how sad 😪..bluebirds come to my backyard..I don't know what would've caused your bluebird's death..

I came to this forum for the same reason. In the past two days I have found 4 dead in my yard. And we too, had historically low temps and windchills last week. I keep a big population of bluebirds year round normally. I feed them expensive meal worms and suet. I’m praying it was the rare temps that got them and not sickness. I’m so sad.

I don't know what to think. We've now had three dead. And that's only the one's we've found, I worry. I'm guessing maybe since we haven't had any extended periods of cold like we did this year, in many years, HU. It just breaks my heart!

I found another in one of my bluebird boxes yesterday, and my father-in-law found 3 dead together in one of his boxes. I talked with an Arkansas State Park Superintendent I know personally, she did some research and said there are folks all over finding dead birds in their yard. Definitely the cold. Here's to hoping the populations can rebound. I literally kept 15+ in my backyard normally, and have only seen 3 yearlings since this happened. There are other birds I haven't noticed coming back to my feeders yet too, Blue Jays, doves, the majority of my cardinals, chickadees, etc. I'm worried about all of them. So sad.

I think your pics are fine. I have had birds hit there heads on my large windows. You can put peel ons or stickers on the windows. From the inside to us all we see are the see through decals, but the birds see a predator bird and stay away from the windows.

I would call my local bird club, wildlife groups or university extension with an ornithology department. They may kn something or your reports could alert them to this issue.

debra

I'm not sure where all of you are from, but with climate change, I'm thinking rather than our severe cold killing off the bluebirds, they will probably learn to go to warmer places for the winter. We used to never have them around here in winter in Central Indiana, but several years they started showing up more. Who knows. I think a lot of things will change with the patterns of animals/birds as climate change progresses. (I fear it's already a bit late to correct it, but hopefully not). I live in a very wooded area, but still with these incredible cold temps, I almost started thinking about building small straw bale constructs that maybe would help animals. I don't know how low birds would roost, and how close to other animals they would be. We have a small barn. I suppose I could put heat lamps in there in hopes of it helping the birds. We do leave lots of piles of branches around. How sad to see dead bluebirds. :(

I fear that much of what you have to say is true. Just as we see bird populations decline due to habitat loss (the number one cause of bird population decline), we are likely already seeing changes due to climate change. It seems almost everything in the natural world is changing due to climate control. :-(

debra

That's so sad. I'm so sorry for them. I like birds too, so I bought a birdhouse for the bluebirds from our yard. I bought it from this site https://trimthatweed.com/best-bluebird-houses/. And now there are living a lot of beautiful bluebirds. My father likes to make different stuff out of wood, it's his hobby, but he is only a beginner, and recently he made a doghouse. He teaches my brother how to work with wood and tools, my brother also seems to like this. But my hobby is to take care of animals and birds, so I feed birds with corn seeds and sunflower seeds. Sometimes I give them some berries. I'm helping them as much as I can.

It is likely neonics are more of a threat to birds (and bees) than either climate change or habitat loss.

https://abcbirds.org/neonics

tj

tj..thanks for the information..what a sad situation..

Yes, thanks tj, it is quite a devastating read.

debra

Sometimes I feel that humans aren't good for the planet. :(

Maybe my comment is inappropriate here, but it saddens me constantly, how much we're destroying natural habitats. Not sure what can be done on a large scale to prevent total destruction. I did buy a book once titled "The World Without Us", and it gives an encouraging picture of how nature would repair itself around all of our destruction. Nature will always prevail.....eventually. Sorry for the negative attitude. The growth in my area is out of control. I live in the country, but living in the middle of farmland isn't safe anymore. 10 years ago, 1,700 acres of farmland was sold to developers and now it's a new city just 10 miles south of me. So sad. How do you raise your spirits and have hope, when all around you seems to be destruction?

I too saw bluebirds for the first time this February in my yard. Just for a few days. I doubt I'd be able to get them to nest here due to the competition, but I am going to put up some bluebird houses anyway. At least they could provide shelter for migrants maybe. And some other cavity nester will hopefully utilize them in spring and summer. I also started putting out mealworms for the first time this winter for the bluebirds. All you can do is all you can do. Join a conservation organization like Audubon, and vote with your dollars and ballot for conservation oriented businesses and policies. And if you do landscape your yard to kick it up a notch for the birds, they will utilize it, so you are doing your part. And frankly, neighbors see that and some jump on the bandwagon and follow your lead.