Michelle,

Done, Universal Precautions (gloves, at least), double Zip
Locked and in the freezer.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I was going to remove the
bird but hesitated not knowing the habits. I could not believe
it could play 'possum'! But, what do I know? I only took
very brief looks.

Definitely a male. Beautiful color. Eggs are pale blue, five
of them and all are similar in color and size. How would a
person determine that the eggs are viable. Should they be
removed, also?

This is also a question to the list --- Who is doing the work
that Michelle mentioned?

Bob Taylor
Sumner, WA
taylorrt at msn.com



-----Original Message-----
From: MBlanchrd at aol.com <MBlanchrd at aol.com>
To: taylorrt at email.msn.com <taylorrt at email.msn.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 6:40 PM
Subject: Re: ???Western Bluebirds and incubating strategy???


>In a message dated 5/4/99 2:15:14 PM PST, taylorrt at email.msn.com writes:
>
>> Any comments or suggestions?
>
>REMOVE THE DEAD BIRD ASAP. I am wondering if the eggs are alive. Are you
>sure it's a male? Male bluebirds don't brood the eggs. Sometimes females
will
>superclutch, meaning, they'll share a nest box. I'd take the body out and
>perhaps pop it into a plastic ziplock bag and then into the freezer. Don't
>handle the bird barehanded, if it's dead of salmonella, that disease can be
>transmitted both to other birds as well as to YOU! Wash your hands well
after
>handling the bird, and don't handle other birds until you've cleaned up.
>THen put out a request for information..I think there's a UW biologist
who's
>seeking samples of dead birds for culturing salmonella. I can't remember
his
>name.
>
>What color are the eggs? Bluebird eggs are sky blue, sometimes flecked
with
>brown. Sometimes they can even be white, but that's uncommon. If they're
>white bluebird eggs, they'll ALL be white. If there's several blue eggs
and
>ONE white with brown flecks on it, that one is a cowbird egg. Don't dispose
>of it...give it a hell of good hard shake. This kills the embryo. Then put
>it back into the nest. If a cowbird comes back to parasitize the nest,
she'll
>see the cowbird egg in it and leave it alone.
>Good luck!
>Michelle