Bluebird Story

I have always loved bluebirds.  Their beautiful color and sweet demeanor just seem to fit the perfect bird.  My first memory of bluebirds came when I was a little girl, helping my daddy clean out the tobacco barn burners to get them ready for the summer curing season.   I remember with horror, opening the little glass door to the heater flue and seeing several bluebirds, dead, in the bottom.  I cried and cried and my daddy told me how sorry he was, but the design of the flue pipes lured the birds in and then they weren't able to get out.  "Why couldn't you leave the doors open so they could fly out?" I said.  From that time on, he did, but a lot of other tobacco farmers didn't and the bluebird population in eastern North Carolina took a dive.


John and I have worked hard to restore the bluebird population around our home.  When we first built our house, we used the leftover cypress siding to construct 10 bluebird houses and placed them around the perimeter of the farm.  We have since added many more and would love to know how many birds are descendants from our little project.  But, they have given us more enjoyment than anything we have done for them.

Every year, I clean out the boxes around the first of March and make any necessary repairs, getting them ready for the new breeding season.  I always look forward to watching my birds carefully select a box and build their nest.   Sometimes, house sparrows want to invade and disrupt the building process.  Sparrows will go in and build a nest right on top of baby bluebirds, so I watch them closely to make sure that doesn't happen.

A few years ago, I had a particularly difficult time with one nesting box right near the house.  A sparrow was determined to destroy the bluebird nest and I was determined he would not.  After a few days, the sparrow gave up and my bluebird got her nest in order and laid five beautiful blue eggs.   Gestation period for bluebirds is about two weeks, so I began my watch.  Everyday, when I went out to the pond, I would stop by and make sure the nest was still okay.

One day, I happened to hear the mama bluebird making a terrible fuss.  I looked at the nest and saw her jumping about obviously distressed with something that was going on inside.  As I got closer, I saw the head of a black snake peering out of the entrance.  Oh no, he'll eat my babies, so I ran to the house to get a hoe.  When I returned to the nest, the snake was slithering down the fence post and was gone into the grass before I could take his head off!

I quickly opened the box to see if all my babies had been eaten, and to my shock and surprise.....there was ANOTHER SNAKE in the box.  YIKES!!!   Never expected that!  He soon slid out but I was ready for him.  Don't think he'll eat any more bluebirds.  But, the nest was empty, my babies were gone.  It is so hard sometimes to reconcile your love for certain species and know that they are just part of the food chain and be it a bug or a bluebird, it all fits in the big picture.

And we must all remember, it just comes down to this..... it's a snake eat bluebird world!

PCQ