|
![]() |
|
Bluebirds Love MealwormsThe bird of happiness in the garden
I had heard that mealworms might help persuade bluebirds to stay. I placed an order.
Within an hour The weather was drizzly, and I hadn't seen a bluebird all day. I picked up a few of the inch-long mealworms and took them out to the birdhouse. They were dry and smooth, but they did wiggle.
An hour later I noticed a female bluebird standing on the birdhouse roof. She cocked her head to study the pale yellow mealworms, and then she picked one up in her bill and swallowed it. After she'd eaten several, her mate flew in and ate some too.
She waited while I deposited the mealworms. And before I got back to my house she was eating them. After she demonstrated that it was safe, the male came and ate mealworms too. Bluebirds move in
When the eggs hatched, I started putting out more mealworms. If I put them on the table next to where I was sitting, the bluebirds came to get them.
The babies thrived and are living their own lives now. Of course, I cannot claim to know what bluebirds think. But a couple of wild bluebirds came to regard me as a friend. We bridged a gap, to the immense satisfaction of us both. -- Diane Cooledge Porter © 2016 Diane Porter
|
|
|
|
|