|
Welcome to
The Bluebird Box
since 1995 |
Problems/Solutions with weather for nestboxes (Part 1)In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: Wooden Nestboxes Found Cooler by Conley C. Black Subj: WEBL dying Subj: Heat Extremes Subj: Fw: Cooling boxes in summer I'm new to this Message group. I'm in SE Michigan where it's snowing and blowing like crazy. Very cold. I know there are eggs in one bb house. I cannot determine if there are birds there but won't go near it in case she's sitting on them. The other house was being overrun with starlings. My husband made a temporary extension block for several houses and feeders. I haven't put them on yet. I won't put it on the nesting one because of fear of scaring them. The mice and birds had enlarged the holes. Will this work?
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 11:20:45 -0400 Yes, I am one in snow. Should I go out and cover vent holes with the birds in the box? I might be able to sneak up behind it. ----- Original Message ----- From: Keith & Sandy Kridler kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 20:29:45 EDT Malinda Mastako Thankfully, the storm has now passed after dropping almost two inches of snow on the box last night. The sun is out, temps are at a "balmy" 40 degrees and the snow has melted. The forecast has been upgraded to be near 50 tomorrow, and near 50 for the next three days. The shade roof I hastily put on the box last evening kept it totally dry. I videoed the male making repeated trips to the box with food this morning while the snow swirled. The female only came out twice. Suddenly, the activity began to increase, the male was in and out of the box several times with food, and I knew the eggs must be hatching, but I did not dare to open the box in the cold. After things cleared up and I saw the female off the nest, I quickly opened the box to see four of the five eggs had hatched! They are pink, dry and strong enough to gape and cheep. Luckily this is an experienced pair and the male is having no problems hunting in the woods returning with food every 3 or 4 minutes. He barely catches his breath and he is off into the woods again. They normally do not feed the mealworms I offer for a few days to the young, but they have been eating heartily themselves. With the change in forecast, it looks like I will not need all the many wonderful suggestions I received last night and today from the members on the list. However I have saved them and can forward them to anyone who needs them. To summarize the suggestions: *Cover the box with a blanket or styrofoam sheets (Some also
suggested this with the addition of blocking off the entrance
hole until 5 AM or so.) I learned THREE things from this experience: *The more I learn, the less I know. THANK YOU to each and every one of you who sent wishes and advice, as well as prayers. Seeing those nestlings gets to me EVERY time, but this nest will especially be remembered. We dodged the bullet for now, and hope that all of you will do the same! Malinda Mastako-----"Fred and Ethel's" people guardian.
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 11:51:46
-0400 200004091151.AA416874766"at"netstorm.netBetty Nichols, Middletown, MD Hi All: Checked 17 day old nestlings this am. after 2"snow at trail, overnite temp. 30* winds 20 m.p.h. Box had home-made cover. One nestling active others lethargic or dead, DAMP NEST! Cannot check 3 nestlings for survival or change nest due to one still frisky..to bother too much would encourage premature fledging of the one. Note: parents feeding apparently just one & carrying out fecal sac. It doesn't look too good. I suspect hypothermia. If one fledges will check other 3 and if still alive will get them to rehabber for treatment. Will report outcome later. Very upset to say the least. Betty Nichols
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 13:57:10 -0400 Betty Nichols - Middletown MD 45* Wind gusting "at"40 mph Hi All : Just retd. from 4 nestlings - saw 8 black beady eyes glaring at me, I could swear they were smiling! The only one in peril is the care taker.I believe Keith was right, the other 3 were too weak to lift heads, the warm sun & box cover evidently saved them. I do believe the parents definitely cut back am't. of food just prior to fledging. They are still feeding at entrance hole and are trying to entice babies from box.I hope they stay one more day-the wind would carry them toWash.D.C.if they attempt to leave box today. Many thanks foryour kind words, everyone. I needed that. Betty Nichols
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 23:33:38 -0700 Kevin Putman, Yuba City, CA Last weekend's rain killed some, but this weeks cold followed
up and killed more. I can't believe this weather: it was in
the mid 30s here a couple of Another case: I visited a box that was due to band; found house sparrow nest instead. Pulled the nest out, felt weight, peeled off the sparrow nest from previous bluebird nest below and found three bluebird chicks upside down, kicking their feet, cold as ice/ stiff, next to dead. My wife and I have been nursing them back to health with prodigious quantities of mealworms (200 yesterday!). Today I found a perfect foster nest that I will put them in tomorrow. The cold killed 3 of 5 in that nest. Ma bluebird will think they were resurrected tomorrow.
Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 12:17:05 EDT Dear Kevin, That's sad when the weather turns on the birds like that. Hate that going and finding things in the boxes dead too. It happens alot ot the tree swallows here. We have had weather in the 90's and then it goes down to 40 at night. Just this week started to be more normal around here.. Glad to hear that three you nursed back to health are doing very well! Resurrected? :) I wanted also to mention that I really found that post about the house sparrow going 35 mph really funny!!! My daughter even laughed at that one and she's 13. You know that age.. Kathy Clark
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 19:30:03 -0400 We had a very hot summer last year, and there was much talk about wider roofs and 2nd roofs above the first as a defense against the heat. One of our neighbors who is a member of our bluebird trail is a building contractor and has agreed to help me with the project. The more lead time we have the better. Does anyone have a system for making and attaching a second roof? Dimensions? How much separation between the two roofs? Thanks. Randy Jones
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 20:44:38 -0400 Hi Randy and all. If your box is similar to a NABS box, here is what I have done and it works well for me in MD, so I think it will work well in PA. Chose the side of the box (hopefully not the front side) which faces the afternoon sun (hottest time of the day is after noon). If the front of the box faces that way, my method will not work. So, on the side where the sun sets, using two screws put a piece of wood as wide as that side. Attach it to the overhang, about 4" higher than the roof. The shade from this piece is what you need to keep the house cool. I have done this on many of my birdhouses, the EABL seem not to mind this bit of "home improvement" done without their permission! If you do it BEFORE the house is occupied, you can make a better and stronger attachment but otherwise a similar shading board. Fawzi from MD ...
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 19:39:14 -0500 ... Randy, last year Chris Statton e-mailed me a set of diagrams for shade roofs and side panels. I asked him if I could provide them at a presentation earlier this year, and he consented, as long as I gave him credit for them, so if you (or anyone else) would like, I would be glad to provide them via e-mail. Let me know privately, and I will send them or you can check out Chris's website at http://www.bluebird-love.com. I believe he also sell them for people who have no woodworking tools. Kate Oschwald
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 22:08:00 -0500 I continue to be surprised about heat problems, especially in northern areas. The Eastern Bluebirds here often have third nestings in July and we do have some hot weather then although not as bad as KK and others experience in Texas. However I have not lost birds due to heat, and my box openings face the best feeding areas rather than being oriented away from a southern exposure. I use a modified Stokes Bluebird Book box which does have a large slot opening above the hole rather than having ventilation holes in the box. Also the front opening door does not fit tightly which also provides some ventilation. (I get away with this as we do not have a lot of rain compared with other areas of the country). Bluebird Bob, Northeast Oklahoma.
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 22:47:49 EDT We put up our 1st bluebird house little more than a month ago. We have 4 beautiful blue eggs and enjoy watching mom and pop. However, we are very concerned about the heat here in middle Georgia. Temps have been in the high 90's to 100's and are expected to stay that way. How can the babies survive in that box? We know it was wrong, but we put the house on our wooden fence. We have no raccoons, snakes, NOTHING but bluebirds, cardinals and blackbirds in our new subdivision. Should we try to put up some kind of shelter from the sun over the house? Can they survive in these temperatures? We are new to bluebirds and would appreciate any help we can get. (For everyone who is about to have a hissy fit about the fence mounted house, we will put it on a pole with a baffle as soon as this brood is gone.) By the way, a "hissy fit" is something we have here in Ga. Don't know what kind of fit y'all have, but you get the idea! Thanks for any help, JAN
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 08:18:25 -0400 ... Hi Jan and all: Don't worry about the Hissy fit - I am familiar with the term - we have them up here in Maryland, too! At least you installed a box in good faith and care about your Eastern Bluebirds. Since you are in a new subdivision, remember the development eliminated the natural habitat for predators that still seek food supply at night. If I were in your situation I would consider moving original box out of "jumping" distance), eggs & all to proper posting with which you are already familiar. In my area of troubleshooting problems have moved box away from hazardous posting and the birds nine times out of ten do not desert the box. In any event the chances of losing your eventual nestlings is great at this time. With your concern for excessive heat - in the past I have temporarily
installed an old umbrella spray-painted white & firmly attached
to pole (risky but can be removed if high winds develop). Good luck and thanks for writing - I am sure you will receive plenty of suggestions but I have found the above methods will help in your situation. Betty Nichols, Middletown, MD
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:00:16 EDT I haven't kept careful records of nesting times in the past.
But, I wondered if people are finding that the hot weather..and
then the cold, rainy weather Nancy PS- Has anyone heard from Paul lately?
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 09:07:37 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas 4" rain in last two days parts of my trail got 8" in just 3 hours two weeks ago Why was the nest so wet? Sounds to me more like young died of hypothermia and the adults were trying to remove the dead baby. It was too heavy and every time they got a hold of feathers or skin it tore loose. I have seen them leave the dead baby with head and neck out of the box and body stuck inside several times and they attempt to feed by going over this dead youngster. A predator like a squirrel or rat does not kill for fun and would have at least eaten the head. Could have been a Starling but doesn't sound right as the Parents are usually very agitated afterwards. Excessive heat at only 90*F outside with box mounted in sun can severely stress young birds. Just read an old article the other night by Dick Tuttle where he quoted that baby robins (same basic family as bluebirds) at 94*F needed 10 times more water than the same young at 64*F. Young birds metabolism skyrocketed with only 94* air temperature and they used up tremendous amounts of energy respirating trying to cool down. Typical losses due to high heat were loss of 13 young birds IF parents were feeding low moisture type insects compared to say earthworms/grubs/berries. If it is a true Gilbertson PVC box this has only 1/16" thick sides or little more insulating qualities than a milk jug or white bleach bottle which Larry Zeleny experimented with in the late 60's early 70's for deterring the House Sparrows from nesting. Need more information here to determine but sounds more like wet nest, weather extremes were the culprit! Any blowflies present? Many people are reporting dead babies with NO signs of trauma and no one seems to be blaming the weather. This is horrible but every summer in Texas, parents leave a baby or young children in a car while they run inside to buy something at a store. The car with windows rolled up and engine running the AC become a furnace when the engine dies for only a "few" minutes. I believe 12 children died last summer in Texas by being left in cars or accidentally getting locked in the trunk and MANY end up brain damaged by heat stroke. How many of our baby birds get just hot enough on a bright, sunny windless day in a 15 minute span to damage or ruin their nervous system? Ask your vet how many pets he treats a year that were chained in the sun and spilled their water or were left in a hot car for just a "few" minutes. KK
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 11:40:54 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA To answer Keith's questions: The weather has been horrendous
here. For a week BEFORE their deaths, it was cold, VERY rainy,
very windy at times. Water could have gotten in the vents. Of
the two days that they died, one was about 90*. You can see
the level of temperature variations. It went from 60 and damp
to 90 in two days. This isn't a true Gilbertson, this is one
I made and interestingly enough the one of the ones I screwed
up following wrong directions and ...
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 10:59:09 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. P TX
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 07:31:30 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas I want to echo Wendy's warning about boxes out in the open.
There are NO books really written for the Eastern Bluebird south
of the House Wren's When eggs are subjected to temperatures in excess of 107*F
for only a few hours these eggs seldom hatch. The female MUST
incubate the eggs to All of my boxes are mounted so that the nestbox is in FULL
shade ALL afternoon or I lose the birds! A box can be "in
the open" but still mounted I have seen many people place a really large roof up to 24"x24"
about 6" above their box for extra shade. Some use umbrellas
or even cut leafy branches to attach to the box. For smaller
trails in hot areas I would suggest that you move some (all)
of your empty nestboxes now where they will
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:00:59
-0400 My next-door neighbor, a contractor,
is a member of our bluebird trail, and I asked him in May if
he would help put "echo roofs" on nextboxes that
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 00:20:54 EDT In a Message dated 7/13/00 6:04:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ksweet3450"at"yahoo.com writes: My worry is the hot weather coming up, the 5 eggs are due to hatch on or around the 18th next Tuesday. The nest box gets the morning sun until about 2 in the afternoon then it is shaded by the tree but 101 and 103 degrees, I'm getting alittle worried I give her plenty of water and change it everyday. Dear Kerry, You might consider trying a hanging nest box. This box has a hook in the roof and can be hung in a tree. I have tried them this season and the birds using them successfully. The fact that it is in the tree gives it constant shade. This also puts the box out of the reach of predators as far as my experience has shown me. I have included a web page here for you to see the hanging box, and I encourage you to give it a try. Hope this helps. Kathy Clark http://home.earthlink.net/~lviolett/
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 18:56:15 -0500 We have the eastern bluebird nest where a mother bird has been brooding 5 eggs since March 10. This afternoon a cold rain started that the wind was blowing at an angle so that it was blowing inside the bird box. The birds built their nest in a feeder box that has a rectangular hole just under the roof on a 4" high raised floor so the nest is up high in the box. The hole is about 3 times the size of the regular nestbox hole. Before I left school I rigged up a cover over the roof and then turned the box 90 degrees away from the direction of the wind. Now I wonder if I did the right thing. I will gladly return to school and change things if any of you think I should. Please advise right away. Thank you. ann in nc
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 18:08:20 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. You did the right thing by turning the box away from the wind. I've had to relocate some of my active hanging nestboxes to alternate trees and no abandonments occurred. A simple directional turn away from the wind was good judgment. Linda Violett Ann Rogerson Weaver wrote: Before I left school I rigged up a cover over the roof and
then turned
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 20:34:39 -0800 I think you will find that birds treat eggs (and hatchlings) differently from what we would do- and, as Bruce says, we should not anthropomorphize them. The adults' first responsibility is to themselves- they know they can renest and raise another brood of young, even if they abandon eggs or young. They will abandon or young for a variety of reasons: cold, heat, too little food. I have lost young as late as Memorial Day weekend several years ago when the temps dropped into the 30s and the adults could not feed themselves and the young to maintain the needed body temperature. And, I have lost nestlings at the same time of year from extreme heat. So, if you lose a nest, take heart- the adults have many generations of history to go by and they will do what is best to perpetuate the species! Judy Mellin ----- Original Message ----- From: Cahaba.shore How cold does it have to get to harm eggs? Have a pair of Eastern blues in our very first nest box. Checked the box Saturday; the nest (all pinestraw) appeared to be finished, but no eggs had been laid. Right now our weather has gone crazy, even for Alabama. It's 36 degrees, windchill of 19; barometer is falling; have 1/2 inch of SNOW on my deck and it is pouring rain/snow which is turning into slippery mush. We have not been able to tell if the birds are staying in the box at night or not. Kitty in Birmingham, AL
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 14:41:09 -0700 Bob and others- This is what makes it tough for all of us to accept- the adults may well abandon the nest and young if the weather gets extreme. I have lost nests and nestlings to the cold as late as Memorial Day here in NE IL. and it breaks your heart. But be assured- well, as assured as we can be!- that the adults feel the need to preserve themselves, rather than the young. If feeding tasks become too onerous, the adults will consider their own needs rather than those of the young because the adults know that they can renest and raise more nestlings. They also know that, if they sacrifice themselves to the demands of the young, not only the young but the adults may succumb. So keep your fingers crossed that the nestlings make it through the cold snap but console yourself if they don't. It will be a long spring and summer for the adults to have more young. Judy Mellin Hello my birding friends, They are predicting frost this coming Tuesday. If the weather person is right for once, the going might get tough here. I have one box of 5 bluebird (EABL) eggs that may hatch on Tuesday. Another box where the 5th EABL egg was laid yesterday (Saturday). I believe that she has finished at 5 since there was no new egg when I checked at 1:00 PM. And finally, the creme de la creme, the first Carolina Chickadee egg appeared today, on Easter Sunday. Yep, the Chickadee nest that I have written about several times before. The same nest which was completed 10-12 days ago. The same chickadee that would stay in the nest as I would go through my periodic inspections. I can only hope that I am dealing with seasoned parents here who have the instinct to react well to the oncoming cold snap. I wish you all a happy Easter and eat all the chocolate that you want. Bob Sitarski Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 19:51:19 -0400 Bob, et al, I can almost guarantee that they can handle temps in the upper 20s. The important thing is that they are able to stay dry. Bruce Burdett, SW NH Hello my birding friends, I continue to grow more nervous as the temperature drops. Prediction is for 3 nights of below 32 degrees. The lowest will be Tuesday night where it is supposed to go down to 27 degrees. Thank you for your input. I have gone out and covered all the vent holes to minimize the effects of the wind. I have been much more generous with mealworm feeding in an effort to keep the female in the nest (remember that I have 2 nest boxes in egg incubation stage). I have a major concern with the Carolina Chickadee nest. A second egg was present in the nest today. Obviously the Chickadee is not finished laying eggs yet (5 to 8 eggs in average brood). Incubation has not begun. Will all the females spend the night on the eggs?. Should I try to bring any or all of the nestboxes indoors as I have been told some people do?. Should I trust the females to know what to do?. Have I done enough?. I'm open to ideas. Bob Sitarski Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 20:09:04 EDT Malinda Mastako Bob--just wanted to offer you some comfort on worrying abut your temperatures. The birds do much better than we might think. Bluebirds here in MIchigan are a hardy bunch. My blues laid 5 eggs already and 4 of those five have hatched as of today. Two nights saw temperatures in single digits, several brief snowfalls, frosty mornings, and freezing rain. The night the first egg was laid the temp. was 5 degrees! Second egg came with a night time temp of 7!! The female took an unheard of, for me, 4 day break and laid no eggs, then laid eggs #3, 4, and 5. This past Saturday, two eggs hatched. On Sunday one more hatched, and then one more today. There is still ONE unhatched egg in the nest, but I am giving it some time, since at least one of those first two eggs that were laid and sat in such cold temps DID hatch, this last one may too. Since the hatching, the temps have only been in the 40's with drizzly rain every day. The adults have been in and out of the box every five minutes or so and are managing to find small enough bugs for these newborns even in this weather. Today they carried a few mealworms in, I suspect to the oldest two. The only problem I can see, is that with this staggered hatching, we are going to have at least one 'runt' who will need special attention by the adults. I have had it work out well in the past, so will try not to panic! Please be assured that if these guys can make it, your temps in the 30s with a break soon to come will do no harm. Naturally, you will want to keep the box sealed as tightly as possible. Good luck! Malinda Mastako Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:00:16 -0400 We had about 1/2 inch of snow last night. I went out about seven a.m., with mealworms. The Pyrex bowl I use inside of our feeder was full last night, empty this morning. No bluebirds in sight, despite the fact that the female laid her fifth egg day before yesterday. I whistled as I put mealworms in the feeder. After ONE whistle, I saw a bluebird erupt out of the nestbox (about 30 feet away from the feeder). Before I got back to the back door (another 50 feet away), she was on the feeder, where he joined her a few seconds later. They took turns eating their fill. Snow on the ground does make it hard to hunt. Randy Jones ----- Original Message ----- Hi Malinda and all, ... Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 12:14:53 -0400 Hi All: Box #8 on my small trail with 5 eggs due to hatch yesterday presented the usual earlybird problem --female refused to exit box when monitored so hatching results will have to wait. Wind chill factor 17 degrees here which is o.k. for female in dry nest but survival of hatchlings risky. Got out the scissors, cotton=backed vinyl & cotton padding left over from last year, cut out cover, installed all on box with Mama inside, used good ole 2" duct tape rather than stapler with its loud noise. Looks kinda corny but it does the job! Mama is now warm & cozy, let us hope babies hatch today (if they haven't already) and survive in warm box. Of course a supply of mealworms is nearby. Betty Nichols, Middletown, MD Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 08:50:44 -0400 The weather forecast for the Midwest [and other parts of the country as well] is for cold [below 50*] and wet weather for the next week. Those of you who are accustomed to monitoring your boxes on a daily basis would be well-advised NOT to do so during these periods of cold, wet weather. There is nothing that you can do in the way of intervention. The birds need to conserve both body heat and energy. A disturbance of any kind which causes the female to leave the nest box is detrimental to her health and to the potential for the hatching of her eggs. Let common sense prevail.....and let the birds handle the situation. Dean Sheldon, Huron County, Ohio
From: "Karen Louise Lippy" brdbrain"at"superpa.net Jennifer, Bluebirds are tougher than we give them credit for. Karen from South Central PA. From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net I have read that birds sense changes- especially drops- in barometric pressure. This is felt by many experts to be what drives the birds to feeders in anticipation of winter storms. It may be that there is some connection here, too. Here in NE IL., we have had one completed nest for a week but no laying activity. I'm headed out to monitor our 600 acre restoration site now- even though it's 39 degrees and pouring rain! Judy Mellin ----- Original Message ----- ... From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net In 1997, we had a nest with three cold eggs that sat for over two weeks. Then the female laid two more eggs and all five hatched! I guess the birds are even more magical than we sometimes realize- and that's a real stretch! Judy Mellin ... From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com We had some very cold drops in temperatures in the month of March and April and I was so worried about the eggs, I e-mailed Keith K and he told me they were o.k. to around 20 degrees, (hope I remember right). It got to 29 degrees one night and 30 another. It was not that cold two or three days in a row. So far, I have had only 3 infertile eggs out of 35. I think Mama Bluebird knows her stuff.:) Evelyn ... From: hubertrap"at"webtv.net (Joe Huber) Hi Judy, I think it may be a good idea to skip monitoring this time if is cold and rainy. This will flush out any females incubating and may cause more harm than good in the long run. Why put yourself thru monitoring in the cold rain which may cause harm to both you and the birds. Just wait a few days longer and let the birds handle this for now. There isn't much you can do about weather related problems anyway. Best of luck, Joe Charter member NABS, Charter member OBS, Life member OBS Joe Huber hubertrap"at"webtv.net http://community.webtv.net/hubertrap/HOUSESPARROWCONTROL http://community.webtv.net/hubertrap/RoostingBluebirds 27.1171494 N Lo -82.4124222 W From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com The birds can easily handle this! Don't let it worry you at all. The mother may wait before laying more eggs, and the eggs will still all hatch at nearly the same time... Temps in the 30s will preserve the eggs, and will not harm them. Leave it to the birds, they know best! Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland ----- Original Message -----
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 14:33:25 -0700 (PDT) Hi all, Earlier this year it seemed the the cold weather caused a higher than normal number of eggs not to hatch. I have even found a third egg that just showed the first signs of cracks but the little Bluebird wannabe just couldn't overcome the inside skin. Haleya mentioned that cold temp was thought to 'thicken' that inside skin making it difficult for the hatchling to brek through. Although warmer weather has arrived, the high winds and daily rain (surprisingly heavy precipitation) has evidently made it difficult to hunt for insects. Just walking my nestbox trail in Illinois has been quite a chore because of large areas of standing water. The grass in the pasture has grown quickly, more than a foot high in most spots. I am having more nestlings perish due to, I believe, not being able to compete for a limited food supply. More rain and high winds are predicted through Monday of next week. I have just started feeding mealies to a second pair of nesting Blues. I believe that I am losing 1 out of every 4 nestlings from Blues that I am not suplementing the food supply with mealies. My Indiana trail has a much higher survival rate. Indiana is a hilly terrain with better drainage and less standing water. Any of you near the Southeast corner of Illinois know that the ground is saturated here. The agricultural department has published a report that there has been less than a day this year where the farmers could actually work in the fields. They say more rain is coming Have a good day Bob Sitarski a.k.a The Doctor Jackson County Indiana ( 385244N 086023W ) & Clay County Illinois ( 384008N 0882908W ) Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 19:38:57 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Could I have done anything differently to avoid this? YES, become God, which I suppose is out of the question!!!! Hang in there everyone - remember the parents are still alive to make new nests and lay many many more eggs! H From: "Matt Hadis" mattartoo"at"hotmail.com Hi Haleya and all, Just want to mention again (without too much rucus) that I have a way to safetly heat nestboxes so that whatever nesting in them doesn't really have to die from hypothermia. The boxes I have rigged up with heaters this spring are occupied with happy birds sitting on eggs at the moment. I invent this stuff and more and have decided to sell it to anyone interested. I've put together a quick web site at www.bluebirdnest.com that shows the heater and the nestboxes I am selling and also a nestcam so you can peek in on what's happening anytime you want. I'm also fitting more traditional wooden boxes with heaters
and cameras so check the web site often for new inventions. From: Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net ... From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas It will be something to look for in these nests and all eggs that do not hatch after about 5 days should be cracked to see if a runny egg shows infertility or if there is a partially developed chick in the egg. Any time anyone thinks they have abandoned eggs they need to give it a LOT more time as feeling eggs is not a good indication of whether they are being incubated! I personally do not feel eggs as my fingers can not detect this minimal warmth and egg temperature drops quickly as soon as the female leaves the nest! At BEST the egg is only going to be 4*F warmer than the human body! How long would four glass marbles heated to 99*F stay above the varying temperature of your fingers on a 40*F day? Feeling eggs: Use Extreme caution as especially the titmice and chickadee eggs are VERY thin shelled. If the nest is shallow the slightest touch from above with your finger pressing the egg down on a hidden stick or the bottom of the box will crush the egg and the broken egg will alert the female that a predator was in her nest. I would NOT try to determine how many eggs are in a box of chickadees or titmice. They may abandon the box at this time just because we are opening the box daily! Until you break a few eggs most people normally don't realize how little pressure it takes to destroy an egg or the entire nest due to abandonment. I used to pass around fresh House Sparrow eggs at meetings to show adults and children how difficult it is to pick up an egg. I would pick up an egg place it into my hand and then have a novice pick it up with their fingers and place it in the next person's hand. SOMETIMES the first 3 or 4 people broke the eggs trying this! I never went more than 4 people without a broken egg! It is a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you feel that egg crunch under your finger and if you feel enough of them it WILL happen. KK Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 17:39:47 -0400 Hi all: I always assumed it was cold/wet weather causing lack of insect-hatches (thus no available protein for birds) that caused clutch/brood abandonment? rather than warm box? Watched a male last (freezing/wet) spring hunting for his mate and brood, and in 35 minutes, he made only 3 trips to box. The female finally exited, leaving 5 new hatchlings, and hunted, too. Later in the week we found the nestlings dead. (Found an overall total of 22 dead nestlings/fledglings; first brood.) Been watching a friend's backyard blues feeding themselves and their 5 youngsters with her offered MEWOs/currants/suet crumbles, and all are truly thriving. Everyone's been amazed at how much they're all consuming! (And this "spring" has been like last year's; raw, cold & wet. Like Haleya, we've stayed away from trail boxes, and dread what we might find when it warms up.) Is there a consensus: offer fuel (food) or heat (heated box) -- at least for "backyard blues"? Dot, eastern MAss From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net It is probably hard to quantify the "major" threat and it is probably more a combination of a variety of factors. When it's colder, the young need more fuel so the parents have to make more trips to keep them fed. Unfortunately, it's not like the larger birds (great-horned owls come to mind) where one parent can stay in the nest to regulate body temp while the other does the feeding. I am always interested in the discussions of keeping the nest perfectly dry. I wonder how this is ever possible when the adults are soaking wet as they either enter or stick their heads into the box to feed the young? I can certainly understand that the box should be as dry as possible but how would it ever be possible to "waterproof" it? Judy Mellin ... Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 20:21:45 -0700 (PDT) --- Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net wrote: ... ===== From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Judy, et al, What I meant was that you should try to keep the major joints of your boxes as watertight as possible, and especially the one at the top of the enclosure, between the roof and the back-board. That's the one where water can actually RUN in, straight down, just by force of gravity. joints in the sides of boxes usually won't leak much unless the rain is DRIVEN in by stiff winds. My main point was that in raw, cold, wet weather we should try to prevent our cavity-nesters from having nests that are soggy as a result of leaky houses. I've always been puzzled by these reported cases where Bluebirds have nested successfully in hollow fence-post-tops, with no roof at all. I have even seen plans for a ROOFLESS house, though I have no idea how it works. Is it for desert regions? And what about all the birds who use NO cavities , but nest out in the open air, - even on the flat roofs of buildings. Many shore-nesting sea-birds lay their eggs in depressions in the sand without any nest whatever. Apparently rainwater doesn't bother them. Bruce Burdett, SW NH Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 13:19:36 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 17:34:40 -0700 Maybe mom got to hungry to stay on the nest and the male couln't find enough insects to keep them going. I lost over thirty nestlings last spring that way. This year I'm going to feed mealworms at every bluebird box that has 1-9 day old chicks if the weather is cold or wet. Enough is enough !! Tom Long "Cinda J. Salisbury" wrote: When I checked on the 5 newborns last night, they were all lethargic. ... From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas As we are seeing from the list a single week of cold can wipe out an entire nesting attempt. Severe winters come in cycles and in the 1890's the cattle industry in the Western US was wiped out with three severe winters. Extreme cold in the Northeastern states in June of 1902 wiped out Purple Martins in entire states. Tree swallows and bluebirds would also have been hurt population wise. Bluebirds nest quicker and over a longer period than swallows. they are not as dependant on flying insects which need heat or warmer weather in order to fly! There are different periods in the 1940's during winter that wiped out bluebirds and really the late 1950's and 1960's had very high losses of winter bluebirds where hundreds were found dead in nesting boxes all across the middle and southern states where they had piled upon one another to keep warm. Robin's were reported lost by the thousands. Sparrows and starlings thrive on winter foods the bluebirds cannot eat. Sparrows and Starlings roost in buildings in severe weather saving even more of them. Old Audubon books state that the House Sparrows actually peaked and leveled out their population in the early 1940's. They had multiplied and filled all available territory by then. I am not sure the Starlings have actually peaked yet! Combine this with DDT and other pesticides that were introduced and widely used in the 1950's and the change to larger farms and mono crops. All of these cut available nesting areas and harmed those birds that relied on insects for food. All this said the bluebirds can multiply so fast that in a few years no matter how small the population left after severe weather if you remove ALL of the sparrow competition you can explode the population of the bluebirds. Except for Bruce Burdett nearly everyone on this list has problems with sparrows if they install boxes in several locations. Today Starlings are taking over most of the larger holed natural & manmade cavities and House Sparrows are taking over the boxes with smaller entrance holes. I believe about 50 losses to sparrows and starlings were reported to the list and to me personally in the last couple of days! So weather knocks the native bird populations down and now the imported sparrows and starlings slow the return of these birds back to normal numbers. No matter how many man made or natural cavities we would provide without help these other imported birds will always have a better, more reliable food source and more varied nesting habitat than the bluebirds will. KK From: Brucemac1"at"aol.com To all who have lost BB babies during the past week.... Yes, the rain (the very cold rain and ice pellets/snow, chilly winds,etc) have been a major factor in BB nest failures in the northeastern region this past week. The fact that the cold spell has endured for several days, with near freezing overnight temperatures, makes it very difficult for BB adults to sustain their broods. The temperatures have been unusually low and this has contributed, in more ways than one, to the high nest failure rate we've experienced. Hypothermia is certainly a major factor, but inadequate food supplies are probably the prime reason. Insects are not active (and not hatching & gowing either) during cold weather and may be difficult for Mama & Papa Bluebird to find and deliver, in sufficient quantities, to thier hungry babies. If the parents had been able to gather enough of the right foods for their chicks, their tiny metabolisms would have been able to process the food and produce the body heat they need for survival. It would be interesting to hear from other list members who may have been feeding mealworms, or kept artificially heated nestboxes. Have they experienced the same nesting disasters..? Bruce Macdonald, SW Ontario, near Lake Erie Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 18:49:24 EDT Of the three currently active EABL nests I have/had, two are doing well and one has failed. I found the failed nest after the rain finally quit (by main force of willpower I didn't do *any* peeking!) Looks like the babies were abandoned right after hatching; one egg didn't hatch at all and one was pipped but not fully hatched. The nest was completely undisturbed except for one adult `poop'. Looks like the pair have moved to the other end of the field to another box; it won't be anywhere near as convenient for hunting, since the original pair of boxes are faced toward the neighbors' lawn (much to their pleasure!) The other two nests have 3, 1 unhatched; and all 5 hatched (much earlier than I thought!!) All are doing very well. The tree swallows seemed to have lost all interest in nest boxes as all. The last couple of days have seen some grass added to the boxes. I'm sure I saw a cowbird looking into one of the boxes, but it was having a hard time with the overhang! Rhonda Watts Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 21:55:30 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA The numbers go like this: 14, 14, 10, 7, 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2 Of the nests that still have live babies, the ages follow: 14, 5, 4, 4 which means that during this last snap 3 of these 4 nests where newborns since they died 3 or 4 days ago. The 14 day olds made it in a slot box!!!! A little tiny Troyer Slot box no less. That box faces south. Of the 4 nests that survived, 2 were on the same golf course and the other is on property right next door. That might not sound like much but hey, I don't have much to work with at this point! This is curious! The golf course is a little higher elevation but is VERY windy. Grass is cut, but wouldn't it seem like the bugs would be more scarce since there is nothing to protect them. Other failed nests were a mix of mostly roadside but several on mowed areas so go figure. Box direction????? Two of my boxes in the Cornell study were due north the other due west. The rest were all a mix, although I prefer east and south and so I would say probably 85% were faced in the latter directions. All boxes were bone dry. All were in front tilts except for 2 in Gilbertsons and one of those nests survived. I think in this case the cold didn't help but that in itself probably didn't kill the babies but lack of food was more probable with parents simply abandoning ship. Or once they had less food the cold maybe made them more lethargic and so the parents abandoned. One of the oldest box of 14 definitely had been abandoned while they had plenty of life in them because they died in very active positions. So all told I lost 9 of 13 active nests and lost 46 babies out of 62. I have a number of boxes with eggs and they all appear fine. I haven't had any abandoned because of the weather. And BTW to answer Bruce's question: I bet a 100 bucks any mealworm fed blues made it through if they had dry boxes. I also bet a bunch that had my boxes been wet, I'd of lost most if not all. The good news is imagine if what had been lost was the parents!! So, these parents abandoned because they could go on and make more babies. If this were "normal" weird weather and not caused by global warming I would feel more relaxed about it. But I wonder how anything can adapt to this weather of 95* in April and snowing in mid-May. I don't see it getting much better as we've had cold wet springs for about 4 seasons in a row. Never this bad however. H From: "Susan C. Hubbard" s.c.hubbard"at"worldnet.att.net I believe my babies are fine so far. I haven't checked the box since day 12, but both parents are still feeding, and I can hear the chicks when the parents feed. I live in Williamson, NY (~20 minutes east of Rochester), about half a mile south of Lake Ontario. The chicks hatched on May 5th. I feed the parents 25 mealworms 25 mealworms once or twice per day (depending on my schedule). There are several possible explainations for why mine are OK, could be any or all of them (or maybe some other reason all together...) -maybe the mealworms helped Sue Hubbard ... From: "Mary Beth Roen" mbroen"at"hotmail.com Jody, If your weather has been as unusually cold as it has been here, there is a chance that your parent Bluebirds have had problems with getting enough of the normal insects they feed their nestlings. In desperation, they sometimes will resort to earthworms, which give baby Bluebirds diarrhea. That could be why the nest and box are so soiled. If this is the case, it is not a good sign. Hopefully, your weather has warmed up, and the normal insect supply will return, and your babies will recover. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI From: "jodyrose" jodyrose"at"bright.net ... From: "Kathy Clark" lilbirdie2u"at"hotmail.com Hi Hayela and all...I haven't had the time to follow the list lately but I found some failed nests tonite too.. nothing askew just the nestlings died... nests were dry....anywhere from 4 days to about 12 days... I have more to check.. The front box in my yard though fledged only one nestling.. the wren got some eggs, 2/3 hatched...one baby disappeared but one fledged... Oh how they sang that evening!!!! I was out in the garden and they were chattering and singing for over 2 hours and not stopping. I checked the box and there were the three in the tree!!! YEAH!!! I thought of the temperature test too. I am not in it but wondered what they will see when all results are in. Kathy Clark, New Cumberland, PA From: Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net ... Problems/Solutions with weather for nestboxes (Part 2) |
BEST OF BLUEBIRD_L CLASSIFIEDS HOME | Audubon Society of Omaha | The Bluebird Box | Bluebird FAQs | Search | Contact meAll material was originally posted on the Bluebird_L or Bluebird mailing list, and has been reposted here with slight modifications to make the posts more readable in an HTML format. In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, this is indicated by an ellipsis (...)For more information about Bluebird_L, check out http://www.cit.corn.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.htm. If you wish to contact the author of a post, you will need to edit the e-mail address, replacing "at" with the "at" symbol (above the number 2 on your keyboard). (This change was made to discourage spammers.)If you are the author of a posting and would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages, please contact me with the web page address, title of post, and date and time of the post(s), and I will remove whatever material you like. If you have a different opinion from one posted here, you need not contact me, as often I will have a different opinion too. The intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues facing bluebirders, and to do so in an impartial and objective manner.If you have problems, encounter broken links (unless they are within an e-mail thread, as I do not maintain those links), or have suggestions on how the site can be improved to make it more useful, please contact the Best of Bluebird-L Classifieds webmaster.Website design by
Chimalis
|
