Eastern "Azure" Bluebirds (AZ)
Document Actions
This is the second year attempting to attract Elf Owls to this box.
Species: We hope to attract Elf Owls
Location: Huachuca Mountains, AZ.
Status: This cam expienced serious computer problems and was unable to return online.
Location: Huachuca Mountains, AZ.
Status: This cam expienced serious computer problems and was unable to return online.
| View Comments |
2006 Daily Highlights:
|
June 9 - It appears the female has
finally given up and abandoned the nest, so the cam host will be
emptying the box sometime this week. |
|
June 7 - The female seems unwilling to
give up on her clutch, though at this point it is unlikely the
eggs will hatch. It is possible that they were infertile or
killed by extreme temperatures. |
|
June 5 - The mother is still incubating the eggs, though it's been over a week longer than the usual incubation period. |
|
May 27 - No sign of hatching yet, but is should happen soon. |
|
May 25 - The eggs should be hatching any day now, depending on when the female actually began incubating once she laid them. |
 |
May 22 - The rich blue hues of the eggs are discernable in this light-filled daytime image. |
 |
May 20 - Since this box was intended for Elf Owls, the camera inside has an IR light, allowing us to view the bluebird at night. She appears to spend most of the evening on the eggs. |
|
May 18 - The female will brood until
the chicks are about 5-7 days old, which is when they begin maintaining
their own body temperatures. |
|
May 17 - The female incubates the eggs
all night, leaving early in the morning to find food and returning
periodically throughout the day. |
|
May 14 - These four eggs should be the
entire clutch--it's been 3 days since the last was laid. They
should be hatching the 24th or 25th of May. |
 |
May 11 - The fourth egg was laid
at about 10:30 am, slightly later than the other three. Since she
hasn't begun incubating the eggs, we might see a five egg clutch
tomorrow. |
 |
May 10 - At about 9am, the female laid the third egg. |
|
May 9 - The female laid the second egg between 8:30 and 9:00 am! |
|
May 8 - The first egg appeared at 7:30 this morning! |
|
May 4 - There hasn't been much activity in the bluebird box, but the female was back a couple of times today. |
|
May 3 - They haven't been working on
the nest much these last two days, though the female spent both
mornings and some time in the afternoon sitting in the box. |
|
April 28 - The pair is still working hard on the nest--we should be seeing the first egg soon. |
|
April 27 - This may be the male working on forming the nest. |
|
April 26 - Here's a rare view of both bluebirds in the box together. |
 |
April 25 - You can see the female bluebird forming the nest cup by pressing her chest down into the nest material. |
|
April 24 - Bluebirds were in the box a lot today--this shot highlights the blue on this one's back. |
|
April 23 - You can see how the
woodpeckers widened the opening. They were clearly determined to
get into the box, but they haven't been back for a week now. |
|
April 16 - The bluebirds came back to visit today. This time both the male and female were here. |
|
April 15 - A hint of the brilliant red
hue crowning the adult male Acorn Woodpecker can be seen in this shot.
Like its cousins from eastern N. America, the Red-bellied Woodpecker
and the Red-headed Woodpecker, this species is in the genus Melanerpes. |
|
April 14 - Here's a bird we haven't seen in the box yet. This is probably a Bewick's Wren, Thryomanes bewickii. |
|
April 12 - The woodpecker returned, and here can be seen hammering away at the entrance to the box. |
|
April 11 - An acorn woodpecker stopped by a few times today. We saw one of these in this nest box last year, too. |
|
April 9 - And she's back again!
Let's hope that if an elf owl does show up, we don't have the same
situation as last year, when an elf owl and a bluebird tried to nest
here at the same time and niether hatched any eggs. |
|
April 8 - It appears a female Eastern Bluebird is interested in this box--she visited seven times today. |
 |
Our Arizona cam is back online. Elf Owls initially occupied this box last year, but were usurped by a female Eastern Bluebird who laid 4 eggs. Eventually, the owl and bluebird had a scuffle in the box and neither one ended up raising young in the box. We are keeping our fingers crossed for better luck this year! |