{"id":127842,"date":"2024-04-24T03:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=127842"},"modified":"2024-04-29T07:14:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T12:14:27","slug":"mama-eastern-bluebird-is-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/24\/mama-eastern-bluebird-is-no-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Mama Eastern Bluebird Is No More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve and I have some sad news today: the mama Eastern Bluebird at Steve’s nest box<\/span><\/a> is no more. The last time we saw her at the nest box was Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, Steve and I went to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. We left his home well before dawn to get there. It was still pitch dark at that time.<\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon, when we returned from the refuge, I noticed that the female Eastern Bluebird wasn’t coming into to feed the chicks with the male. Steve and I spent more than an hour and a half sitting on his deck, waiting and watching for her to show up, and we also looked for her at other times.<\/p>\n

The female bluebird didn’t appear even as day turned to night. The male Eastern Bluebird was working hard at keeping the chicks in the nest box fed. In fact, he was doing double duty.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Female<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Female<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Mated<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

At first, we wondered if a cat had gotten the female bluebird; there has been a large feral tom at the edge of Steve’s yard a couple of times. That theory didn’t make much sense, though, because the female bluebird was able to fly, and she was very wary of predators.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning, I think we figured out who was responsible.<\/p>\n

I was inside Steve’s home making and eating toast. When I went back outside, Steve said he saw a hawk fly through, which made all of the birds sound alarmed, and they hid. Knowing that Red-shouldered Hawks don’t usually prey on birds, we talked about Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks, whose primary diet is birds.<\/p>\n

Later on yesterday morning, I heard birds near the road that were calling out in alarm, and then heard the cry of a hawk. About that time, we both saw an adult Cooper’s Hawk fly from the front of Steve’s yard to the back of it. That answered the question of what happened to the beautiful, dutiful mama Eastern Bluebird.<\/p>\n

While it is sad that she is gone, I have to say that in death she fed the hawk, and that is part of the circle of life and what may seem to be the harsher side of nature.<\/p>\n

The male Eastern Bluebird will continue to feed the chicks<\/span><\/a>, which should be leaving the nest anytime now. He’ll be extra busy without the female to help him out in the next few weeks as the chicks learn to fly and find food on their own.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> By 4 pm CT all three baby Eastern Bluebirds had left the nest box! Baby pictures to come soon<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m happy that I took so many photos of the female Eastern Bluebird. I chose these images to share today.<\/p>\n

The female Eastern Bluebird leaves behind at least three chicks, maybe more.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Eastern Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve and I have some sad news today: the mama Eastern Bluebird at Steve’s nest box is no more. The last time we saw her at the nest box was Sunday evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13950,27,14094,13951],"tags":[4004,13965,5552,5933,4880,6577,5729,4068,4142,14096,4070,1130,6583,4062,9382,2138,2279,5265,14883,2139,4104,14934,4046,4106,13964,14095,3901,165,3844,4881,4427,6707,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-127842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-eastern-bluebirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-arkansas","tag-bill","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-branches","tag-caterpillar","tag-chicks","tag-close-up","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-female","tag-food","tag-leaves","tag-male","tag-mated","tag-mates","tag-nest-box","tag-oak","tag-oak-tree","tag-pair","tag-perched","tag-portait","tag-portrait","tag-prey","tag-sebastian-county","tag-sialia-sialis","tag-spider","tag-spring","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-tree","tag-up-close","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t