Bluebird Babies!
May 6th, 2008 by Kip Draper - 260 Views
HELLO WORLD! My mom called at 7AM and said we had babies. Looks like they all successfully hatched between 4:45AM (last time I checked the cam) and 7AM. Can’t wait to see them in color when that cam wakes up. More to come…
There’s a discarded eggshell at the top left corner of the image. As far as I can tell all five made it out. Keep an eye on the bluebird feeder when the mom leaves the nest…
Here’s some video of the parents in the nest box at the same time (briefly) feeding the babies:
Congratulations Grandpa Kip!!! Sadly, I only see four babies — check out the picture at cabinbirds.blogspot.com
OK– I think I was wrong, although the shot was blurry, it looks like five! They really move around a lot when Mom is gone.
http://cabinbirds.blogspot.com
finally! babies! i havent seen them yet. are you working on your cam? if so, i’ll see them soon. congratulations!
I don’t know who’s getting more of a workout, mama trying to keep those 5 fed or Kip trying to keep up the supply of mealworms. That streaming video is awesome!!
It’s difficult to tell Barbara! You’re not kidding Ron. It wouldn’t be quite so difficult if not for the wrens; they eat more mealworms than the bluebirds so I have to pull the mealies off of the feeder when the bluebirds aren’t around or they eat them all in one sitting.
Hi Kip: How exciting! I may have to order one of those big boxes of mealworms, too. After weeks of daily appearances, fights over the new nest box with the tree swallows (who had already claimed the older nest box), and a vicious battle with a house sparrow over the weekend (at one point the male house sparrow stuck his head out of the entrance and appeared to grab the female bluebird by her foot, leaving her hanging upside down!), my pair of bluebirds is finally busy at work building a nest. Hopefully we’ll have some eggs and babies of our own sometime soon…but no webcam.
At least I will know what to expect! 
Are you feeding mealworms at all? No other bird hits the mealworms except for the Carolina Wren. As soon as I enclosed the feeder w/ plexi, the wrens just hopped through the holes w/o thinking about it so I just leave it open. Can’t see an automated way around that one. When the bluebirds sweep in to feed though, they skeedattle.
My eight year old daughter clicked on and saw the babies and just screamed with excitement!!! My whole family have been watching daily and this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on the internet.I can’t thank you enough for all you’re doing. Looking forward to watching them all grow.
My nine year old son and I have been watching as well!! I was so excited to see all this online!! It is truly amazing to watch those precious babies and their mama! We are moving up your way in 4 weeks! Can we visit the babies and their mama? Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
I saw your babies at 8 am this morning. Congratulations! I noticed my dad bluebird was around all morning. I checked my bluebird box this afternoon, the babies were coming. I saw 2 or 3 babies with 2 eggs. I was surprised, expected them the 9th or 10th. I have not checked the box this evening, will wait until the morning. This has been a bluebird day.
Kip, Are you still working on your streaming cam? I have java, windows media player and active x and they dont seem to be working for me.
I only see 4 babies - what happened to the 5th egg?
Thanks Bill & Suellen! Congratulations Rachael!
BW, was it working for you before then stopped? Let me know and I’ll look into it; the code is auto generated from the webcam software so I’m somewhat limited.
ADDED 5/10: I made some changes; try it here: http://feedmecam.com/birdhouse/video/
Linda, I counted 5 mouths open at once today on video. It’s very difficult to tell though; this morning I thought there were only 4, went down to the nest for a peek and still couldn’t tell–the cam provides a better view than peeking in the box, which is designed to be opened and viewed with its plexiglas sub wall. They are so tiny!
BTW, my problem w/ the plexi wall is that it’s somewhat reflective so it’s difficult to see in and tough to get a good angle for photos. I guess a ladder would help. I have the cam so I only go down there when I need to and I feel guilty because they’re always in the closest tree chirping away at me to beat it.
it only worked once. i dont know too much about computers or webcams though. i can see the bluebird nest but its refreshing like before. that ok though. thank you!
Hopefully I’ll come up w/ more stable streaming. I’m amazed it works at all w/ this little cam.
I noticed the parents are providing a varied diet; they don’t rely entirely on mealworms by any means. There was a dead bug in the nest yesterday that was almost as big as a chick. I noticed today she dropped a mealworm in there, but both are gone now. Does anyone know whether they regurgitate or just feed straight?
Here’s some video of the female feeding them:
YouTube - Eastern Bluebird Babies Being Fed
they feed just straight
Quick question. Why does the mom sit on top of them after she feeds them? I noticed that after she’s done she immediately assumes this position!
Check my picture of all five birds!!!
http://cabinbirds.blogspot.com
Also, Suellen — the babies can’t keep themselves warm without feathers, so mom sits on her brood.
Those bluebird babies are sooo cute!!!!!