Hey Mark! I’m in Louisiana, my baby bluebird just left the nest! The parents are feeding them because they come get some worms and fly to my oak tree! I cleaned out the house, but it looks like they are going in and out another bluebird house in my yard! What should I do! 🤷🏻♂️
The adults will only help the young out for a couple of weeks and they start looking for their next nesting site. It is good survival instincts to move your nesting locations and it sounds like that is what they are doing. Too much time in one location increases the chance of being located by a predator. They may return to the original box for their third nesting or perhaps next season. Keep up the monitoring!
Hello Mark. I purcjased your mealworm feeder. I should received the live mealworms in the next few days. Can you please tell me how to store live mealworms as I have no idea? I purchased them to attract Orioles but I'm glad to learn that other birds will enjoy them as well. Just don't know how to store them and keep them alive. Don't think my wife will allow me to put them in the refrigerator might freak her out. Lol
Unfortunately, they do need to be kept in the refrigerator. They should come in a container that is safe for both you ou and them in the fridge. It depends on how many you put out for them each day. They can be kept for up to two weeks before they need to be “fed “.
What feeder do you recommend for offering live meal worms to our visiting Hooded Orioles? PS. They absolutely love your favorite jelly/oranges/nectar feeder. I have read that I should stop feeding them jelly after April. Any truth to that? Thank you for your great content, keep up the great work. Cheers.
Some just gradually replace the jelly in the divots the jelly was in. There are so many good mealworm feeders. If you are going to feed live mealworms, you will need a feeder with slick sides. My favorite is the Droll Yankee X-1.
Could you do a program on how to identify if Nyjer/thistle seed is still good and what to look for when buying Nyjer/thistle seed to be sure it’s good quality? I purchased some from a big box store and nothing seems to be interested in it, which is a little upsetting since the price is so high.
Mark’s Backyard Birds , Mark , this is my second year of feeding live mealworms once the babies arrive , however I do put out dried mealworms rest of the year . Our bluebirds use the bluebird house feeder once they caught on . My question is at what age do the fledglings learn to use the bluebird box ? Last year the whole brood would come and eat the dried mealworms on the platform. Of course now I just have the parents with the five babies . Not sure if it’s the same pair but had four last year . Thanks Mark for sharing your knowledge of birds
That is a tricky question to answer. I have said many times, I don't think bluebirds are the smartest birds and it can take them a long time to catch on to things. It is good that you have the adults going in and out of the box feeder. Hopefully the young will learn from them. The movement of the live worms entice the young and the adults.
I am feeding my blue birds dried black solider larvae, and my question is will it hurt the nestling? Do I need to hydrate them before feeding them? Because they seem to love them so much they eat nothing else.
@@MarksBackyardBirds I not talking about hydrating the baby blue birds sorry for not making it clear. My blue birds took over a purple martin nests I just installed. There parents are the ones hooked on my dried black solider larvae. I was trying to attract purple martins and had pack some of the 16 compartments full of dried larvae. The nest is 15 foot in the air. I had also installed blue bird boxes and had a feeder full of larvae next to them. At the time it was just a lone male blue bird and he was checking them out as well but unknowingly the he moved into the purple martin house. When he moved to the purple martin house must be when he found a mate. There parent's would be the ones feeding them the larvae. They already laid eggs n the purple martin house so it"s to late to move them. I don't want to harm the babies by feeding the parents dried larvae. So I am asking if it would be ok the hydrate the larvae before feeding the parents. We do have clean drinking water.
The “rehydration” process should be good for the adults and young. I understand warm water in a shallow container is the preferred technique. Hopefully, the martins will still use the box.
@MarksBackyardBirds Thank you I always fed seed eating birds. This is the first time I fed insect eating birds. So I know nothing about them . For the purple Martin's I have gourds coming. This way if a bird other then a purple Martin moves in can move them.
It is not at this time but we do have them at the store. We are upgrading out Shopify software and expanding the online store in the next month. You can call the store directly and purchase it over the phone. 816-746-1113. Backyard Bird Center.
