Eastern Bluebird (CCES, KY)
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Species: Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
Location: Princeton, KY
Status: Five bluebirds fledge and a couple visits the nest to start anew.
Location: Princeton, KY
Status: Five bluebirds fledge and a couple visits the nest to start anew.
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June 1 - A female Eastern Bluebird is seen using her belly to form the nest cup—a behavior typical prior to egg laying. |
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May 28 - On almost a daily basis, we have seen a male Eastern Bluebird checking out the nest box; less frequently a female. |
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May 17 - We rarely see a bird enter the nest after fledging unless a nest attempt is about to begin. |
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May 16 - The other four siblings left the nest early this morning, leaving just one lone nestling, who fledged shortly after this image. |
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May 15 - Space is getting a bit tight and at 18 days old, the nestlings are nearly ready to leave the nest. |
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May 14 - Unfortunately, the computer was inoperable for the last 12 days, so we missed much of this nestling period. However, five well developed bluebirds remain in the nest. |
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May 2 - Tag team feeding at its best! We have never seen this before–both the male and female inside the box each with food for the hungry nestlings. |
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April 29 - Unfortunately, the camera was offline during hatching. It looks as though at least four of the five eggs did hatch, however. |
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April 25 - The eggs are in the 12th day of incubation. Hatching should be very soon! |
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April 24 - With upturned head, the female peers directly into the camera. |
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April 23 - In order to prevent overheating, the female may lift herself off the eggs to stop incubating, but remain on the nest. |
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April 22 - During incubation, the female is mostly fed by the male; she may be vocalizing her hunger to him. |
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April 21 - Without the required incubation patch, the male bluebird is unable to incubate eggs in the female's absence. |
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April 20 - What appears to be a crack in the egg is actually a piece of nesting material. Hatching is still a few days away. |
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April 19 - Constant rotating of the eggs is necessary to prevent amniotic fluid from sticking to any one side. |
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April 18 - The camera captures a typical food delivery from the male to the incubating female. |
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April 17 - During the short and infrequent "off bouts" by the female, the male comes in to guard the eggs. |
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April 16 - Occasionally, females will began incubating on the day the penultimate (second to last) egg is laid. This female began incubating on April 13th, when the last egg was laid. |
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April 14 - Since songbirds lay one egg per day until the clutch is complete and no new eggs have been laid today, the clutch is complete at five eggs. |
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April 12 - The camera is back on and to our surprise, there are four eggs in the nest! |
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April 4 - A male Eastern Bluebird makes his novel contribution to the nest. |