Bluebird Nesting Box Tales 6/26/26 The Best Gift Ever!

My wife got me a Birdfy nesting box with a webcam for Christmas last year. Early this spring, I installed it on the north side of a garden shed in our backyard in central Maine. The unit came with a small solar panel to help keep the camera battery charged. I placed it in a spot with decent morning sun. Aside from a nuthatch poking its head in, we recorded no activity for the first two weeks. The solar charging system didn’t appear to work. By the end of April, the battery was dead and the camera was offline.

In early June, we noticed Eastern bluebirds appeared to move into the box. We were careful to keep our distance and not enter the shed anymore than necessary. Two weeks ago, I peeked in the box and observed a nest in the final stages of construction.

This week, I decided to remove the camera and charge it inside with the plug-in charging wire. I waited until I was pretty sure the box was unoccupied. When I opened the nesting box, inside were five bluebird eggs. I removed the camera. It took two days to recharge it.

This morning, I carefully re-installed the camera in the nesting box and returned to my desk inside to work. With low expectations, I started the Birdfy app in my iPhone. To my surprise, it worked perfectly. I could see four newly hatched baby bluebirds and one egg. A few minutes later, the mother flew in and sat on the nest with the youngsters. Later the father stopped by with some takeout lunch for the mother and she began feeding the babies.

I sat mesmerized by the new neighbors for the next several hours — too distracted to get much actual work done.

A few observations on the first day:

One egg remains unhatched.

The babies are quite active, blind, naked, hungy and helpless. They have bright yellow lips to help the parents accurately deliver food.

The father bird comes about every 20–30 minutes with fresh food and hands it off to the mother.

The mother also leaves every hour or so and returns to sit on the nest and keep the babies warm.

We’ll be monitoring the family for the next few weeks. Hopefully the camera stays charged long enough to see them fledge. Stay tuned for more updates.

Webcam images from 6/26/26. One egg remains unhatched.