest and covered with pine straw. the mother kept coming back (may have been another species coming in and covering the egg with straw? i have seen no house sparrows here at all) and eventually she started laying again. turns out, there were 10 eggs total in this nest when she was done! i guess five from the first attempt and 5 after that. bottom line, 8 babies are in there now. i'm putting out meal worms twice a day and making sure there's lots of water nearby in the bird bath, and plenty of shelled sunflower seeds for the parents nearby in that feeder. anyone ever seen or heard of a situation like this?

Thanks for the responses. We have a baffle... but our yard is small so even with our efforts to space well who knows what could have leapt from where. We too thought a Racoon or snake would have taken the eggs. To be honest, in 16 years we've never seen a racoon - day or night. We know that doesn't mean there aren't any around but we think it unlikely. We had thought about cats, there are plenty of those around but the cat would have had to have got on top of the box somehow and in its condition it may not have withstood the weight/impact. This box has been here a loonnngggg time hence it's condition - we planned to take it down this season but procrastinated and the Blues beat us to it after having their original box borrowed by the Flycatchers. This is the first time anything has attempted to nest in it (other than a few strands of something placed in there last yr by a chickadee). It's part of the 'scenery' and the 'area' squirrels pay it no attention --- or if they happen to come too close in their travels they are dive bombed by Mama and Papa. We've pretty well stared at the box all day between the two of us! No sign of either Mama or Papa. We figured if something had happened to one the other would still be around?!?! If Mama was spooked would Papa follow her with a brood about to hatch? The weather this afternoon has been awful - bad storms and rain so most likely we wouldn't see them anyway but it's stopped now and still no sign -- no one came for their evening meal worms. We've checked the nest and eggs. The nest is dry, no mites, blow flies etc. The eggs are intact - no damage. There were no feathers/dead birds around in either our or adjacent yards. With the cooler temps from the passing of the storms we fear the eggs are lost even if Mama should return. So depressing. We've been scratching our heads all day - obsessing, maybe it's this, maybe that. Hubby's putting the worms out now just in case. Guess we'll leave it a day or so and see what happens. If nothing, we'll take this one down..box and all.

Sorry to hear about your blues. It's hard to tell which birds are which unless you recognize them by behavior (e.g., know about mealworm feeders) or song (I notice different males have slightly different songs sometimes). Your second couple may have started out too late. BTW, there is a link below to info on widows/widowers. Also, chickadees are wonderful nestbox occupants! I love getting them on my trail. They build a beautiful little nesst and the babies look like shrinky dink adults. Unfortunately they usually don't come back to a failed nest site, so you may not see that couple again at that box. In the future, should have you dees, put up a SECOND box (nearby is fine) for blues. Once chickadees chose a box and start nest building, you can put a hole reducer up (1 1/8") on the inside of the hole so blues and house sparrows don't bother them. Altho many folks don't realize it, it is actually illegal to disturb the nest of a native bird (see Migratory Bird Treaty Act info at http://www.sialis.org/mbta.htm). Here is a link that might be useful: widows and widowers.

Congrats on eggs! Would definitely put up a sparrow spooker now. It's the best known way to keep HOSP from invading. You can make one because it takes about a week to order through mail. The fishing line can stay on all season, but the spooker only needs to stay up from 1st egg to fledge. Sialis site is the best resource. Has helped me many times! Like vamanos mentioned above, the only sure way to avoid HOSP invasion is to trap them. You can get a van Ert trap put into the box the HOSP are interested in & trap them one by one. The DRTS is an even more serious way to trap. Again, Sialis outlines all of this. Biggest piece of advise: don't let HOSP nest with you or you'll never get rid of them. As you probably know, they are not native & have caused many problems with our native birds (i.e.- EABL, CACH, etc). By law you are able to trap them/dispose of them & remove their nests, eggs, & young. I know it sounds harsh, but it's a personal choice. Best f luck! Nicole