The Bluebirds Outside Our Door

Was it a predator perhaps? A hawk who failed to negotiate the narrow alley between the office and the maintenance area that lost its prey? Was she injured while defending her nest from a roaming cat? Or was she startled from the nestbox by a noise flying blindly into some sharp object? We're not sure what happened but the female Bluebird lay dead a few feet from her nestbox that evening a small gash across her stomach the only clue. A scene that no doubt plays out everyday in nature but today it was right outside our door.

Just a few feet from the door of the office is a wooden nestbox on a thin pole attached to the split rail fence. It was put there in February to show people how to set up and monitor the boxes they had just built during a program we hold every spring. It was just meant to be an example like a model home but within a few hours it had attracted the attention of several Bluebirds and Chickadees. After a week it held the wispy beginnings of a nest of pine needles. We watched as a pair of Bluebirds brought materials into the box. They watched us as we came and went from the office. At the end of March we checked the progress of the nest and found four small, light blue eggs, the next day there were five.

Baby Bluebirds are hungry little things. They need to eat several times an hour for the first few weeks. That was how we knew the eggs had hatched. There was constant activity from the parents bringing food for their young. As soon as one parent left the box the other was right there a second or two later with some tidbit in its beak. Back and forth from sunrise to sunset the soft cheep, cheep of the nestlings could be heard each time a parent landed on the box. Until the day the female Bluebird was discovered. It was like a switch had been turned off. There was no rush of activity. No soft cheep, cheep.

Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic advised us to watch the nestbox. The male Bluebird may still try to feed the young. After several hours we had seen nothing. The director of the clinic had us check the nestlings - put one in your hand she told me, feel if it is warmer than your skin. The bird is smaller than my thumb, pink and wrinkly in my palm. It is a warm day, I can’t tell but the wrinkly skin is not a good sign. The nestlings are dehydrated. Bring them in she says. Make a nest of tissues in a box. Fill a bottle with hot, hot water, put it in a Ziploc bag and put it in the box of tissues. The nestlings need to stay warm. I prepare the box. I remove the nest and place it on the ground and slowly remove the tiny birds. The first three gape weakly at me when I place them on the tissue their yellow mouths anticipating food I do not have to give. The two at the bottom of the nest do not gape. They do not move. I am pretty sure they are dead but I place them in the tissue nest anyway.  

The clinic is in south Durham. It takes 45 minutes to drive there from the park. It is small. The front office is crowded with a desk, filing cabinets and a mom with her two young boys who have just dropped off an injured snapping turtle. Raucous screeches come from the behind the door that leads into the clinic. While I fill out the paper work another family comes in to ask about two small snakes they have in containers. Before I leave they tell me the two at the bottom of the nest had already died. “You gave them their best chance at survival.” the volunteer at the front desk tells me. One of the three remaining did not make it past the first night. The two remaining are with a wildlife rehabilitator that can give them the constant care they will need.

_____________________________________________________________________

What should you do if you find injured or abandoned wildlife?

There are several websites you can consult on the appropriate steps to take:

We found the information at Piedmont Wildlife Center to be the most helpful. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has a list of wildlife rehabilitators to call.

We would really like to thank the Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic for taking in and caring for our nestlings. They are a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to caring for sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife as well as promoting conservation and preservation of native wildlife and ecosystems through education. They need volunteers, supplies and donations to help keep their clinic running.