I keep wondering when the bluebird eggs will hatch. I peeked again today and should have counted the eggs. At the time I was only thinking about whether they were hatched or not, so didn’t study them long enough to be sure. There are probably five eggs, though maybe only four.
I found a web page about Eastern Bluebirds to gather more information about their nesting habbits. (http://www.alaweb.com/~kenwood/saba/birdinfo/bluebird.htm) I also put some information on a calender to help me keep up with what is happening and to give me a better idea on when to expect them to hatch. Here are the dates so far:
April 2: Set up birdhouses
April 5: Two pair of bluebirds fighting over nest box
April 6: Moved our second box to make it more attractive for second pair of bluebirds
April 12: Nest in birdhouse but no eggs yet
April 14: Two eggs in nest
April 16, 17 or 18: last egg was laid (They lay one egg a day and I’m not sure of the count)
April 30, May 1 or 2: expected time for birds to hatch (13-14 days from the date the last egg was laid)
The last time I checked, there was no sign of any nesting in the second box we moved to our neighbor’s yard.
I will try to remember to take my camera and a stool to stand on so I can take pictures of the eggs in the nest before they hatch.
Pictures and text copyright © 2008 by Janice Green
Is it best to remove the old nest as soon as the fledglings leave the nest,or will the adults use the same nest for the second clutch? It seems lile alot of work to make another nest.
Thanks in advance, Cody
I would have thought, like you, to leave the nest for them, but according to what I’m reading from a book as well as some very authoritative websites, the Bluebirds would not re-use the nest. They would either find another site or build a new nest on top of the old before laying eggs again. I suppose the bird fecal matter can cause problems. If you look at the last pictures I put up you will see the white spots on the walls and even on the nest.
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language 😉
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo