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Male Bluebirds Fighting For The Lady!
Male Bluebirds Fighting For The Lady!
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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2021-06 (Standard Editing)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM
Location: Home
Date: Jun 2, 2021
Date Uploaded: Jun 2, 2021

 This has been an usual spring in my backyard. The male hummingbirds came early and were particularly more aggressive. The first brood of bluebirds also came early. Four eggs hatched. One of the fledglings died in the birdhouse the day they left the nest. In my other bird house there were five eggs layed a few weeks after the first brood had left. Right around the time I expected those eggs to hatch I noticed some bluebird feathers on the ground and later realized neither the mother or father was entering the birdhouse. I read that if one of the parents was killed then the other will abandon the nest. That is apparently what happened as the eggs did not hatch. I am wondering if the male was killed by a hawk which I have noticed in the area.
Only a few days later (which is unusual) I noticed as many as 4 or 5 male bluebirds and a few females flying all around my backyard checking out the birdhouse with the unhatched eggs and the other birdhouse as well. The males became particularly aggressive. One of the males had chosen a mate and was defending the empty birdhouse. Several fights ensued. They were so intent they did not notice I had set up my tripod and was photographing them from about 30 feet away. Ultimately the dominant male prevailed and the female had begun to lay eggs. In the other birdhouse a male had covered the unhatched eggs with nesting material in hopes of attracting a female. None have appeared. I’m wondering if the tremendous abundance of cicadas in my backyard has caused a change in the behavior of the birds. There are literally thousands in the trees and ground at different phases of development and are a food source for the birds that are interested.
Five eggs were layed in the new nest. A few days later I found the eggs on the ground with holes pecked in the side. Again another mystery:( the saga continues as the other birdhouse now has 5 new eggs. I hope this brood will survive.

Statistics
Place: 14 out of 46
Avg (all users): 6.0714
Avg (participants): 6.1579
Avg (non-participants): 5.8889
Views since voting: 380
Views during voting: 48
Votes: 28
Comments: 3
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Sony Alpha a1 II
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
 07/08/2021 09:16:59 PM
Nice capture. Too bad about the noise (although I gave it an 8) Topaz denoise does a great job, by the way.

As to the eggs being thrown out of the house -- both house sparrows and house wrens may pierce the eggs and throw them out. House wrens are native, and should be allowed to nest, but house sparrows are invasive and may be removed.

I actually had a house wren nest a couple of years ago, and that was a blast because the babies were voracious -- so the parents were coming in with bugs every 2 minutes or so. It was great fun to see what types of insects they would bring!

Make sure that you have baffles on the poles. Snakes are a big predator of bluebird houses. So you want to make sure they can't reach it from other bushes, trees, etc, and that they can't climb the pole.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO M.Zuiko Digital ED
 07/08/2021 08:24:09 PM
what a fantastic moment you have captured .. made all the more interesting by your blurb ..
you seem to have a lot of wildlife going on in your yard .. i sometimes throw out birdseed which attracts the magpies, and parrot type birds .. but i have a small live-in bird chaser so getting a shot would be challenging atm .. we shall see .. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WR
 07/08/2021 01:43:04 PM
Unfortunate amount of noise mars an otherwise compelling image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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