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| |
NESTING SCHEDULE
In some cases, you may not
know the hatch date of the young, and my need to estimate their age. This table
gives some guidelines.
|
Day 1 |
Bright coral-pink skin,
eyes sealed, down in sparse tufts. |
|
Day 2-4 |
Wings, head , spine look
bluish due to developing feathers under skin. |
|
Day 5-7 |
Feather sheaths begin to
emerge on wings. Eyes still closed |
|
Day 7 |
First feathers burst
from tips of sheaths, Eyes open as slits. Brooding by female stops. |
|
Day 8-11 |
Eyes fully open,
Feathers continue to burst sheaths. |
|
Day 11-12 |
Feathers of wing and
tail reveal cobalt blue in males, duller gray-blue in females. Female
Eastern Bluebirds show white edging on outer tail feathers. |
|
Day 13 |
Cut-off date for box
checks. Fully feathered young become increasingly active, and may fledge
prematurely if box is opened. |
|
Day 14-22 |
Fledging and first
flight. Empty nest solid, flattened. Young remain in cover while parents
bring food. |
|
Day 28 |
Fledglings fly strongly,
following parents who feed them. |
|
Day 30, on |
Fledglings feed
unassisted. |
Try to keep written
records. Even if you monitor a single box, it is good to keep records and not
trust y our memory. It’s important to know how old the young are to avoid
causing premature fledging by opening the box after Day 13. Styles of record
keeping differ, but you’ll want to record the following:
|
Date: |
Weather, time |
|
Nest: |
Note inches of material,
whether cup is lined, condition after fledging. |
|
Eggs: |
Number, whether warm. |
|
Young: |
Number, age (count hatch
day as Day 1) |
|
Parasites: |
Type, any measures taken |
|
Fledglings: |
Number, date of fledging
(if known), post fledge sightings. |
|
Comments: |
Presence of adults,
competitors, behavioral notes, other observations. |
Many trail operators keep a
spiral-bound notebook with a page for each box, and refer to the last entry
before approaching the box.
Article from Bird Watcher’s
Digest
|
