That is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your success.

This actually rather common. For some reason the first batch was not good. She or he may not be fertile. Clean the whole box out after this result reveals itself. It should be roughly two weeks to hatch, and two weeks to fledge.

Thanks for the comment! These birds are so beautiful!

Black Soldier Fly Larvae is cheaper and are better for the Bluebirds. Plus it's produced in the US.

You are welcome. Thanks for the comment!

They are beautiful

Predator guards are definitely a plus.

Good luck!

Here in the Kansas City region, bluebirds generally nest 3 times per season. Roughly April, June and August. In my yare I typically do not get them in the April nesting but I have had them in June and August. The whole thing with the Peterson box was they were supposed to discourage House Sparrow. Never found them to be effective though.

@@MarksBackyardBirds Yeah, I don't see how it would discourage HS. Especially with the long elongated entry holes. Fortunately I rarely get them in my yard.

I would not make any changes at this point. It may scare them away. They can deal with the heat especially if you have a source of clean water close by.

@@MarksBackyardBirds Thank you so much for responding. She laid her fourth egg today & is now actively incubating. I do have a bird bath close to the box that I maintain with fresh water. The temps are cooler at night, it’s just those afternoon hours of direct sun & high temps I’m concerned about. Here’s hoping for the best🤞🏼

Bluebirds typically nest 3 times per season in our area (April, June and August roughly) Even if they are nesting now, you can still get them later in the season.

It is common for them to place a few pieces of grass in the nest box early in the spring as part of pair bonding. I'm not sure why they would take it back out again. Interesting.

It's seems the female builds more then one nest. Seems she likes to keep her options open until the first egg is laid. The pair will visit all nests until the first egg is laid. I was also surprised to see this happen. The mating ritual is the male will start a building small part of a nest and keep taking parts of it in and out of the nest doing a dance above the nest location to attract females. He will also fend off other males trying to run him off. Once he finds a mate the other males will stop. The female she finishes the nest. I even seen other female bluebirds trying to steal the nest after it is built. The male bluebird run's them off before they can get into the nest. It's pretty interesting to see. I ddn"t even know I had that many bluebirds in the area. The male had 4 other male bluebirds trying to run him off. The reason I know this is because I saw it all happen in front of my kitchen window. The female is now in the egg laying process we think. The reason we don't know is we can't see into the nest she picked. They took over a purple martin nest house on the top floor. It doesn't have access to the nest. All we see now is the male sits on top guarding the nest while the female is in the nest. They are there for only part of the day.

@@gijiette7685 That is so sad. It is a tough world they live in. There are many possible things that could have happened. Best you can do is clean the box out well and hope another pair finds it.

I will give that a try. Thanks!

It is highly likely. They are less committed to nest in the earlier stages and can be scared off more easily. You will want to clean out the nest and egg soon. A male, the same or a different one, will likely try to attract a new female to it. They nest 3 times per season.

It sounds like good habitat. I would place closer to the open space. It could go on the oak tree but I prefer them on a stand alone post.

A great resource is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search# Just enter the bird you want to get pictures of in the search bar.

I would be afraid to attaching it this early in the nesting process. I would wait until she has finished this nest. Do what you can to discourage the cats.

Yes. This customer chose to nail their box into a tree long before they met me. The age of the box is evident in the picture.

While they do nest in urban areas, it is far more challenging for them because of the House Sparrows and starlings.

Predator guards are great but not every house/pole can accommodate them. Devises that extend the the opening can keep raccoons from reaching the nest as well.