[wisb] Re: Bluebird box conundrum: Grant Park: Answer from Kent Hall
- From: "Kent" <kentsue@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Betsyacorn@xxxxxxx>, <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:46:02 -0600
Betsy:
It would take a Category 5 Hurricane to get those parents to
abandon those chicks. You should put the box back into
the ground where it was originally and the parents will come
to feed the young. By putting it in a tree you risk predation
from squirrels, cats and raccoons.
Keep in mind that the young at that age can go 24 hours w/o
feeding and with this good weather, not a problem.
Some of my most infamous goofs have been instructive. One
day I inadvertently removed a box with chicks, thinking it was
empty. 15 miles later, after bouncing along in a open trailer
w/o shock absorbers, I stopped to put up the box in a new
location only to discover my mistake--I hastened back to
the original site and put up the box again, in the presence of
wing-pointing by both parents. Away 3 hours but they raised
the chicks and they fledged in good health.
Another time I did the same thing (I am a slow learner). Only
this time I found the chicks 24 hours later, so I absolutely had
no idea where I had gotten the chicks (had removed about
30 boxes). This time I was in big "do do" because I could not
take them to where the parents were waiting. As luck would
have it, I saw a female bluebird building a nest and I said,
"I wonder if she would adopt these chicks"? Having nothing
to lose, I put them into the box and--you guessed it--she and
the male raised them. Talk about an instant family--skipped
copulation, egg laying and incubation--right to the chicks.
So, have confidence that your parents are not going to
abandon the chicks--use the original site.
Kent Hall
Stevens Point (Portage Co.)
----- Original Message -----
From: <Betsyacorn@xxxxxxx>
To: <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:16 PM
Subject: [wisb] Bluebird box conundrum: Grant Park
> Early this morning while monitoring the Grant Park BB trail, I found that
> one box had slid to the ground still on the pole. The kids were fine
> inside, but I felt I couldn't leave it there, so I lifted it off the pole
> and
> placed it in an adjacent crabapple tree. Went back this later and
> reinstalled the pole and box with some good ole duck tape. Watched from a
> distance as
> the male flew back to the tree with a scrumptious meal to deliver, and
> hopped from branch to branch looking for the kids. After about ten
> minutes,
> he ate the meal, and took off. He apparently didn't notice the box
> nearby.
> So, after nearly twenty minutes, I returned to the box and, lifting the
> whole pole and all, returned it to the tree. I ran out of time to
> monitor
> this, but would put the question of what to do to you experts out there.
> It's not that safe in the tree, but I'd hate to see babies that are about
> a
> week or so from fledging, get abandoned. Whaddya think???
>
> Betsy Abert, So. Mke, SE Mke Co.
>
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