What Happened?

On the 25th, I went out to check on the bluebird hatchlings.  I opened the door of the box and to my dismay, none of them were moving.  I thought they were dead.  I touched one and it was ice cold!  I noticed a slight movement in one, so one by one, I picked all four of them up and held them in the palm of my hand.  Other than the one who seemed to move a tiny bit, I was sure the rest were already gone.  One a whim, I cupped them in both hands and began to blow my warm breath onto the poor things.  Bit by bit, as they warmed up, they each began to move!  Still alive!...all four. 

At this point there was not a parent bluebird to be seen.  Usually they stand watch from the powerline just across the street.  I wondered if something happened to one or both of them.  Why would the mother leave them like that; so long that they were chilled to the point of hypothermia? 

I brought them to the house, still cupped in my hands, breathing on them as I walked.  Inside I found a box lined with excelsior.  I placed a soft tissue in the box and this gave me a place to hold the babies while I tried to figure out what to do...  In hindsight, I should have called someone...the bluebird man could have told me what to do.  probably even knew of a nest, or several nests with two day old babies that we could divide them between.  I wish I had. 

All I could think to do at the time was to try to keep them warm and to see if I could give them something to eat or some water with a dropper.   I first gave them each a drop of water from a dropper.  Their naked little necks were so weak that they couldn't even hold up their heads.  The weakest three wouldn't even open their little mouths at first.  It took a little prodding, but finally they did.  I got them all to take some water and they seemed to gain some strength.  By then they were opening up thirstily for the water. 

I soft scrambled a little egg and tried to give a tiny bit of this to one.   He was still too weak and I could not manage to get it into him without scaring myself.  Was I going to choke him?   

I decided to check outside and see if the parents had showed up.  When I went back out, the father was there on the powerline and divebombed me as I walked up to the box!  Still the mother was nowhere around.  I placed the babies into the box along with some foot warmers stuck to the inside of the box... maybe this would help keep them warm if the mother was gone.  And I hoped that the father would be able to take care of them on his own in that case.

When I checked on them the next day, they were still alive!  They even looked up at me when I opened the box!  This gave me some hope for the little guys. 

I checked on them today and they were all four dead.   Lesson learned.

First Blue Babies

Has it really been since January that I last posted? 

Well, I have been expecting...bluebirds that is!  After checking the boxes the day before the Annual Blubird Conference (April 10th). I found one nest with five eggs.  The other two boxes were either empty or had the beginnings of a House Sparrow nest.  I have removed it half a dozen times by now.  The sparrow spooker that I attached a couple of weeks ago did not 'spook' these determined sparrows.  I guess they were already too attached to this box!  This is the same box that the sparrows kept getting into last year.  I am thinking about just moving it to a new location.  I am not up to the 'final solution' as some other bluebirders are. 

So for the last two or three days I have been checking box number one.  I knew that it would be any time now.  They must have just hatched.  Four were there and one egg remained.  I will check again tomorrow and snap a picture to post.  Such tiny babies!  Tiny little, fuzzy, pink, almost bald babies!