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June 13 - What appears to be the male, is
using its belly to form the nest cup. |
|
June 2 - Just days after the Western
Bluebirds fledge, a Violet-green Swallow inspects the old nest. |
|
May 31 - The remaining four nestlings all
fledged some time yesterday, late in the evening. Ironically, the first egg hatched on a
Sunday and fledged three weeks later on a Sunday; the other four eggs hatched on Monday
and all fledged exactly three weeks later, on a Monday. |
|
May 30 - Even thought the nestlings are
probably hours form fledging, the female continues to remove fecal sacs from the nest. |
|
May 30 - One day after the first fledgling
left, the four nestlings remain in the nest. |
|
May 29 - Midday, the first of the five
nestlings decides to leave the nest. |
|
May 28 - At eighteen days old, the
nestlings are getting close to fledging. Notice their emerging spotted, juvenile plumage. |
|
May 27 - The birds are very active and
mobile now. To avoid nestlings jumping out of boxes, nest box monitors should not check
nest boxes after the young reach 12-14 days. |
|
May 26 - One brave nestling is seen with
it's upper body outside the nest box. |
|
May 25 - The female will occasionally enter
the nest now, but mostly it is to remove fecal sacs and ensure nest sanitation. |
|
May 24 - At two weeks old, the young
nestlings are fully feathered and will spend more time feeding near the entrance hole. |
|
May 21 - Despite the loss of a color
signal, the cameras capture one of the adults leaving the nest box with a fecal sac. |
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May 20 - At 10 days old the nestlings have
achieved 90% of their total mass and 50% of their total growth. |
|
May 19 - The female receive an
instantaneous reaction of open gapes as soon as she pops here head through the entrance
hole. |
|
May 18 - At one week old, nestlings will
begin to open their eyes. |
|
May 16 - It appears that the sixth egg that
hatched did not survive. It is unclear what happened to it. |
|
May 15 - During the first five days, the
female will do a considerable amount of brooding, particularly in cold weather. |
|
May 14 - At four to five days old, feeding
occurs by both parents who place food directly into the gapes of the vocalizing nestlings. |
|
May 13 - The male and female usually remove
fecal sacs immediately after they are laid. |
|
May 12 - With five open mouths and one
nestling lying still, this image confirms that the sixth egg did in fact hatch. It is
unclear if the nestling that is lying down is alive. |
|
May 11 - Five hungry mouths await the
female as she enters the box with food. It is unclear whether the sixth egg hatched. |
|
May 10 - The image shows the fifth
hatchling just as it is emerging from its shell. |
|
May 10 - Since the first egg hatched last
night, an additional three eggs have hatched. |
|
May 10 - Immediately after sunrise, the
female is seen eating the eggshell of the fourth egg. |
|
May 9 - Just past 7:30 PM, the first egg
hatches!! |
|
May 8 - The camera captures a food exchange
from the male to the incubating female. |
|
May 5 - Never far from her eggs, the female
peeks in on them. |
|
May 4 - The female has completed the first
week of incubation. The six eggs should hatch around May 10th. |
|
May 2 - This female is unbanded so we do
not know her age or prior breeding experience. |
|
April 29 - The male enters the box in the
female's absence. According to banding records, he is four years old. |
|
April 28 - The weather in Oregon has been
unseasonably warm which may explain why the female is spending a lot of time off the eggs.
|
|
April 27 - The sixth egg was laid around
noon today! According to the cam host, six egg clutches are not all that common along this
trail. |
|
April 26 - There are now five eggs in
the nest. The female will likely begin incubating today. |
|
April 25 - The female Western
Bluebird sits inside the nest box, alongside her four eggs. |
|
April 24 - Three pale blue eggs lay in the
base of the nest cup. |
|
April 23 - Shortly after 7 AM, the female
lays the second egg. |
|
April 22 - The Western Bluebird has laid
the first egg! |
|
April 14 - The nest cup is nearly completed
and consists mostly of dried grass. |
|
April 11 - The male and female Western
Bluebird are seen inside the box with freshly delivered nesting material. |
