E. Bluebird mystery in several chapters; setting prairie shortgrass ecosystem (Bldr Cnty)
132 views
Skip to first unread message
Linda Andes-Georges
Jul 8, 2026, 2:19:55 PM (2 days ago) Jul 8
to Naturenet BCNA BCAS, Co-birds
Hello to all the bluebird lovers. I need specialized help solving this puzzlement (calling bluebird monitors like Carol McC!):
On June 24 I began to be aware of bluebird singing and ID'd it as Eastern thanks to learning the song years ago from Christian Nunes. I was excited: We have never had a bluebird of ANY kind here-- didn't even have them on our yardlist. This one was (trumpets!) species #128.
June 25 I realized that although the bird was singing all over the general area, he was favoring our yard. Jean-Pierre got some decent photos, I got an adquate recording. We were increasingly intrigued.
June 26 In the morning I happened to notice the little singer had a female companion. She inspected a swallow nestbox very briefly (less than a minute); then exited and flew away. Not to be seen again (by now I was paying close attention to all this) for 2 days. However when I inspected the nestbox that evening, there was already one small blue egg inside!
June 27 highly motivated, I was keeping a sharp lookout from this day on. No female but the male was singing up a storm (beautiful song).
June 28 another extremely brief sighting of a female.
June 29 early a.m. I checked the nestbox. There were now 2 eggs. But no more female this day, that I could see. Male singing a bit less.
June 30 ditto
July 1 ditto; male really ranging further abroad and not singing much in the yard
July 2 -3 ditto; by now I was thinking that the "ghost" female was a very immature or exhausted (from a previous brood) mom
July 4 hardly glimpsed the male at all
July 5 ditto
July 6 the male sat on nearby fence a while; no views of female
July 7 checked the nestbox in the evening; there were now 3 matching eggs, all somewhat warm.
July 8 observing nestbox obsessively. No views of male or female before 1 pm when I became busy.
?????
On June 24 I began to be aware of bluebird singing and ID'd it as Eastern thanks to learning the song years ago from Christian Nunes. I was excited: We have never had a bluebird of ANY kind here-- didn't even have them on our yardlist. This one was (trumpets!) species #128.
June 25 I realized that although the bird was singing all over the general area, he was favoring our yard. Jean-Pierre got some decent photos, I got an adquate recording. We were increasingly intrigued.
June 26 In the morning I happened to notice the little singer had a female companion. She inspected a swallow nestbox very briefly (less than a minute); then exited and flew away. Not to be seen again (by now I was paying close attention to all this) for 2 days. However when I inspected the nestbox that evening, there was already one small blue egg inside!
June 27 highly motivated, I was keeping a sharp lookout from this day on. No female but the male was singing up a storm (beautiful song).
June 28 another extremely brief sighting of a female.
June 29 early a.m. I checked the nestbox. There were now 2 eggs. But no more female this day, that I could see. Male singing a bit less.
June 30 ditto
July 1 ditto; male really ranging further abroad and not singing much in the yard
July 2 -3 ditto; by now I was thinking that the "ghost" female was a very immature or exhausted (from a previous brood) mom
July 4 hardly glimpsed the male at all
July 5 ditto
July 6 the male sat on nearby fence a while; no views of female
July 7 checked the nestbox in the evening; there were now 3 matching eggs, all somewhat warm.
July 8 observing nestbox obsessively. No views of male or female before 1 pm when I became busy.
?????
nic korte
Jul 8, 2026, 10:43:51 PM (2 days ago) Jul 8
to Co-birds
On June 27, NE of Collbran at about 7000 ft I encountered a hen turkey and eleven chicks. The chicks were about the size of feral pigeons in height. I suspect these chicks had to have been at least two weeks old, meaning hatching
would have been about June 14. This was a rural road and they fluttered across.
Today, July 8, about 10 miles away and at approximately the same elevation, I encountered another hen turkey and chicks standing on the side of a well-traveled paved road. If you have picked up a wild turkey egg, then you can visualize
the size of these chicks. Hatching must have been yesterday if not early this morning. Thus, it was interesting to observe at least a three-week range in hatching.
I stopped the car about five feet from the hen. She ran across the road as the tiny chicks followed. One did not make it. It was lying in the middle of the road flopping about as most of you have seen when a creature has been hit
by a car. I watched. The hen ran back, stuck its beak within a few inches of the chick as if to sniff it, then whirled and ran back to the rest of her brood. Obviously, she had made the calculation that endangering herself in the middle of a paved road to
save one chick with seven safely waiting for her was a bad plan. She began ushering them up a small embankment. I suspected the chick had stumbled and rolled onto its back and simply did not have the physical competence to right itself. I ran out and scooped
it into my cap and took it to the roadside. Part of the reason it could not flip over is that it was so fat! It raced up the hill and caught up with its family.
Nic Korte, Grand Junction
linda hodges
Jul 9, 2026, 12:51:28 PM (yesterday) Jul 9
to nic korte, Co-birds
Oh my gosh, Nic. What a great story! You are a hero for picking up that chick when mom wasn't even willing to roll it over. You'd make a good mother hen.
Linda Hodges
Conservation Chair
Aiken Audubon
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cob...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/MN6PR11MB817288152F530B12EE7716DEF7FE2%40MN6PR11MB8172.namprd11.prod.outlook.com.
Brenda Beatty
Jul 9, 2026, 4:09:05 PM (22 hours ago) Jul 9
to linda hodges, nic korte, Co-birds
I agree with Linda!
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CABW16TkBsjGgpsiAzJQEZLNPdpPNigLcVR6AqrteE2m%2Bc_39Aw%40mail.gmail.com.
Paula Hansley
Jul 9, 2026, 6:38:52 PM (19 hours ago) Jul 9
to linda hodges, nic korte, Co-birds
Two days ago I saw a turkey family along the Coal Creek trail: two parents and 6 tiny chicks (about the size of a pickleball)! Could this be a second brood?
Paula Hansley
Louisville
On Thu, Jul 9, 2026 at 10:51 AM linda hodges <hiker...@gmail.com> wrote:
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CABW16TkBsjGgpsiAzJQEZLNPdpPNigLcVR6AqrteE2m%2Bc_39Aw%40mail.gmail.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages