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July 2 - We are surprised
to capture an image of the male inside the box post-fledging. Special thanks to the
teachers and students at Heath Elementary for their continued dedication to the Nest Box
Cams. We look forward to working with them next year! |
 
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July 1 - Fledging
day!! Within a minute of the fourth nestling leaving, the last young bird leaves the nest
for the first and last time.
The two remaining nestlings practice flying inside the box and then one exits.
A few moments later, the third nestling fledges.
By 4:00, the second nestling takes its first real flight.
The first nestling departs the nest at about 2:30.
This is one of the last few images of the five nestlings
together, one of which is holding a small pink item in its beak.
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June 30 - Space inside the
box is now at a premium. Fledging can begin as early as tomorrow. |
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June 29 - At sixteen days
old, the nestlings will begin to take practice flights inside the box, while their
siblings look on. |
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June 28 - The nestlings
will begin to see less and less of their parents—a luring technique to get them ready
to fledge the safety of the box. |
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June 27 - Judging by the
color of the head feathers, it appears this nest contains three males and two females. |
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June 26 - Now that the
young birds are fully feathered, they will become much more mobile inside the box. |
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June 25 - At twelve days
old the nestlings begin to appear like juvenile bluebirds—large eye rings and
speckled plumage. |
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June 24 - The nestlings
are nearly fully feathered, with emergent pin feathers clearly visible. |
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June 23 - At 10 days old,
the nestlings are now able to thermoregulate their own boy temperatures which means less
visits inside the box from the female. |
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June 22 - Within the next
few days the chicks' bodies will be fully feathered. |
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June 21 - A large fecal
sac is carried off by the male. Typically parents will drop fecal sacs a short distance
from the nest box to avoid detection by predators. |
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June 20 - Now in their
second week, the nestlings' feathers will grow rapidly, as will their overall body mass. |
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Jun 19 - In just six short
days, the nestlings bodies are more than halfway feathered. They are also capable of small
movements around the nest cup. |
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June 17 - The male stands
by as one of the nestlings defecates a fecal sac. The male will immediately remove it from
the nest. |
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June 16 - At three days
old, the nestlings are still blind and naked, although feather tufts are beginning to
emerge on the head and back. They can also wriggle about the nest cup. |
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June 14 - The diet of
young nestlings consists mostly of caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, crickets, and
moths. |
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June 14 - A new day ushers
in five healthy Eastern Bluebirds! |
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June 13 - Three of the
four nestlings stretch their necks in the typical begging posture. |
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June 13 - Just hours after
hatching, the male is removing fecal sacs from the nest. |
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June 13 - The fourth egg
hatched shortly after midday. Young birds are born altricial, i.e., naked, blind, and
immobile except to stretch their necks to feed. |
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June 13 - Early this
morning, before our cameras could capture the action, three of the five eggs hatched.
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June 12 - The eggs have
been incubated for thirteen days now. If all goes well, they shoul0d be hatching soon. |
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June 9 - Each
subelliptical egg weighs about one tenth of an adult female's mass; thus, a clutch of five
eggs weighs about half a female's mass. |
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June 8 - Although unable
to incubate, the male occasionally enters the box in the female's absence. |
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June 7 - To avoid amniotic
fluid sticking to any one side of the egg, the female routinely turns and rotates the
eggs. |
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June 6 - To incubate the
eggs for optimal embryo growth and development, the female will regulate the temperature
between 96 and 105 degrees F. |
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June 5 - Vocalizations
inside the box are common, she may be trying to summon the male, or express danger. |
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June 4 - Much of the time
that the female is perched on the entrance hole, the male is delivering food to her. |
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June 3 - We believe the
female just began incubating yesterday. Since bluebirds incubate for 12-14 days, we expect
hatching to occur some time around mid-June. |
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June 2 - Immediately after
one bluebird nesting was complete, students at Heath Elementary switched the camera to a
new Eastern Bluebird nest with five eggs! The first egg was laid on May 27. |
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