MIA Bluebird (1 Viewer)

[Ollie’s Mom]

Hi all, desperately hoping someone can give me some insight!
We are first time bluebird landlords. I’ve been observing a male and female feeding in our yard (in Maine) for about a year. This spring we finally put up a nesting box for them and to our delight they began building a nest within days!! On Friday we checked the box and saw 6 eggs!!! 😃Saturday it appeared Mama began incubating. We observed both male and female that afternoon.
We have not seen the male since!!! Is it normal for him to disappear while she incubates?? I’m devastated thinking that something may have happened to him. Mama is still there and comes to feed on the mealworms we leave for her. Any thoughts??

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum! I am sure that you will find lots to interest you here and I hope that you enjoy your visits.

I believe that the female incubates the eggs.

You may find this article interesting.

Eastern Bluebird - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

 

[Mystery Train]

Hi all, desperately hoping someone can give me some insight!
We are first time bluebird landlords. I’ve been observing a male and female feeding in our yard (in Maine) for about a year. This spring we finally put up a nesting box for them and to our delight they began building a nest within days!! On Friday we checked the box and saw 6 eggs!!! 😃Saturday it appeared Mama began incubating. We observed both male and female that afternoon.
We have not seen the male since!!! Is it normal for him to disappear while she incubates?? I’m devastated thinking that something may have happened to him. Mama is still there and comes to feed on the mealworms we leave for her. Any thoughts??

Has the male returned?

 

[Ollie’s Mom]

Has the male returned?

No he hasn’t . Eggs hatched on Wednesday and we’ve been watching/hoping he would return, but no sign of him. I’ve been making sure I have plenty of meal worms out for mom to feed on (and feed her babies), but not sure what else I should do. Any ideas would be so appreciated!

 

[Mystery Train]

No he hasn’t . Eggs hatched on Wednesday and we’ve been watching/hoping he would return, but no sign of him. I’ve been making sure I have plenty of meal worms out for mom to feed on (and feed her babies), but not sure what else I should do. Any ideas would be so appreciated!

That's too bad. Likely he's gone for good... the circle of life and all. The males do stay with their mate through the whole process and usually raise a second brood together as well. It's good that he was able to see her through the hatching process though, because without him to bring her food, she wouldn't have been able to incubate them. As long as she has plentiful food sources, she'll be able to raise them successfully on her own, though the poor thing will need a break when once they're self sufficient! The only thing you can do is make sure the box has some sort of snake/rodent guard below it so predators won't crawl up into the hole to get the little ones.