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caring for nestlings
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Posted by tessa.flowers (My Page) on Tue, Jun 2, 09 at 19:21
| I have been caring for 3 young bluebirds - lost one to a sparrow this morning and am now frantically putting up another sparrow spooker in the rain. These guys are about a week old now - will the sparrows leave them alone after a certain age or will the sparrows continue this aggression until they fledge? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: caring for nestlings
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| Tessa, you mean you are watching the Mom care for them right? ( the Mom is around)? Do you have a pellet gun? I am sorry to say the babies may all be killed and most likley the Mom or Dad if they get caught in the box trying to defend the babies. You need to take the Sparrow out if you can. Are you sure it was a Sparrow? How did you lose the baby? Was it pecked to death or was it thrown out of the box? If it was a Wren a Sparrow spooker wont help,you need a Wren guard. www.sialis.org will teach you everything you need to know about keeping your Blues safe. Be sure you can make a positive ID on a Wren or a Sparrow. The House Sparrow may be disposed of, the Wren would be illeagle. |
RE: caring for nestlings
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Lisa,
Yes, I am watching the male and female care for the babies but I was constantly having to monitor the box because the sparrows were trying to take over. I did resort to sitting outside with a BB gun. I'm sure it was a sparrow who killed one of the nestlings - I found it on the ground below the box and it had been pecked several times. Since putting up my sparrow spooker, everything seems to be okay. The sparrows would fly to the box, try to enter, then flutter around scared of the shiny material and fly away. The babies are now about 10-12 days old and are doing well. Thanks for responding. |
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