And one group of four hatched on June 27, 2014, and fledged on their 16th day, July 12. One little survivor left the nest on the 21st day. Most bailed out on their 18th or 19th day. The past 10 years of fledgling history at our bluebird box matched the literature until this pair showed up. I haven’t seen the Little Blue Crew since. She raised a ruckus and chased the whole bunch out of the yard. One landed on top of the birdhouse after the new batch of chicks hatched and she was having none of that. I have seen all four chicks from the first brood on the wing, most recently with their momma hot on their tails. The average is 18 to 19 days, the full range-depending on the reference-seems to be 16 to 21 days. Sixteen days was still a relatively early departure, but it fit with the literature I’ve found on the period that marks an eastern bluebird chick’s transition from nestling to fledgling. We found four flightless nestlings hopping around the house-one on our front porch-on their 14th day out of the egg and with a severe thunderstorm an hour distant.Īfter we put those critters back in the birdhouse they stayed a couple more days before they bailed. Regular readers will remember my May 1 column about the first nest this pair raised. It beats me, and my neck is getting stiff from staring up into the trees. Where did this most recent brood of chicks go? That’s all I’ve got to go on because as a bluebird chick hunter, I am failing miserably. I’m pretty sure they’re still feeding their chicks. I’m pretty sure they’re not just picking up insects to eat on their own. I’ve been close enough to see, when they flutter down, hover, and drop into the grass, that they pop skyward again with wriggling bits of green or skinny flailing insect legs grasped their beaks. They’re hunting insects and flying from fence to tree to rooftop and back to the open spaces. The male bluebird, the female, I watched over the weekend. No, I had to rewrite because those birds flew the coop.įour bluebird chicks apparently left the nest Friday, only 14 days after hatching. No longer am I just writing about birds on the nest and some ways to help them beat the heat. That’s why I am here on a Monday afternoon rewriting what was a perfectly good column three days ago but was held this weekend. (Kelly Bostian/KJBOutdoors photo)Įastern bluebirds apparently have no appreciation for a finished piece of writing. The female bluebird takes off with a mealworm from our backyard feeder.
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