How many bluebird eggs

Vegetation and topography might make closer location possible. There should be no direct line of sight between multiple boxes. Purchase or build a nest box designed specifically for bluebirds.

Preferably, these are made of unpainted cedar, redwood, cyprus or pine. If you must paint your nest box, it should be painted ONLY on the outside, in a very light color, to avoid overheating. It should have ventilation and drainage holes, be deep enough so predators can't reach in to get to the eggs, and have a door that opens for ease of monitoring and cleaning.

Nest boxes may be mounted at any time, but to attract bluebirds for their first nesting of the season, they should be in place by mid-March, depending on your geographic location. You may see nest boxes mounted on trees, wooden fence posts or metal poles. Metal poles may be difficult for predators such as snakes and raccoons to climb. A metal mounting post need not be elaborate or expensive. Smooth, round 1" electrical conduit is inexpensive and works well; although any smooth scrap round pipe will work.

The next box should be mounted on the post so that the entrance hole is 5 feet off the ground. Being a conscientious bluebird landlord involves more than simply buying or making a nest box and mounting in in a good location. Nest boxes should be monitored at least once a week to be sure that undesirable competitors are not sing them. They should also be monitored for blowflies, ants, and other parasites, and predator problems.

Bluebirds readily tolerate humans monitoring their nest boxes. They will not abandon their young because humans have looked at or touched them. Bluebirds do not have a good sense of smell, so your scent on their nest will not disturb them. Care should always be taken when opening a nest box, especially once the hatchlings are 12 days old, as this could cause them to fledge too early.

The nest box should be cleaned out after each brood of babies has fledged. Bluebirds will not reuse a nest. They will typically produce three broods of three to six young by from March to August in South Carolina. It is not normally necessary to feed bluebirds; however, many people find they enjoy offering treats to their birds, both to help them through times of difficulty, and to have the opportunity to interact more closely with these gentle, trusting creatures. They eat insects and insect larvae and berries.

Another food commonly offered to bluebirds is mealworms. They can be purchased in bulk from several mail-order houses, or obtained locally at bait shops, and wild bird supply stores. During winter months, bluebirds will come to suet feeders and seed feeders containing sunflower meats.

One caution is if you like to feed other species of birds - do not place your bluebird nest boxes too close to your wild bird feeding area. May all your blues be birds! The purpose of this site is to share information with anyone interested in bluebird conservation. No permission is granted for commercial use. Appearance of automatically generated Google or other ads on this site does not constitute endorsement of any of those services or products!

Photo in header by Wendell Long. Please honor their copyright protection. See disclaimer , necessitated by today's sadly litigious world. Last updated March 24, Design by Chimalis. Bluebird and Small Cavity Nester Conservation. The number of eggs a female bird will lay before her clutch is complete depends on several factors: Species : For example, an Eastern Bluebird may lay eggs. Four or five is most common. A Black-capped Chickadee typically lays per clutch, with as many as 13 reported.

Some species called determinate egg layers will not lay extra eggs in response to egg removal simulating removal of eggs by a predator , or do not stop laying eggs if eggs are added to their nest.

See studies , below Others indeterminate egg layers will keep laying if eggs are removed, or may respond by stopping laying, or may lay fewer eggs if extra eggs are added to their clutch. The timing of egg removal or addition may affect the response. Food Supply and Diet : It takes energy to manufacture eggs. Clutch sizes may be larger if more food, or higher quality food is available.

During a drought, clutch size and hatching success may be lower. The clutches of females 2 or more years old typically number four or more. These eggs are usually light blue. However, percent of bluebird eggs are white. Strangely, some females will lay their eggs in the nests of other bluebirds. At any rate, once a female begins laying her eggs she will lay one a day until the clutch is completed. Each egg is usually laid before mid-morning.

This insures that all of the eggs will hatch at approximately the same time. The job of incubating the eggs falls to the female. The fact that male bluebirds are sometimes seen entering boxes has led some to believe that the male assists in this time-consuming chore.

In truth, males that enter boxes during this time have been found to actually stand beside their mates as they continue incubation. In some cases, the male will sit on the eggs for very brief periods of time while the female is temporarily away from her nest.

This is thought to be done more to keep the eggs from chilling than actually incubating them. Once incubation commences, the eggs cannot survive being chilled for a prolonged period to time.

Incubation can take anywhere from 13 to 20 days. The length of the incubation is affected by how many times the male brings his mate food as well as the air temperature in the box. Low temperatures and less food extend incubation. Once the eggs begin hatching, they will all hatch over a period of about a day. For some reason, the eggs usually hatch in the order in which they were laid. The hatchlings emerge naked, blind, immobile and helpless. As a result, they totally depend on their parents to feed and protect them.

Additionally, since they enter the world with no feathers, they cannot regulate their body temperature. In cold weather the female will brood her young to keep them warm. Feeding the young is a monumental task and requires the undivided attention of both parents. In Georgia, where bluebirds nest two to three times a year, the young hatched earlier in the year will often assist in feeding their younger brothers and sisters.

Each hatchling is fed, on average, once every 20 minutes throughout the daylight hours. At first, the young are fed soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars. However, as they mature, hard-bodied insects are added to their diet. These are removed by the parents and dropped some distance from the nesting site. It is thought that this helps keeps odors down, which, in turn, reduces the chances that predators will find the young. When hatchlings are 8 days old, their eyes begin to open.