Babies

My back yard nesting boxes are full of eggs and babies. Here are a few images from this weekend.

One day old bluebird

6 day old tree swallow

6 day old purple martin

Despite the successes, I am having some unexplained losses. Of 5 tree swallow eggs, 4 hatched, one was infertile. Of 5 bluebird eggs in this second clutch, she rejected one and only 3 of the remaining 4 hatched. This is odd for me. I usually have 100% hatching rate in bluebirds.

In the purple martin department, there are currently 10 nests with eggs. I have lost 7 eggs from various nests. Two were blown out during the bad storms, and others were either damaged or infertile, or have just gone missing.

I have two nests with young; 5 nestlings from 5 eggs in one gourd, and 2 nestlings from a clutch of 4 eggs in another.

There are two nests that I call "bachelor pads." These are spaces occupied by subadult males without a female. The boys have done some minor decorating, but haven't really gone all-out in furnishing their homes.

And then, there is this nest:


This is a small compartment (6"x6") in the metal house, with a round entrance hole. It is on the back side of the bird house, so I can't see it easily from the window, but I think an ASY male has taken it over. The mud dam in front effectively narrows the 2.5" round opening to something approximating my crescent SREH holes, and acts as a way of protecting the contents from starlings and owls. However, despite all this effort, I have yet to see a female associated with this compartment. It is unusual for males to do more than initiate the nesting effort, leaving the bulk of the work to the females, so there could be a lady living here. Time will tell, and I keep checking for eggs.