First Few Days of Freedom

Sammy has been free for 5 days now and is still doing wonderfully!  He seems to act just like any other fledgling Eastern Bluebird...except for the fact that he likes to land on us and have "cuddle-time".

Sammy in his "favourite" maple tree

He's been coming in for a free breakfast of mealworms and other bugs around 7:45am, flying out of a tree pretty much as soon as he sees me on the lawn.  Yesterday morning, he was calling from his tree perch when I came outside and within seconds, he was on the platform feeder in full begging mode.

We had a flock of Common Grackles come in to the front yard trees this morning which sent Sammy flying off right away.  He's also showing some signs of being territorial over the yard. He chased off a White-breasted Nuthatch yesterday from the seed feeders into the woods, the two of them zig-zagging among the trees.  And today, it was a Black-capped Chickadee's turn to be evicted from the yard by Sammy.  Both birds are competitors for cavity nesting sights for Eastern Bluebirds, and maybe somehow Sammy knows this and is trying to keep them out of his territory.  He seems to have favourite perching spots: one is a fairly big dead limb on the big maple tree overlooking the grass area by the pond, the second one is a fairly bare branch on a beech tree on the front lawn.

Sammy sitting quietly on a dead maple limb

He caught a big wolf spider that was hanging down from a maple branch and took it to a driftwood post in the garden where he proceeded to bash it until he was satisfied it was ready to eat.  We've also observed him catch and eat small brown ants on the ground, a couple small worms and some unknown bugs while in the air, so he is providing for himself as well as being supplemented by us with small green caterpillars, grasshoppers, moths and of course, his beloved mealworms.

This afternoon, Sammy landed on my shoulder and sat there contentedly, so I took him for a walk around the backyard to show him the perching posts Frank had put up for him to hunt from.  Eastern Bluebirds like to hunt from elevated perches like hydro lines, fence posts and bare tree branches. So just like the ropes Frank hung in the front yard to imitate hydro lines, these perching posts were to provide him with more spots to hunt from.  He flew onto one of the perching posts and sat there for about 10 minutes while I worked in the vegetable gardens nearby.  He flew down to the garden and ate a bug while I was there, then back onto my shoulder, so I took him over to the dogwood shrubs where there are tons of big black ants and small brown ones and showed them to him.  He hopped right down and had himself a little feast, then flew off into the edge of the woods.

Preening on one of his favourite branches

Later this afternoon, we saw him perched on the deck railing in a light drizzle, wing quivering and calling softly.  He was facing the door, which makes me think he knows this is one of the places we come out from.  I took him out some mealworms and he ate 9 of them with gusto before flying off again.  In the early evening, he landed on Frank on the deck, making himself quite comfortable in the hood of his sweatshirt..we thought he was going to go to sleep as he stayed in the hood for about 10 minutes, just resting quietly.  All of these interactions are initiated by Sammy, with a little bit of us calling to him sometimes.  He chooses to come to us and seems to enjoy being close.  For us, this has been a truly wondrous experience - having this beautiful little bird, who is completely in charge of his own life now, trust us and want to be with us.

If you look closely, you can see the vivid blue feathers just starting to show on his shoulders, as well as the rusty breast feathers starting to develop. 

Sammy having some quiet time in Frank's hood

Just before dark, Sammy did some ground hunting on the gravel driveway - most likely little ants - for about 15 minutes, before he flew up into the beech tree along the driveway for a few seconds, then onto the eaves of the garage where he tucked himself in against the house.  I think he was trying to stay dry as it was drizzling out again, and this was a sheltered, fairly safe place for him.  When I went outside at 10pm, in full darkness, he was still perching there quietly, nice and dry, so I think this is where he is going to spend the night.

Today makes Sammy 49-50 days - still going strong in the wild.

Eating red elderberries and cuddle time

What are you lookin' at??

Sitting pretty

Sammy, the male Eastern Bluebird fledgling, has found a new food he likes:  red elderberries!  Most of his attempts at pulling them of the stem were successful, but a few slipped out of his beak.  He was very interested in them and seemed to enjoy them.

He also tried to catch and eat a moth that was below him on his perch, he managed to pick it up, then he dropped it.  After a few seconds of watching it on the ground, he ignored it.

I've been wondering what Sammy has been hunting on the ground, and today he confirmed it for me, he's catching little, brown ants and eating them.  He spys them from up on his perch and glides down and nabs them.  Incredible eyesight he must have to spot these little ants from up above.

Watching for little brown ants

Sammy has also been "hunting" his mealworms.  I now place some in front of him on his feeding platform and he hops to one and catches it.  I'm trying to help him learn that not all food comes in a little dish.

Preening continues...Sammy is very meticulous about his grooming.  While researching, I learned that birds clean their larger feathers, like flight and tail feathers, by drawing them through their beak, which I have seen Sammy do numerous times.  They also use their beaks to apply oily secretions from their preening (uropygial) gland, which is located on their rump, to their feathers which helps keep their feathers in peak condition. Preening is also done to remove any feather parasites (ughh!) that they may have.

Daily feather maintenance

Amazing how far Sammy can turn his head

When I bring Sammy back inside for the night, I hold him in my cupped hand with my other hand gently over his body and tuck him inside my cardigan as I carry him inside. Once in my bedroom, where his indoor cage is, I open up my cardigan and let him have some flight time.  Tonight, Sammy wasn't interested in flying.  He stayed in my open hand and ate 3 moths and one bite of nestling formula, then settled himself down on his feet and got comfortable.  It had been fairly cool and raining this evening when I brought him in, and I thought maybe he was just trying to get warmed up. So, I moved my hand against my ribs and he tucked himself in close to me beneath the opening of my cardigan and stayed sitting contentedly for about 15 minutes.  Warming up?  Needing comfort?  Or companionship?  I think it was at least one or all of those reasons, and who was I to refuse this sweet little baby blue?

After this "cuddle time", I placed Sammy into his nest for the night and he chattered very quickly for a few seconds, in protest I think, but once I draped the towel over his cage he was soon was quiet for the night.

Today, Sammy is 28-29 days old.

Grasshoppers, baths and begging

Feed me!!

Sammy continues to beg and gape for food, thank goodness!  It was quite a long time waiting for him to start doing this and I'm so glad I don't have to pry his beak open anymore.  I bet he is too!  When he sees me coming to his aviary, he starts chirping, gaping and quivering like crazy.  He readily eats live crickets and grasshoppers, and of course his beloved mealworms.  His nestling formula...not so much, lol.

He also began a new habit of calling and landing on the screen door of the aviary when he's hungry.   I guess he figured out that his meal delivery service (me) comes through that door, lol.

Sammy has enjoyed a couple more baths since my last post, he is a picture of pure, uninhibited pleasure while he bathes.   He dunk his face and breast into his shallow bath and shakes his head back and forth vigorously.  Then he lowers his back end into the water and beats his wings quickly, getting thoroughly soaked.  I'll post a video of bathtime soon!  Sammy's bath is a shallow, clear plastic tray for a plant pot that is lined with small pebbles to give him sure footing.

Playing with a twig in the bath

Sammy makes puts on quite the show when he preens after his bath, flapping  his wings so fast you can barely seem them moving.  He pulls his beak down the length of individual feathers grooming them methodically.

Sammy preening under his wings after a bath

Stretching and drying out his wings

Thoroughly soaked from his bath

Spreading his amazing, vivid blue wings

He has also started drinking little sips of water from either his bath or water dish.  He dips his beak in, gets a couple drops and then tilts his head far back and swallows.

Flying down to the grass is common now, I think he is hunting little brown ants on the ground, but I'm not sure.  He likes to spend a fair amount of time perched on a branch that runs up the side of his aviary facing the seed feeders, just taking in his surroundings and the other birds.  He doesn't seem to like when blue jays come in, they're such noisy birds when they announce their arrival, and Sammy usually flies back up to his sheltered corner perch until they leave.

Watching the sky above him

Cuddling continues to be something Sammy initiates, landing on my shoulder and then tucking himself under my ponytail or against my neck.  He's also a little intrigued by my eyeglasses and pecks them sometimes.

A little cuddle before bed

Today makes Sammy 26-27 days old.

Eastern Bluebird Fledgling Starting to Feed Himself

Sammy has been doing wonderfully the last 3 days, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, and putting up with the rain.  We had heavy rain and thunder a couple of days and he kept himself as dry as he could.  During the majority of the rains, he sat under the shrub in the pot and sometimes on a perch under the corner roof.  These two spots are his favourites actually, rain or shine.

Sammy and his potted shrub

During the first day of heavy rains, I brought him inside after a bit, he was damp and a bit cool out there.  I dried him off with a soft towel and held him in my hands for a bit, then put him back in his indoor cage nestled in the towel.

Sometimes I think he is starting to "wild up" since he frequently backs away from me now when I approach him.  He's fine though, once I pick him up, or encourage him to hop onto my hand, so I can feed him.  And other times, he flies on to my head or shoulder and sits comfortably.  Feeding time is getting better, most of the time now if I gently rub his beak or barely begin to pry it open, he opens up wide all on his own and starts grasping at the food and swallows it.  So, I guess you could call that definite progress, lol.

His flying is still strong and sure, and his feathers don't show any sign of developing "stress bars". Stress bars can appear on feathers when the bird's diet is lacking, so I'm glad he doesn't have any.
His tail is now about 3/4 of an inch long and is a stunning vivid blue, the same as on his primary and secondary wings.  I swear it gets bluer every day. Simply gorgeous! His weight came in at 30 grams tonight, which is perfect!

New foods are becoming a part of his diet now, live moths and red elderberries off the stem.  I've started leaving the porch lights on for a bit at night and then going out to catch moths for him. I'm not going to feed him any bright coloured ones, as I've read that can mean they're toxic or poison.  His first moth, I fed to him with blunt tweezers when he opened his mouth a bit on his own for me.  After that, when I hold a fluttering moth in the tweezers, he pokes at them and tries really hard to get them in his beak and sometimes does.  And today, he actually caught a small live moth on his own off the screen side of his aviary!  His first successful hunt!

Sammy age 22-23 days old in his aviary

He has elderberries on the stem tied onto his perches and has been investigating them.  It's so cute to watch him poke at them and sometimes he succeeds in pulling one off.  Most of them he drops, but he has eaten a few.  After eating, he does some of his own personal hygiene now and wipes the sides of his beak on his perches or on wherever he happens to be. Clean little guy!

Watching the other birds is a favourite passtime of Sammy's now, he doesn't seem disturbed by them in the least, just interested.  Well, except for the blue jays when they come squawking in..then he usually "freezes" where he is, trying to be invisible I think.

Sammy still sleeps indoors in his cage overnight, and stays tucked in his cozy kleenex box until I take his towel off the cage in the morning.  I don't want to leave him outside overnight yet, we have black bears up here and have had a mom and cub around the house a few times this season, so I don't want to risk them knocking over his aviary and freeing him before he's ready.  We also have pine martens, fishers, minks, raccoons, weasels and other critters that I wouldn't want to get in there during the night since he would be trapped in there with them.  I just want to keep him safe for as long as he's in my care.

Today makes Sammy 22-23 days old.

Wing-fluttering today

At 12 to 13 days old, the blue of Sammy's feathers is more vibrant and richer, especially on the bottom part of his wings at the front, the primaries I think they're called.  I am almost positive now that he is a male.  His breast and stomach are almost totally covered in feathers now, with beautiful soft, white spots surrounding by a warm rusty-brown.  He still is fairly bald under his rump though.

He is very alert and watches my movements often.  When Sammy sees my hand, he crawls/hops into it all on his own..is he looking for comfort or safety or just to feel snug I wonder?  My heart says he's looking for a cuddle with his mama (me lol), but my head says he's probably just trying to feel safe and secure, and for him, that means in my hand.  But, I'm going to go with my heart.

He also hopped/crawled into my grand-daughter Tenley's hand today and she held him so tenderfully in her cupped little hands.  She is an animal and nature lover and is a very gentle soul. He seemed perfectly content nestled in her hands...he must have know he was safe with her.

A couple of times today, while on my hand, he clung to my finger with his little claws and perched there. He was very steady with a strong grip. A first!!

Sammy is still eating heartily even though he still won't gape on his own.  It doesn't take a lot of prying, but I wish he would just open his beak on his own.  He is still being fed every 30-35 minutes about 1/2 tsp of nestling food.  I weighed him today and he is a hearty 28-30g, right where he should be.

His wings are developing beautifully, they are getting longer and more open every day. This afternoon, he started fluttering them when he was out of his nest for feedings.  Another first for Sammy today! What a proud mama I was watching him do these two new things.  It's been an amazing and heartwarming experience watching him grow and develop each day.

What a difference a day can make!