Bluebird Nestbox Trail Notes:

Bluebird eggs a rare white color instead of the usual blue

In 2003 when one of our board members first saw that the eggs in a trail nest box were white (actually a delicate pinkish-white), they thought the eggs were Tree Swallow eggs, except that they were a little too big. So then the nest box was observed for a time and it was realized that there was a Bluebird pair in attendance! After doing a little research it was discovered that, though uncommon, some Bluebird eggs are white.

The female producing the eggs usually chooses the same box and also nests 3 times per nesting season. Our board member has read that if a female lays white eggs once, she will always do so--there is a malfunction in egg production at the stage where color is added to the shell. Apparently this does not affect the embryo or its development. This particualr female Bluebird has been lucky enough to have had all of her eggs hatch in the past--she is currently incubating her 2nd clutch of the season (as of 7/7/2007). It is not yet certain if this is a tendancy that she may pass to her female offspring but she is our board member's only white egg-layer to date. The trail is in Frederick County, MD.

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Dec 2007 Remote nest box night vision cam is setup in an MBS board member's nest box. It is not nesting season but many birds are investigating the nest box that has been up for less than a month. The photos were taken by a motion-detection trigger.

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12/2007 photos:

Bluebird looks into the nest box. This one might be a female.

Bluebird tests the fit of the entrance. It might be a male.

Male House Sparrow goes into the nest box and looks around.

Starling peeks into the nest box but it's too large to get in.

1/2008 photos:

Downy Woodpecker peeks into the nest box. The original camera was switched with one that has brighter infrared lights (which are invisible to the birds).

Chickadee enters the nest box. It might have noticed the new MBS welcome banner on one of the walls.

Chickadee enters the nest box and looks around the floor.

Unidentified bird looks into the nest box. The unusual beak (red arrow points to it) looks somewhat like that of a Crossbill.

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Maryland Bluebird Society - Updated 2/3/2008 11:00 AM EST.