Bluebird Feeding - Fledglings and Nestlings (Part 1)

In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: 

• Feeding bluebirds by Linda Janilla Peterson (including the bluebird banquet recipe)
• The cottonseed meal recipe for bluebird food
• Bluebird feeder sketches by Linda Janilla Peterson
• Mealworm feeding
• How  To Start And Maintain A Mealworm Colony by John Thompson
• FEEDING MEALWORMS - Solving the Problem of Mealworm Getaway By Nola Aiken
• Peanut Butter Pudding by Katherine Smith
• The Smith Meal Worm Feeder by Katherine Smith
• Feeding bluebirds by Jan Alhgren

Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 05:47:25 -0500
From: "Bruce Johnson" bjohnso3"at"midsouth.rr.com
To: "Bluebird Ref." BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Parent bluebirds feeding the fledglings.

Hello to all -

I have often wondered about whether the light goes off when you close the refrigerator door, it bothers me to no end. ;-) I also had wondered how the parents distribute a whole mouthful of worms to the fledglings.

Yesterday when the male bluebird flew down and landed on a small tray I was holding, a baby that had fledged less than a week flew down and landed right in the middle of the tray. It was completely oblivious of me and only intent on being feed, while doing all the usual wing quivering and chirping with an open mouth.

The parent gathered up at least four mealworms in it's beak and quickly deposited them in the baby's open mouth. In one gulp the worms were gone and the begging continued.

I tried to feed a worm to the baby myself while the parent was away feeding other babies that were nearby in a tree. I have tremors in my hands, especially when I get excited that would make Katherine Hepburn's head twitching problem look like it had disappeared. After trying unsuccessfully several times to deposit a worm in this youngsters begging open mouth, it gave up and left.

I would guess it is not unusual, and maybe the norm for the fledgling to get a lot of food given at one time.

Now if I can just figure whether or not the light goes off when you close the door to the refrigerator......

Bruce J

...

Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 12:32:42 -0500
From: "Elizabeth Nichols" birdlady"at"netstorm.net
To: Bluebird-L"at"Cornell.edu
Subject: Post-Fledge Feeding

Hi Bill Forrester & All:

As soon as we have a behavior pattern established Mother Nature proves our inadequacies! Yes, I witnessed post-fledge feeding w/Eastern Bluebirds (EABL) several yrs. ago. The box had been vandalized, I replaced 3 remaining 7 day old nestlings in new box, mother was among killed w/2 nestlings. Father continued to feed remaining 3 while in new box. ONE fledged, 2 remained in box. He would get mealworms & fly directly to fledged EABL in tree & ignored those in box. I called many knowledgable BB people (including Connie Toops - Bluebirds Forever).

NO ONE COULD ADVISE whether to remove chirping nestlings. I left them alone &watched in frustration! By the time I decided to remove the remaining nestlings 24 hrs later they had perished.

Your comments re: Tree Swallows being "programmed" to feed only those who fledge is indeed correct! It is nature's way of dealing w/survival of the fittest.

Perhaps if List-Serv had been available several years ago, I would have had the courage and assurances to interfere earlier & saved the nestlings. We live and learn!

Betty Nichols

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 23:44:09 -0400
From: "Katherine S. Wolfthal" kate"at"nirvana.ziplink.net
To: Bluebird-L Bluebird-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Re: Mealworm servings

Haleya Priest/Thom Levy wrote:

cold, snowy, wet, damp, just plain nasty

Here too.

Nancy, Bruce, et al - I went out and monitored today. I am giving some
supplemental mewos to my 2 sets of hatchlings.

How do you give mewos to the hatchlings? Do you put them in the box? I'm wondering if I should do that with the titmice when (if?) they hatch.

Also - what's a reasonable dose of mealworms per bird per day? If I have, say, four birds who eat mealworms (rb and wb nuthatch, carolina wren and titmouse are the main consumers), how many mealworms should I be putting out how many times a day?

Katherine
Weston, MA
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kate"at"nirvana.ziplink.net

Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 14:18:22 -0500
From: "Bret & Marisa Barrier" thebarriers"at"worldnet.att.net
To: "Bluebird List" BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Feeding Nestlings

Hi all,

The eggs hatched yesterday! My son and I checked them this afternoon, and all 5 hatched and look great so far. We even held one for a bit! :-)

When he saw their little head pop up and their mouths open wide, he wanted to feed them mealworms. I told him no, because I don't know if they can eat mealworms yet! They seem so tiny to be eating mealworms! And I haven't seen the parents fly in with any of the mealies I set out; they seem to keep those for themselves (when they get a chance to eat them!). So can we feed them mealies now, or should we wait?

Thanks,
Marisa
Central Missouri

Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 17:01:29 -0500
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com
To: "BLUEBIRD-L" BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: RE: Feeding Nestilings

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
Hi Marisa and those wishing to feed the baby birds in their nestboxes. Some of the posts to the list have been worded in ways that lets you believe that many are feeding mealworms to the baby birds. It just occurred to me that we have a terrible misunderstanding about feeding these birds with any type food! I believe that ALL of the posts about feeding meal worms are simply placing the food where the ADULT birds can find it and if they want then they can feed their own young. Even 5 day old babies can be killed quite easily with improper or too large of food. Most meal worms will be eaten by the adult birds the first few days after their young hatch and only when the young get larger will they actually feed this food! I would NOT try to feed the young unless you have seen both parents killed or some other disaster! Even then only feed them long enough to get them to another foster (bird) parent.

For education purposes while taking other non birders on my trail I will remove a nest and let others hold the nest for a few seconds, if they want, but I do not let them actually hold either eggs or baby birds. For your son, holding the whole nest would be safer than handling a newly hatched baby bird. I always tell the groups up front when I remove a nest that they are welcome to hold the nest but that most of these nests do contain parasites in the way of tiny mites and lice. I tell them that these tiny parasites will not hurt humans and that they easily wash off that night in the shower.....99.9% of these non-birders allow me to hold the nest so everyone can get a quick peek

Yes birds can hear and feel their young moving in the egg for several days before they hatch. Baby chickens can peep fairly loudly about 3 days before they hatch, placing a chicken egg on a hard surface just before it hatches will allow you to see the egg moving as the chick turns inside the egg. For those wishing to help their children experience this wonder of eggs hatching contact your county extension office or 4-H groups and ask about borrowing an incubator and getting a dozen or so setting eggs! Chickens and ducks can be raised and handled far safer than any of our native cavity nesters! They are more fun to take care of also from hatching day one! KK

Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 03:24:19 PDT
From: "dean sheldon" dsheldonjr"at"hotmail.com
To: t_k_bennett"at"juno.com
Cc: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: NESTLING FOOD: NO EARTHWORMS

This is a fine piece of work and pretty well covers the whole issue.  However, my experience has shown that nestlings have little, if any,  tolerance for EARTHWORMS as a food source. Their undeveloped stomachs cannot  process the castings [waste] contained within each segment of the worm and  they develop a "scours" condition which dehydrates the bird and could well  kill it. My suggestion: DO NOT FEED EARTHWORM PIECES to nestlings. Dean Sheldon, Huron County, OH/just south of Lake Erie

From: t_k_bennett"at"juno.com
Reply-To: t_k_bennett"at"juno.com
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Abandoned Young or Eggs
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 05:01:00 -0400

Abandoned Young or Eggs:

It is sometimes hard to tell if eggs have been abandoned, and there is
not much you can do about it if they are. During egg laying, which
usually takes place over a period of several days, the female does not
stay near the nest during the day, so the eggs will be cool and
unattended.

Once the female begins incubation, she remains fairly constantly at the
box, taking short breaks to get food for herself. If you monitor while
she is on a break from incubating, the eggs will usually warm to the
touch. Even if they are cool to the touch it does not mean the female has
abandoned them. there are times, particularly in cool weather when the
female may stay off the nest for a while, that the eggs will cool. If she
does not remain off too long, they still will hatch. In cases like this,
the incubation period may be longer.

Only the female can incubate the eggs. If she dies, the male cannot take
over, so the eggs will die. However, once the young have hatched, if one
parent dies the other is perfectly capable of raising the young alone.
The young can only be considered abandoned if both parents are known to
have died or abandoned the nest.

The only sure way to know that young are abandoned is to watch the nest
at least 4 hrs. to make sure that the parents have not visited it.
Abandoned young will be weak and maybe cold, but they can survive about
24 hrs. without food.

If you are sure they have been abandoned, call the local or national
bluebird society,
the Audubon Society, or a bird rehabilitation center. You cannot raise
the young birds yourself; it is against the law. They can be raised
legally only by someone who is licensed with a special permit from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Canadian counterpart.

If you have to care for young bluebirds in an emergency situation while
you are getting them to a licensed rehabilitator, here are some tips.

First of all, keep them warm. Warm then in your hands or by putting them
nest to your body until you get them home; then keep in warm place in a
small box with a nest made out of soft tissues. They should be fed every
20 minutes, dawn to dusk. They can be fed
meal worms, ( available in pet stores) earthworms pcs, canned dog food,
canned puppy food, small pcs. of ground beef, or scrambled egg or
hard-boiled egg yolk.
Offer food on blunt tweezers, giving small young tiny bits of food and
more developed young larger pcs. Do not try to force-feed young when they
are cold; warm them up first.

From: The BlueBird Book By: Donald and Liilian Stokes

Kathy Bennett
Durhamville, ( Central ) N.Y.

From: RPBRPB"at"aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 14:47:28 EDT
Subject: Care & feeding of nestling bluebirds
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu

Hello, a''

I recently joined the e-mail bluebird discussion group in my capacity as the coordinator of a bluebird trail in Delaware County, PA , located just west by southhwest of Philadelphia.

We're trying to find a good way(s) of keeping roughly 3-5 day old nestlings fed in the face of cold, damp weather conditions which appear to be making it difficult, if not impossible, for their parents to brood and supply them with an adequate amount of food.

We have fastened clear plastic containers with mealworms on the tops of nestboxes, but there are no signs that the adults have eaten any of them.

If anyone has a idea that we haven't thought of than might be implemented, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks
Bob Bodine
rpbrpb"at"aol.com

Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 17:33:18 -0400
Subject: Re: Care & feeding of nestling bluebirds
From: "Haleya Priest" mablue"at"gis.net
To: RPBRPB"at"aol.com, BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu

Haleya Priest Amherst MA
Welcome to the list! How cold is it there? I've also been putting clear containers with mealies on some of my boxes. Most of mine take the mealworms
- but it can take a few days..... how long have you had yours on the boxes? I think the colder it gets, the more likely they are to take the mealworms. I am trying to get mine to take currants - you could try that - although mealies are usually a first choice and also ants can be a problem with the currants. I'd like to hear what kind of temps you are facing there. :-) H...

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From: RPBRPB"at"aol.com
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Care & feeding of nestling bluebirds
Date: Sun, 12:47 PM

...

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