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Late Nesting 2002(All material was originally posted on the mailing list Bluebird-L or Bluebird and reposted here with only slight modifications to make them more readable in an HTML format, for more information about Bluebird-L check out the following http://www.cit.cornell.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.html. or for the mailing list Bluebird run by Dusty Bleher check out http://fsinc.com/wildbirds/Bluebird/List)If you are the author of a posting to one of the mailing lists and you would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages please contact me at: bluebirdbox@cox.net and I will remove whatever material you like. If you have an opinion different than one posted hear you need not contact me as often I will have a different opinion also. My intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues confronting bluebirders and to do so in an impartial manner.In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, it is indicated by an ellipsis (....)
From: Adthomas10@cs.com More information about the late nesting. This box is on a trail in an abandoned park with 35 other boxes. My last fledged babies was on the week of 8-10 on this trail. The box that has the late nesting was not checked from 8-3 to 8-18. I noticed 4 eggs on 8-18 and it was like "WOW" . . . . eggs this late in the season. . . . I noticed yesterday they all hatched and mama was taking care of them. I noticed the female feeding the chicks, but never seen the male. (spent approx. 5 minutes near the box). History of this box. . . . The last 2 years this box was always the first to start nest building. This year birds started nest building week of 4-8 with eggs approx. 2 weeks later. . . . 2nd nesting had eggs week of 6-17. On 6-22 the eggs were gone. . . not sure how, (possibly a snake). I have a stove pipe "predator guard" on this box. . . . I did not remove the nest, so the chicks I have now are in the same nest that has been there for approx.8 weeks. Both the male and female on the prior nestings were always very aggressive when I approached the box, diving at me etc. Yesterday while I was there the female sat in the tree and just watched. . . I'm wondering if this is the same pair?? When I checked the eggs on 8-18. I hung around the box for several minutes and never saw the male or female. . . . Looking forward to seeing them fledge. Dan Thomas
From: TomGaryH@aol.com Dan, If the probability for female abandonment is greater this time of year and this occurs, the chicks might be saved by human intervention - rehabilitation. I wonder if it would be advisable or possible to monitor or, perhaps better, observe activities around the box more often. Just looking looking down the road a little without having all the facts and,
being a backyard nestbox landlord, I've got a certain built-in bias/attitude Please keep us informed. Tom Heintzelman Backyard Nestbox Landlord & PA Transplant ------ Second Bluebird-L Post ------ More information about the late nesting. This box is on a trail in an Dan Thomas ...
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 07:45:12 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Dan, your current situation of not knowing whether the male is helping with the late nesting puts a question mark on how to monitor the box. It is often repeated on this List that offering mealworms is purely for our own pleasure. Many monitors (myself included) use mealworms as an effective monitoring tool to assess the condition of the site. You might want to start taking mealworms to this site. All you need to do is lay a dozen mealworms on a hard spot where the adult(s) can see them (bare patch of ground, wood, concrete, rock). Make sure to put the mealworms in a shady area so they don't cook in the sun, and it helps to put them near the bluebird's favorite foraging perch (look for whitewash). If your chicks just hatched, the mealworms won't be fed to them for a few days. But once the mealworms are spotted, you will know whether both parents are around, and if it turns out the female is alone, the mealworms will enable her to care for them. Good luck with your late nesting, and please continue to let us know what
happens. Adthomas10@cs.com wrote: ...
From: "Kathy Clark" <lilbirdie2u@hotmail.com> Hi Dan, It does happen this late in the season. Someone we both know had a nest of babies fledging in September. As to whether the female is alone that's harder to say, and if same pair only banding would tell you that for certain. They should do okay if they all hatch out. Keep an eye on how the nestlings look. You know, I know you do! >From: Adthomas10@cs.com ...
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:49:53 -0400 I wouldn't be too concerned yet if you saw only the female feeding the chicks over a 5-minute monitoring period. We have late nestlings in a box in front of our house. On Saturday I watched and watched and saw only the female feeding the nestlings over about a 20-minute period. But later in the day, the male came to the box, and I saw him yesterday and this morning as well. I also wonder whether there may be a division of labor going on. The four nestlings are day 15 today. This morning I saw only the female feeding, going back and forth, while the male darted in a couple of times to remove fecal sacs and defended the box from other songbirds, including a young blue from a prior nesting, that came too close. Diane Seward
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:49:53 -0400 I wouldn't be too concerned yet if you saw only the female feeding the chicks over a 5-minute monitoring period. We have late nestlings in a box in front of our house. On Saturday I watched and watched and saw only the female feeding the nestlings over about a 20-minute period. But later in the day, the male came to the box, and I saw him yesterday and this morning as well. I also wonder whether there may be a division of labor going on. The four nestlings are day 15 today. This morning I saw only the female feeding, going back and forth, while the male darted in a couple of times to remove fecal sacs and defended the box from other songbirds, including a young blue from a prior nesting, that came too close. Diane Seward
From: Adthomas10@cs.com I checked the box again this morning and the "late nesters" seem to be doing just fine. I did observe BOTH male and female feeding the young ones. Other than being late, everything seems to be normal. I would estimeate the 4 chicks to be approx. 8-10 days old. Dan Thomas
From: "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert@4state.com> If anyone has any late nests to report I'm sure those on the list would be glad to hear from you. The other day on the message board there was Diane, from Potomac MD., and Dan, from New Providence, PA. Dan had a nest with fresh bluebird eggs... Good birding, Larry H., Joplin MO.
From: "Pat Foley" <removed at users request> I've had them this late too. One year, I had a bad HOSP problem, and HOSP kept building on top of bluebird nest for one pair. I kept removing the HOSP nest and eggs, and finally very late in the season, th bluebirds nested after the HOSP gave up. They laid seven eggs, and all seven fledged. Boy was that box crowded! Pat ...
From: "Gretchen Hughes" <suziq@comwares.net> Last Tues.(8/27) I had 3 of the 4 eggs hatched. This is not the first late
hatch I've had here in Illinois, but it is this year. They are healthy and
doing well.
From: "ke4fej1" <ke4fej1@email.msn.com> Hi All, I sure do miss the bunches and bunches of e-mails on the List. I had withdrawl while the site was down. I am still reading all the BB books I can, and all of your e-mails were filled with bits of important information. I sure wish more would talk about how you are getting new boxes or old boxes ready. Or adding new Trails or maintaining old the Trails. There are only about 20 weeks until February, and when I think I should have my boxes up ready for the new breeding season. I see that as there being time for only twenty larger projects to work on. I spend almost every day doing something toward next year. There now are eight libraries in four South Florida counties with 30 pieces of Bluebird books and videos in them. Besides Sarasota and Manatee counties, both Hardee and Highland counties are ordering the materials into their libraries. And just think Hardee has had a Bluebird Trail for about 15 years. And Highland County has had the 100 box Trail since 1970 but neither had ever had any BB materials in their libraries. The librians were very happy to make the purchases. I also found that there is an 80 box trail in Brevard County, connected with the Indian River Audubon Club. But after contacting them, they say they have 60-80 boxes and not all are monitored. And that most do not have predator guards. They say they do not have HOSP but have lots of predators. I have asked if they would like to regroup and find out what they do have and what they actually are doing, and to work more on monitoring and especially the predator guards. I see from the Transcontinental Trail site that four trails are listed for Florida that I had not heard about. After talking with NABS Headquarters, I found out that there are two places to turn records into. One is NABS, and the other is Cornell. I had wondered because I did not see Phil's or Tom's trails on the Transcontinental Trail list for FL. NABS stated that the trail information they receive is not shared and that they do not receive trail info from Cornell. So one needs to send statistics to both. Plus NABS is not compiling information this year. I did find out that there are 66 NABS members in FL, so perhaps I will find that there are more than the 14 Trails I do know about. I am just trying to connect the dots and the gaps are getting a little smaller. I think FL has a Trail. Last weekend I finished putting up my third Trail in East Sarasota on 18
acres of perfect BB property. I also found out what Hay Fevor was! Oh my Today my builder and I finished the building of our supplies, of 17 boxes and 10 predator guards, and I still have 21 poles ready to use. He has 9 more boxes in the making and we have close to 150 board feet for more boxes. I also received my first sponsorship donation of some boxes, which I am asking $15.00 to cover one boxes building. They then can own the box if it is a homeowner and also name the birds Mr. and Mrs. ____ for the record. Oh...how that is going to help with the finances! So far I have not found the free donations of wood ect. I also have 3 places I could use now in cemeteries but I am not going to set Trails into them unless someone wants to be a permanent monitor. I also have just to receive the final word from the owner of a golf course, which is already filled with birds. The manager says he sees no reason not to put up the boxes. He even offered two more golf courses, and like his, with staff monitors. But I will not be taking up that offer ...yet. Those couses are on the islands. Only 20 weeks to go! So when I hear you say the season is over. Yeah, maybe for the birds. Later Christy Sarasota, FL
From: "paul kilduff" <plkldf@hotmail.com> Paul Kilduff, Baltimore MD "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert@4state.com> WROTE: ... My question is, does anyone have late nesting who does *not* feed mealworms? My impression is that mealworms create late nestings, and lack of mealworms ensures no late nestings. If you have a late nesting, do you feed 'worms? best,
From: birdwatcherfc@netscape.net Howdy all, In our park in southern PA there are at least five bluebird nests still active. We do not feed mealworms here in the park. Fred "paul kilduff" <plkldf@hotmail.com> wrote: >Paul Kilduff, Baltimore MD ...
From: "Kathy Clark" <lilbirdie2u@hotmail.com> Too funny Sharon!!!!!!!! I know who Wayne and Garth are and saw that scene in the movie too!! I don't use anything on mine and let them weather naturally If you want to do this and only have a few take them down until they dry completely. Nothing will get on anyone's feathers that way. Just to be on the safe side. Once it's dry it won't harm the birds. Just keep it on the outside only! If you paint keep the colors light and natural grey, etc are best to blend in with the outdoors. Kathy Clark, New Cumberland, PA >From: Sharon Cook <sharonc@rci.rutgers.edu> ...
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 11:55:51 -0400 In our yard, we have had two late nestings this summer, and in both cases the blues' diets were supplemented with mealworms. Four nestlings (two male, two female) fledged from our front yard box on August 29, and two females fledged from a box in our back yard early yesterday morning. I also observed a third nesting attempt in a neighbor's box in early August about a quarter of a mile away from our house. Four nestlings hatched, but were eaten by a climbing predator, possibly a cat, at night when the hatchlings were four days old. The box (front opening, Walmart style) was mounted on a fence post, about three and 1/2 feet high. After discovering the active nest, I mounted a Noel guard around the entrance hole, but sadly, it did not adequately protect the nest. At any rate, this pair of blues was not being fed mealworms. Diane Seward
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 12:16:45 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA But I think it sure does give credence to the better food
supply may equal more broods with many of us experiencing an extra
brood being mealworm fed and to see such a large percentage of our
blues having 3 broods this year that were not mealworm fed due to
such a mild winter. :-) H My question is, does anyone have late nesting who does *not* feed mealworms? best,
Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 05:34:47 -0700 (PDT) Hi all, One of the folks (Cathy) that I mentor in Illinois has informed me that one of four EABL nestlings is still in the nestbox. The other 3 nestlings fledged 4-6 days ago. Cathy told me that the nestling left the nestbox last week Thursday only to land directly below the nestbox. Cathy said that the Bluebird wannabe appeared like it could not fly. Cathy's husand Tony, placed the bird back in the nestbox. The adult Blues are still attending to the nestling as far as Cathy & Tony can tell. The bird was still in the nestbox last night. I plan on checking the box at lunch today. Would a rehabber be any help if a bird can't fly?. I need a rehabber in
Southeast Illinois Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 38.5244N 86.023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 38.4008N 88.2908W )
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