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Bluebird fledged but can't fly

10 years ago

I had three bluebirds that hatched on July 15th and the forth on July 16th. Three of the four fledged Wednesday (July 31). The remaining bluebird, that I'm assuming was the late hatch, spent the majority of day on Thursday just looking out of the nest box. On Thursday night the baby jumped out of the box but the parents were not here and she can't fly. I caught her and put her back in the nest box. Yesterday the parents were checking in on her, removing fecal sac, and feeding her so I wasn't too concerned. This morning she jumped out of the box again without the parents around. She still cannot fly so I caught her and put her back in the box again. The mother did check on her a few hours later and took food to her.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I wouldn't be concerned if at least one parent was here when she has jumped out but both times they weren't here and I couldn't hear them calling either.

This post was edited by Laura_ColsOH on Sat, Aug 3, 13 at 13:50

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Comments (4)

kendra2003
10 years ago
I feel you've done a great job. The parents obviously know the baby is still there. She's a day late hatching next to her siblings, so it may take her a few extra days to learn to fly (they were probably bigger and got fed better). I'm sure if she's not flying by the end of the day, she'll be flying by tomorrow. Hopefully one of the parent birds will coax her out and stay with her when she does. You would be amazed at how good the parents are at finding their young. I'm sure if she makes it out again, they will find her.
Laura_ColsOH
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you Kendra, I'm hoping that she will be able to fly tomorrow. I contacted a resource at the Ohio Bluebird Society that was comfortable with going until Monday as long as the parents are still feeding and cleaning. If by then she still can't fly she wants me to take her to a wildlife center in town to be checked out. Fingers crossed that she is just a slow learner :)
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Lisa: Thanks for your post. I did not see the babies last week, husband did. I have checked the nest- it is empty. I have heard some twitter out in the forest that adjoins our grounds- I'd like to think it might be the fledglings, but that may be wishful thinking. Things have been hectic lately so I have not opened the box as faithfully as in past years. There are no broken shells or feathers in box or on ground underneath. The nest was completely clean. We've never had racoons; I have heard owls very far off, but they have never appeared on the property. This box is close to our screen porch and under my office window, so I can usually monitor it by sight most of the time. This box has been in use since 2003; it's had at least one clutch per year. There's another box closer to the woods, and I've seen Mom and Dad Bluebird checking it out in the last two days. I've already cleaned out the box in question, and am going to install a baffle. It's silly to think that standing sentinel during the day will keep the nest box safe at night. Thanks again for your help.
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If any babies fledged it will be considered a successful nesting! If I were you I would monitor more closely. Good notes can help you determine what may have happened. Blowfly feed at night and as the other babies left they would have had only the one chick left to feed on. I'm not saying that's what happened but it is a possibility. I know we are not supposed to interfere so much but I would have tried to at least pick the baby up to be sure it was not stuck on something and examine to see if there was something obvious that was keeping it from leaving. I did have 3 TRES babies that just were not strong enough to fledge (due to loss of a parent and bad weather). It is sad but sometimes there is not anything we could have done and it's just Natures way. Good luck on the next nesting!
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Hi all, Our 1st-nesters all (5) fledged fine on April 25th. We heard and saw all 5 in far trees mostly for 7 days. On their 7th day in the wild they all returned to our near trees and one came to the deck to be fed worms by both parents. In the past 2 days however, we've seen just 4 together and apart all over the yard including the deck, but have not been able to veryify the 5th... we worry that one may have been lost to we know not what. We hope to be surprised to see all 5 together again soon, but know the many dangers to new baby birds. Oh, and Missy has 3 blue eggs in her 2nd nest as of this afternoon :) Best luck to us all, Kenn
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Laura_ColsOH
Original Author
10 years ago
Unfortunately the little lady did not survive. She jumped from the box again on Sunday and the parents were taking care of her so it was recommended that I leave her alone and let them work with her. The last time I saw her was Monday night, tucked in a blue spruce that her dad led her to. On Tuesday morning, I couldn't find her but I did find a lot of blue feathers. I suspect a hawk is to blame.
kendra2003
10 years ago
I'm so sorry. After all that she went through to finally get up into the trees. So sad.

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