How Are Young Bluebirds Raised?

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Andy Wood, I'm education director for Audubon North Carolina, and I am here to talk about how are bluebirds raised. Bluebirds are cavity nesting birds that build their nest inside abandon woodpecker cavities, or even in home made bluebird boxes. The young are both are all raised by both parents, the male and female participate in nest building. The female conducts most of the incubation though, which last about twelve to fourteen days. That whole time during incubation the male is off looking for food to bring back to feed the female. They form a very tight pair bond during this period, and even afterward. The young hatch out of the eggs basically without feathers, they are blind, their eyes are still closed so they completely depend on their parents for food. And their food is partially digested caterpillars and insects primarily. Not very much seed or fruit. The bluebird is an insect eating bird primarily. So both parents are bring food to the offspring, and that period of their life in the cavity being taken care of by both parents takes about seventeen to twenty-two days. And after that period the young leave the nest as what we call fledglings. They leave the nest and hop around the ground, or climb up into shrubs and bushes trying to stay away from predators. And the parents continue to take care of them even when they are on the ground. Once they leave the nest the female may start building a whole new nest getting ready to start a second brood, while the father is off teaching the parents how to find food, how to hunt for themselves. And that is how bluebirds are raised."