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Is this Strange Bluebird Behavior? Or what? (Part 2)Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 11:59:47 -0500 OK Gang, Am I losing it, or what? We have a beautiful EABL pair building their nest in one of our nestboxes, and guess what....they are adding feathers!!!!! We have several ducks and geese on our front pond, which is near their nestbox, and they have been molting recently. I have been sitting and watching this box, "like a hawk" and watching every movement. I have seen no sparrows. The EABL couple are very diligent, making trips every couple of minutes adding nesting material. Mostly grass, but feathers, too! If I hadn't been watching this couple intently for the past 4 days, I would have suspected this to be a sparrow nest, just by looking at the nest! If anybody wants to see my pictures of this nest, just e-mail me and let me know! I'm also taking pics. of the pair of EABL, but it is hard to get close enough to take good pictures. The zoom on the camera just doesn't zoom in enough. Please let me know your thoughts and experiences. Respectfully, Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 14:01:34 -0500 The EABL incubating eggs here has feathers in it too. It's the first time that I have seen that. Bob Sitarski OK Gang, Am I losing it, or what? ... Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 15:34:40 -0500 At 11:59 AM 4/5/01 -0500, you wrote: Bluebirds do not read the books, as I've said several times before. Observations like yours and many of the others on this list are adding to our store of knowledge. Kate Oschwald Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 18:27:04 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. It's nice to see that the "feather" fad is catching on in the eastern regions. Here on the west coast, a few of trend-setting nesters are into glitz . . . nestcups completely lined with cellophane. One cutting-edge nester on my trail is a very discriminating collector . . .
gathering only one specific type of ribbon over a period of weeks. You can view her work by going to my "Claimstraw" page and scrolling down to "Shappel" starsky wrote: Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:39:42 -0400 Bill & Dot Forrester wrote: It is really strange that there is no bottom on the nest cup. I
don't know where you It's even more strange, now. I had to cut down a large tree near the bluebird boxes this weekend. Before I did it, both the male and female bluebirds were at the nest off and on, with the female going all the way in and out and the male sticking his head in. So, I delayed the tree felling for another hour. But, then I had to get to work on the tree. Since the chain saw scared the bluebirds away, I looked in each of the 2 (15 feet apart) bluebird boxes. One box had been built up about 3 inches with tightly woven grass and very fine roots (mostly grass). The other had been *identically* built up, but to a height of approximately 5 inches inside the box, again with grass and very fine roots (this is the hairy, very fine type of roots). This second box (the oldest of the 2 but with the less-complete nest) also had 2 or 3 dark feathers stuck in the grass/fine roots structure, but other than those 2 or 3 feathers and an extra 2 inches in height, it was a carbon copy of the nest in the newer box. Now to your questions. **Both** nests had no bottom. We can see the bottom of the box at the bottom of each nest (the box has a drain hole directly in the middle of the bottom and it is visible, along with about a 1 1/2 inch diameter clear area where there is no nest structure at all. We are positive that the bluebirds have been working on the new (less complete) nest, since we have seen them going in and out of the box, but the other box is out of our sight until we are about 20 feet from it. So, unless the bluebirds are just sightseeing at the nest box(es), they are the ones building the nest(s). Or, alternatively, we have 2 pairs building one nest each. Nevertheless, the nests are identical, no bottom and all, except for the 2 or 3 feathers in the older box, with the more complete nest. It's a mystery to me, but I'm a novice. We live in Maryland, near Baltimore and the weather has been, alternately, hot and cool and damp -- nothing consistent (today it is raining and cool and yesterday it was sunny and pleasant and the day before it was raining and cool). VMS Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:38:37 -0700 I have seen "bottomless" nests as a second or third nesting attempt later in the season but not usually this early. Is it possible these are young birds- maybe on their very first nesting attempt- that maybe don't quite have it "all together"? Just keep watching and keep us informed! Judy Mellin ... Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 21:09:22 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 03:33:52 -0400 Hello All, I witnessed an event Monday afternoon that I found interesting. I've got a
small trail overlooking the Chesapeake Bay in MD. I currently have 3 active
nests, a NABS style wooden box with 4 nestlings about 10 days old, a Gilbertson
with 4 nestlings at 7 or 8 days and another Gilbertson with 5 eggs. About 40
yards from that last Gilbertson I have another NABS wooden box which seems to do
a good job of distracting the House Sparrows away from the Bluebirds until I can
get them. Just minutes after I had removed the 3rd pair of them from that box
this spring and cleaned it out, a male Bluebird was investigating it and hunting
for bugs underneath it, a female that I assumed was his mate was sitting on the
closest fencepost to him just about 6 feet away. This is a typical barbed wire
fence surrounding a cow pasture. I didn't notice which way either had come from.
He grabbed a big juicy catapiller and went to the next fencepost over from the
female while he beat it up a little (tenderizing it). Well, the female started
wing-waving at him, I've seen the male do this while trying to lure a female
during courtship rituals but I didn't realize it went both ways. It seemed she
was hoping to get the catapiller as an courtship offering like I've heard the
male will do. She was very forward, she even hopped across the barbed wire to
get within a couple of feet of him while still waving. A couple of seconds after
that he took off with the morsel in the opposite direction, flying straight to
the Gilbertson, and gave the catapiller to his Dave Bagley Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 20:04:41 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Ok everybody I'm not kidding about the cavity nesters or this!!: Either I have a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY washed out adult female EABL or I've got a MOBL/EABL hybrid! It was noticed today on a tour of my trail today by a 4-H leader who is a birder. Thom and I just went out with the scope tonight and we just can't say it is a normal EABL- nothing like any of us have seen. She looks like a female WEBL, except her barely visible thrushy chest extends down like a EABL. She has the same gray tones as a female MOBL. Their babies are 15 days today - probably too old to band, but hopefully I can get her documented via photos. (fingers crossed). Have I gone totally out of my mind? I know a female MOBL was sighted late 2000 in eastern MA. Any ideas???????? :-) H Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 09:59:56 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Anyway, once the earth worm had only about a 1/4" to go, it started to
crawl back out! Needless to say, EABLs are probably not really equipped to eat Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 13:51:38 -0400 ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- Hi Haleya & All: If you continue to fill us in on those exciting scenes you capture with that 'scope I will be forced to purchase one!! Several yrs. ago I was monitoring boxes during a lengthy rainy period & found a small earthworm across the back of a nestling, the parents evidently missed the beak. Later I read somewhere that earthworms are simply not that nutritious for nestlings as they contain large amounts of water. You were right in assuming the fledgling resorted to earthworms due to lack of insects as the parents will do the same thing. This is another reason why I try to supplement their diet with mealworms. Betty Nichols, Middletown, MD Haleya Priest Amherst MA Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 14:27:14 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA As you say, they resort to earthworms when nothing else is available. Although I am afraid this little "tiger" did it out of sheer ignorance!! He was probably so proud he found his first bug!!! Anyway, for newbies: When your babies fledge and you find a layer of something smooth and flat like caked onto the top of the nest, that is earth worm excretion from the babies. I think they can't digest the dirt, etc. and some babies will die of dehydration from it. Like Betty says, the parents will eat and feed the earthworms when no other food is available - like cold rainy weather. Last year one of my nests had about a 1/4" thick layer of this earthworm poop (no smell) - but all babies fledged regardless. So, no need to worry - but something to simply observe!! :-) H Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 22:13:03 -0400 Hello All: ....."Well-fed chicks at 12 days should be warm, well-feathered, alert, possibly crouching in the nest or content/warm/sleeping..." If I didn't know othse. I would swear Linda was there watching the nestlings with me. If the father has not returned tomorrow morning, they will be on their way to the rehabber. There is no point in waiting until they are nearly starved, thus jeopardizing their recovery. With the help of so many, I feel confident we are making the right decision. Thank you one and all - will keep you posted on rehabber's comments and their progress. Betty Nichols, Middletown, MD Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 13:45:46 -0400 Does anyone remember a topic a few weeks/months ago about birds pecking at the window? Did we ever determine what the birds were doing pecking at the window? Someone just wrote and told me that she had chickadees pecking at her windows. Other than maybe picking bugs off the screen (there is no screen) I was of no help. :( -Theresa"at"BowEcho.com Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 21:50:59 -0400 This is new to me, perhaps you can tell me what is going on in our front yard: There are two sites 300' apart in our front yard, each site has two boxes 22'
apart and one feeder. One site had EABL nest, the other has TRES. Four About 5/26 I noticed EABL activity in the empty box next to where the TRES live. I was not sure at that time, but now I know it is the same pair from the other site! So, this pair of EABL has now completed building a third nest (at the TRES paired site) while incubating the second set of eggs, *and* they are still taking care of the 4 juveniles!!! Has anyone seen this before? I wonder if I will see three generations of EABL with the parents. I believe the reason this is happening is due to the abundance of food. Besides having lots of food in the grass around, I also provide mealworms at these two sites. It is really amazing how the one pair can take care of babies, sit on eggs and at the same time have a third nest ready for use after the second fledging... I'll keep you posted. Fawzi from MD Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 09:42:22 -0400 Hi Ann, Malinda and all. What I find amazing and new (to my knowledge) is that this female has 4 eggs she is sitting on on one site, and at the same time has her *third* nest complete and ready at a different site 300' away. It is like though she is planning for the future. This is intelligent behavior and I think she is taking advantage of the available resources to make as many babies as she can. I know that three and even four nestings have been recorded. But has anyone seen a female sitting on eggs (her second set) and at the same time have completed a new nest 300' away for her future third nesting? I think this is so neat... I will keep you posted as to what happens next (she may abandon eggs and move, or whatever...) Fawzi ----- Original Message ----- | Malinda Mastako Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 15:46:50 EDT Hi all, There are two week old fledglings visiting my yard with their parents (mother incubating second clutch ) and today I saw one do something that I am curious about. The father bird was sitting on the roof of my hopper feeder (empty - used for winter feeding but still in place ) which he often uses as a perch from which to hunt. One of the fledglings came and joined him begging for food. Dad found something on the ground came back up to the roof and fed the fledgling. Immediately after this feeding the fledgling flattened itself with wings and tail spread right out on the slanting roof of the feeder. I thought it might be some kind of injury feigning but as far as I know only adult birds do that to distract a predator from the young. Anyway there seemed to be no danger around and the father was unconcerned. He flew off to a tree leaving the fledgling in that position. After a few seconds the fledgling picked itself up, fluffed its feathers back into place and followed after the father. Has anyone ever seen this before or know what it was doing? Thanks Jane
From: "dputman" dputman"at"syix.com Hi all, having a really big year for bluebirds here, north of Sacramento. I'd like to toss this question out: over several seasons here, I've seen a number of unusual things happen in bluebird nestboxes. I've found nests full of eggs built right over nests full of eggs. On a couple of occasions, the second nest was built over the first just after the hen finished laying a complete clutch of eggs in that first nest. When I visited said nestbox, I expected to find a hen incubating, but instead I found a new nest with, say, 2 or three fresh eggs, built over the top of that original nest. There are several possible explanations, but it may suggest intraspecific competition for nest site, or perhaps a polygamous arrangement--- Two hens vying for one male? Ya never know what's really happening. Just recently, I was monitoring a box where there were 3 chicks, about 4 days old; 5 days later, I returned to find no chicks, but 4 fresh eggs. I looked again today and found a hen incubating 5 eggs. So, it is evident that something happened to the chicks and then another pair of bluebirds immediately took over that box ( note only one day allowed in between for the switch). The thing that was extra strange was that the new eggs were laid right in the old nest where the chicks had been. That is, if another hen was going to lay eggs in that box it would normally build its own nest before doing so, but not this time. ( I've only seen a bluebird hen lay eggs in a nest other than her own one other time: sparrows took over the box, and built their own nest, just as the bluebird was going to lay eggs; I trapped the HOSP; the bluebird hen then hastily laid eggs in the HOSP nest). Although something--a scrub jay, perhaps--could have taken the chicks, it is also possible that the second pair of blues could have taken over the box, tossed the chicks, and laid their own eggs. Or, again, maybe it was a second hen only (same male). Who knows? This kind of competition for nest sites is documented among wood ducks: wood duck hens can get in pretty good battles--beating each other up, tossing out eggs, egg dumping, etc. Can intraspecific competition also be prevalent among bluebirds? It may be among hens or among pairs. Can anyone comfirm this? KP Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 22:22:24 -0700 Kevin, your observations on the nest of eggs with a second nest of eggs quickly following in the same nestbox happened to me for the first time this year on a 1-holed golf course trail. I discovered it while pulling out nest material from the bottom to lower the "high" nest. Whether it was caused from bluebird/bluebird competition is anyone's guess. The golf course is monitored very quickly once per week so I don't know if there was a change in adults. My guess had been that a pair nested, the first female was caught and killed and a new pair rebuilt over the failed attempt. The nestboxes in this area *do* have stiff competition with about 90% occupancy, so your intra-species competition theory is feasible. However, my 2-hole trail has the same high occupancy without this ever happening!?! (I find these exceptions intriguing, ask this question again next year and we might be able to find new clues.) On your nests with disappearing chicks, then a new clutch of eggs . . . could be a raided box with a new pair (possibly displaced from elsewhere at the moment eggs were to be laid?). I use guards or a combination of guards with deeper boxes to keep eggs/chicks from being raided. Jays seem to hang around boxes at the naked-nestling stage (3-4 days old); watch to see if this is confirmed on your trail. I'm assuming they are easier for jays to pick out of the box at that stage. Another local monitor has reported 30-35 eggs have disappeared from his nests this year (an increase over previous years). Glad to hear your trail is having a banner year! Linda Violett dputman wrote: ... From: "Elaine Stayton" moron"at"a-znet.com Good morning. I'm having a mystery that is leaving me wondering. I'll try and keep this short. The first bluebird nesting fledged 4 babies. After they left everything was fine. On the 8th day the female started a new nest. On the 13th day she was missing and has been missing ever since. (6 days now)The male brings the 2 babys here everyday but their are definitely only 2 . The male still defends the box and won't let anything in their. The young are learning to fend for themselves quite nicely. The male still feeds the young the bluebird treats and peanut butter suet that I put out for them so I expect them to hang around as the male has been here steady since late March. Any idea what could have happened to the female and other 2 babies? I find it strange that the three are all missing and that something could have got them all. Just wondering here in Central New York. Elaine Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 21:03:03 -0400 From: CLENO"at"aol.com Have you ever heard of bluebirds nesting on top of a window ledge under a covered porch? The nest was probably started by robins or barn swallows as it had a mud and grass base finished with a nice cup of grass. No cavity whatsoever! We just came back from seeing it -- 5 hatched babies and both parents. We tried to get some photos. New one on me. I also had my first nest last week with 7 eggs. I assume that's pretty unusual this late in the season.? Steve and Cheryl
From: " Emily Smith" emilys7"at"earthlink.net Sounds like they are trying to scare off the "birds" they see in their reflection in the window glass. We had a major problem with a male EABL doing that last season during nesting -- always in the early morning in our bedroom window. He would flutter against the window, waking us up. This year we have not had that problem, despite having a pair nesting in the same box. I was under the impression that this was fairly common behavior for males, but have never heard of a female doing it. Interesting! Emily ----- Original Message ----- A neighbor called this morning asking advice. She has an old box (on a From: TomGaryH"at"aol.com When I read Phil's post the likelihood of the bluebirds' interest in the window reflected image went completely over my head. Thanks to Emily I got on track. There was a female in my yard two years ago that was interested so much in her window reflected image that she was reluctant to mate and afterwards she failed to perform a number of her parental duties, preferring, instead, to look at her image. I couldn't settle in my mind whether she thought she was seeing another female or if she was just vain - she was a most beautiful appearing female bird. She attacked the image and the male, I guess having other things on his mind,.would try to get her to move away from the window. Maybe he didn't like his own or their image, but I think he was too smart to be interested in window images. At some point the female quit attacking the image, but she would hang onto the window frame while looking into the glass. I first tried clouding the windows with cleanser to stop the behavior. No joy. She managed to find some spot that would hold her interest. I finally bubbled some aviary wire over the window in an effort to increase the distance between her and the glass. This worked until she found another window. She seldom fed her hatchlings or nestlings, letting the male do most of that work and, too often, she begged to be fed when she came out of the box. On fledge day for her first brood she didn't try to protect her charges. She remained clinging to a window as her fledglings were attacked by grackles and bluejays. I suspect she was a very young bird, most likely from the last brood of the previous season. She did improve as a parent with each of her two remaining broods of that season, but one of her interests remained the windows of the building near her nest. So, Emily, at least one female bluebird got very interested in a window reflected bluebird image. I've seen other females take some interest in windows, however none so much as this one. As to the birds in the yard of Phil's friend, naturally, I think it is good to have a box more ideally mounted, but I doubt it would change the behavior of the birds with respect to the window. Is that female bird's name "Lassie?" Then, again, maybe the old box contents should be checked. There could be harmful insects in it. As a further side note: The mate to the "young" female had his wings full trying to raise a family. He seemed to more than coax her to do things like nest build and feed the youngsters and clean the box. While I have forgotten details, one time, I swear I saw that little guy, in frustration, fly away from her to perch on a limb facing away from her. To me it looked like he just shook his head in disbelief a few times as if to say what the hell can I do. He stayed with it though. Tom Heintzelman From: "susan"at"changeswithin.com" changes"at"sunlink.net Is this strange or not? For the past three days I have seen (and filmed) a *female* bluebird being very aggressive to her own reflection within the mirrors and windows of our vans. The male sits on nearby perches making a distinct vocalization (different from his 'regular bubbling gurbles'). She is vocalizing in a high pitched and very 'insistent' way. There have been recent box position changes / additions nearby ... but these changes were made after a destinctly different female had disappeared. The disappearing female had been here most of the winter and I became quite intimate regarding her behaviors and appearance, catching her on film over 300 times so I know she is not the same one that is exhibiting territorial behavior now. There are 'claim straws' (just a few thin pieces of grass) in all the *older* nestboxes ... but none of the new ones, and in particular, NOT the one nearest to the parked vans. Oh ... and I have covered the mirrors and placed 'feather guards' (string and feathers) to dangle across the van windows to try and stop this ... The female started darting / flying about ... with urgent vocalizations ... circling me. She made not 'advances' to me ... just flying around me as I applied the covers and guards. She is still out there doing her 'aggressive' thing. Now I know that having 3 inches of snow fall last night is a bit unusual for central PA, but ... is this female being a little wierd too or what? Input appreciated. Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 09:41:57 -0400 I have a pair of bluebirds nesting in TWO boxes simultaneously -- question one, is that usual (I am very new at this); and two, this pair are six days into the building process, and this morning, we woke up to 1/2" of snow. Is there anything I should be doing? Thanks to anyone who can help. Gail Grant Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 10:27:52 -0400 Grant, I don't know how close these boxes are but are you sure it
isn't one pair building in both boxes??? Sometimes they make a dummy nest in one
box..... :-) Gail Grant wrote: I have a pair of bluebirds nesting in TWO boxes simultaneously -- question ... From: Lynn Ward lWard"at"pmai.org Life is interesting with bluebirds. They always come up with something new every year.... There was mention of "dummy nests" the other day and this is a first for me, but I am pretty much convinced that a single EABL pair built 4 nests in 2 sets of paired boxes, 100 yards apart. (The boxes are paired at no more than 15 feet apart.) I watched these boxes carefully as I'm taking part in the Temperature Pilot Study and I wanted to determine which nests needed the nest temp. data logger before the eggs were laid. It was driving me crazy, because every day that I checked, there seemed to be a new nest start. Finally, 5 eggs were laid in one of the four boxes, due to hatch this week. There has been no additional activity in any of the other boxes and no additional BBs in the immediate vicinity of these sets of boxes. By the way, these nests are all complete with cups. Has anyone else experienced this in this many boxes? The only other thing I can figure out is that when the nest building first started, I did see one male and two females together on a particular occasion. Other than that one time, I've just seen the one male & his mate who laid the eggs. Does anyone think the unpaired female was doing much of this nest-building without a mate? If so, would the paired female allow this to happen? Lynn Ward From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net We are certainly experiencing the same miserable weather that has affected so many parts of the country this spring (and I use the term loosely!) However, I have a story that is unique in the years I have been monitoring. On April 19, I found three bluebird eggs in a nest. They were cold. On April 27, there was a fourth egg. All were still cold. On May 4, I saw the male fly out of the box and assumed he had been feeding the female but no- there were five eggs, still cold and still no female. On May 11, the situation was pretty much the same. Caren had sent me a new nest sensor for that nest since it was apparent that the original one missed any incubation. I went out today to put it in the nest and saw the male leaving the box again. I very nonchalantly opened the box and found five new hatchlings! I call it The Immaculate Hatching since I have yet to even see a female this season, let alone any signs of incubation. So, I guess the morale of the story is never to give up hope- and never to assume that things will go "according to Hoyle"! Judy Mellin From: "Glenn Williams" glenwill"at"chilitech.net For the last two days when I look at the branch that papa EABL has chosen for guarding mama EABL while she sits on thier eggs, he is usually peacefuly sharing the branch with another male!!! Isn't this odd behavior? From: "Kathy Clark" lilbirdie2u"at"hotmail.com Kathy Clark, New Cumberland, PA... Here is a nest box riddle sent to me.. any opinions.. I've never heard of it but so what LOL... we all learn from each other.. Please copy to sunshinebb"at"msn.com Yesterday at the Trout Run Trail, I checked my nest box with the one baby BB. It was fine, looked old enough to fledge, and I observed the parents coaxing it to fledge. It has been in the box since 6/4. It did not show its head in the opening of the box, as they usually do when they are ready to fledge. Well, today I checked again, did not see the parents, but looked in the box and the baby BB was still there and also saw a new BB egg that was not there yesterday. Is that from the same pair, or is it an egg dumped by another BB? This is very confusing....Please advise. From: "Emily Smith" emilys7"at"earthlink.net Wondering if anyone can address this behavior or has seen it before... We're on our second nesting in our backyard nestbox (fledged five on 5/7, all are doing great). Five eggs in the box that Mom has been incubating are due to hatch any time (today is day 13). Mom has been incubating regularly, nothing unusual noted til today. When I got home from work, Barry told me that both Mom and Dad BB had been acting strangely all afternoon, and I got to witness it myself as they continued their behavior up til dark. They were both in and out of the box (hadn't seen Dad go in since nest-building time) for brief periods; Mom definitely didn't stay in long enough to be incubating; they were back and forth to our windows, fluttering on them, wing-waving to each other, sitting on our gutters and wing-waving, flying back and forth to the box, to a tree limb, more wing waving, more in and out of the nestbox, back to a branch nearby, etc! This went on and on and on. I watched carefully with binoculars to see if I could see them carrying out bits of eggshell or something or carrying food in, but didn't see anything like that. Never saw them hunting or eating either. So, is hatching occurring and is this the way they act? There were no predators in the area, and Barry checked in early afternoon to see that all five eggs were still in the box, intact. I've never witnessed anything like this and would really appreciate the wisdom of the list! Thanks! Emily Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 10:29:12 -0700 ... From: hubertrap"at"webtv.net (Joe Huber) ... From: "Emily Smith" emilys7"at"earthlink.net ... Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 20:55:44 -0500 My Eastern Bluebirds have a nest with six eggs that are due to hatch this weekend. I have two boxes on the other side of my house. These two boxes are paired and are 100 & 115 feet away from the box with the Bluebird eggs in it. One box in the pair is empty and the other has a Black Capped Chickadee nest in it. I have two questions: On Saturday afternoon when my husband was mowing the lawn area (1/2 acre) around the Chickadee box, both my male and female bluebirds were trying to get into the Chickadee box. It was very cool and I felt that the female EABL should have been in her box brooding the six eggs. They never entered the empty box. My husband made a smaller entrance extender hole to put on the Chickadee box. This seemed to stop the bluebirds from hovering around the Chickadee box. What were the blues trying to do??? My second question is about the Chickadee nest. Last week there were three eggs deep in the center of the nest and under the nesting material. Yesterday, there was four eggs under the material in the center and also one new egg that was totally over in the one corner of the box. This one egg was laying in the open of a perfectly round crater shaped indentation and the egg was uncovered. This looks very strange to me. Is it one and the same female laying eggs in the box or could there be a second female also laying in the box. It seems very odd to me. Any information on this????? Thanks. Ruth in Souderton, PA From: "Stan Blaylock" stanb103"at"bellsouth.net Subject: Odd behavior?? Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 15:54:03 -0500 I have seen this several times but still think it is odd. Mom flies to the fence near box with juicy morsel. Waves wing 2 or 3 times, Dad flies straight to box, feeds chicks and leaves, Mom eats morsel & leaves Stan Blaylock, Pelham, AL From: "Karen Louise Lippy" brdbrain"at"superpa.net Subject: Re: Odd behavior?? Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 19:26:33 -0400 1. Mom's being tough and trying to get the kids to come out and fledge while
pop still can't stop saying 'no' to the chicks. LOTS OF GOOD REASONS FOR THIS!!! Doesn't mean she isn't a good mom! Karen from South Central PA From: JOHN & BARBARA
SIBIO From: Dottie Roseboom, rosedot"at"mtco.com Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 7:41 AM Subject: Re: House Finches & Fatal Light Awareness Just received our local wildlife newspaper describing www.flap.org, (fatal light awareness program) a website explaining all the ins & outs of windows & birds. They believe that some of the current methods used to prevent window crashes are not very effective. Interesting site. The mention of birdbath drownings, reminded me of one of my mother's experience. A 5 gallon bucket left overnight in her garden caught 2 1/2" of rain. The next day she found a small bird drowned. Farmers use this method to dispatch mice & other varmints. Dottie Roseboom, Peoria IL(central) From: Snoopy, snoopy"at"wmis.net Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 9:45 AM Subject: Re: House Finches & Fatal Light Awareness Thanks Dottie, that website says: " To make the silhouettes more effective you must cover the entire surface of the window, from the outside, with silhouettes or other patterns two to four inches apart" This is what I "tried" to do with my french windows...... there is white strips in between two panes, they are about 6 to 8 inches apart, and I thought for sure this would work when we ordered the house, but unfortunately, there are birds still flying into the windows. I am going to try to hang something out there that is moving to hopefully keep them from flying into the windows anymore. Thanks for the site there is a lot of good suggestions and ideas on there. Joy From: Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana, yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 10:37 AM Subject: Fw: House Finches & Fatal Light Awareness I use window clings for the season. Right now I have up bunnies. You can use them from year to year and they will last quite awhile. In the fall, I use fall leaves and then snowflakes after that which are good until St. Pat's Day and then I use shamrocks. We don't even notice them and they don't hurt the view. In fact, they look pretty. For me they work wonderful. I have large sliding doors on three sun rooms and, if it weren't for window clings, I would have to rethink feeding birds. Now, does anyone know how to keep Hummingbirds from sticking their bills into screened-in porches? We have to go and push them out and then I have to take something to re-fix the screen. Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana From: Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana, yumyumkatts"at"voyager.net Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 10:43 AM Subject: Re: House Finches & Fatal Light Awareness I have a friend that uses a hawk silhouette - just one on each window - and he says it works for him. It's about 10-15" big. Dottie, Hickory Hollow, Brown County, Indiana |
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