A Pair of Bluebirds

Male Bluebird

The male bluebird just flew in to wait for me to put mealworms in the feeder.

He's peering down at Sarah the dog who just walked under the tree.

Female Bluebird

The female is getting ready to go into the feeder to get some mealworms. The feeder is designed so that other large birds cannot fit inside to take the worms. If I place the worms in a dish birds like the Northern Mockingbird and the Robin will be aggressive and won't let the Bluebirds near the dish.

Here she is flying out the other side of the feeder with a mealworm.

New Shipment of Mealworms

I had to order 5,000 mealworms which came in this cloth bag packed with newspaper. The ones I have been trying to raise since last Spring are slowly reproducing. Once you have the worms/larvae stage, they are kept in a tub with cornmeal, oats, wheatbran, etc. They will develop into 4 stages: larvae turns into the pupa, then the pupa will then become a beetle, then the beetle lays the eggs which then develops into the worm/larvae again. The beetles do not fly and the worms cannot crawl out of the tubs. Mealworms are only a treat for bluebirds and they just love them. Bluebirds diet consists of insects and in the winter months they will eat berries to survive and a suet mixture with chopped fruit.

These 5,000 mealworms actually will be gone soon, with some already changing into the pupa stage. I put some in the refrigerator because they will go dormant and can be kept for about 2 weeks. Hopefully my worms will be ready in a few weeks before all of the new ones are gone.

It is really not as gross and it looks.