May Bluebird Update

It has been an interesting few weeks watching the Bluebird nesting box. They had laid some eggs in the box, despite the back and forth activity with the Chickadees. However, something, possibly a raccoon, got to the eggs. The next day, we installed a raccoon baffle on the pole. Since that time, there was a House Wren who came in and completely dismantled the Bluebird nest but never really nested in there. Over the past few days, I have witnessed the male Bluebird spending a lot of time on the nesting box and going in and out of it, though I haven’t seen the female in it or on it. I see her around the yard and at the feeders. Yesterday, I saw her on the ground, with her wings spread out and I thought something terrible had happened to her. My heart skipped a beat and I headed out there to see if she was still alive. Turns out she was just fine! She flew up onto a branch, cleaned some feathers, then went back to the ground and did more of the wing spreading. I went to my computer and googled this behavior and learned she could have been doing something called “anting” where they are on the ground (probably over an ant hill) and they spread their wings out to collect ants on them. The ants then eat the parasites from the bird’s feathers! There really is a lot I don’t know about Bluebirds but I love learning about them! I still get so excited when I see them on the feeders!