Donna, thanks for letting her finish with her babies. How big is the entrance hole, if it is a very small one (less than 1&1/2") it is a Wren of some sort. You can go to www.whatbird.com to get an ID. It's hard to tell how long she will take unless you have a good idea of what day they hatch. You will notice a lot more coming and going while she is feeding them. As they get older and are nearing time to leave you will really hear them chirping when Mom comes with food. They should not take longer than 14 days once they hatch (not really sure of Wren timetable). Are your screens removable? if they are it may be a good time to take them down for a good cleaning. I think it will be a challenge for the babies to find the hole, is there any other opening for them to get out? Mom will eventually guide them out but it would be much easier on them if there was a bigger traget.

I like watching birds and don't like to see them hurt, but why pick on cats? It's their nature to hunt small animals. They've been doing it for over thousands of years. Aren't people more of threat to birds than cats anyway? With all the building that goes on, birds will probably become extinct one day. I live in what is supposed to be a rural area but it's like anytime a developer (or whoever) sees trees, they tear them down to build houses and stores. It's getting out of hand. My personal rule is that I don't interfere with nature. I would've left the nest alone. If birds are that stupid to build nests where predators can get to them then they deserve whatever they get. Around here dogs are the biggest threat to birds. Several of the neighborhood dogs have a bad habit of killing small animals. One of them even ate my father's rooster! The only birds my cat has killed is those annoying Blue Jays who were just asking for it. Those cocky things fly around teasing the cat so when one gets eaten I don't feel sorry for it. Stupid birds.

Hi Konrad, Kinda sad to lose your RBNH nest... but this is nature at work I guess. Yes, we lost 1 bluebird egg to a HOWR 2 seasons ago. We saw him fly to and into the nest box, and come out with the pierced egg still impaled on his beak! We were waving our arms and shouting at him, as he dropped it on the ground and flew off. It all happened in 30 seconds or less. We discouraged him with a squirt gun for days and the parent blues dived bombed him mercilessly whenever he came near. He finally stopped coming around, and I'm happy to say the other 3 eggs hatched and fledged successfully. Hope your Nuthatches try again for you, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Latest Slideshow

These little cutie pies are one of my favs! I've had them nesting around my house for several years, and they are well known for nesting in very unusual places! A friend of mine had them nesting in a football helmet on a shelf in her garage! I find it best not to peek at them at all, but you can observe from short distance. As long as the parents are going in and out, everything should be OK. As fledging draws near, don't be alarmed if the parents are not frequenting the nest as often as they did when the babies were young. I was fortunate to see a group fledge last year, but this year, they fledged when I was not at home! They are such fun little birds to watch!