Bluebird Family Update

Hi all,

Here are some recent shots of our Bluebird Family...

Faith (mother)

Wonderful shots Kenn.

Congratulations on the Bluebird success. I've read that the first hatchlings may help the adults feed the second set of hatchlings but in my yard the female is driving off her first fledglings and the second set are close to feldging....just wondering what you see in your backyard.

Very nice. I am jealous. House Sparrows killed my babies.

Wow those are fabulous. How do you manage to get that close to where they are nesting and not upset them?

Pretty looking family ya got there Kenn!
Mom and Dad are looking pretty good after clutch 1 and the nestlings are stealing our hearts. I especially gave a hearty laugh at your image #5 and the fledgling squat pose. Priceless!

2n10 wrote in post #16946968
Wonderful shots Kenn.

Thanks John. We love to share them.

Duane N wrote in post #16946974
Congratulations on the Bluebird success. I've read that the first hatchlings may help the adults feed the second set of hatchlings but in my yard the female is driving off her first fledglings and the second set are close to feldging....just wondering what you see in your backyard.

Hi Duane - Fledgling Helpers are well-documented but really not too common. We've hosted Bluebirds year-round since 2007 with 3 or 4 nestings/year. We've documented prior-nest fledgling helpers during only 3 nestings from 2 different mating pairs. See:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=721150
We currently have a yearling (Billy), fledged from the 3rd nest of 2013, who is also exhibiting this behavior. He has helped to feed both nests so far this year and has also fed the 1st-nest fledges until they recently began feeding themselves.

joemusic321 wrote in post #16947508
Very nice. I am jealous. House Sparrows killed my babies.

Wow sorry Joe. House Sparrows are a big danger to nesting Bluebirds. We are very vigilant but our birds have suffered from them on a few occasions. Some may wish to see: http://sialis.org/hosp​.htm

butterfly2937 wrote in post #16947516
Wow those are fabulous. How do you manage to get that close to where they are nesting and not upset them?

Thanks. We've hosted Bluebirds for years here, and spend time with them everyday. They come very close to us of their own accord, and generally tolerate our tending to their welfare.

To all who have nesting birds now, we wish you best success.

Kenn

CamFan01 wrote in post #16947587
Pretty looking family ya got there Kenn!
Mom and Dad are looking pretty good after clutch 1 and the nestlings are stealing our hearts. I especially gave a hearty laugh at your image #5 and the fledgling squat pose. Priceless!

Thanks Steve,
Ben and Faith are just beginning to show signs of their summer moult coming on. And with the 2nd brood near fledging there's been a lot of "passing thru the hole" by now to wear out their spring mating plumage. But they're well-fed and have clean water daily to help them stay beautiful, and we'll still be shooting them they get ragged anyway. The fledglings tend to stick around here mostly thruout the nesting season and a few even over winter, so we delight in documenting their transition from baby fluff to full adult plumage.

Stay tuned,

Kenn