In an inauspicious turn of effect , the first nesting attempt for bluebirds behind the Pennsylvania Game Commission ’s Harrisburg , Pa. , headquarters look to have lost out to nature .
“ The first reverse for this nest was when only two of the five eggs hatched , ” say Doug Gross , Game Commission bird watcher . “ While it is not usual for an egg or two of a clutch to fail to hatch , have three fail to hatch appear to have been a harbinger of bad luck for this nest . ”
The Game Commission speculate the fuddled springiness may have play a role in the nest ’s dying .
“ Wet atmospheric condition makes it difficult for adults to find intellectual nourishment and provender [ their ] young , ” says Gross . “ They have to find intellectual nourishment , making them vulnerable to depredation or other kinds of mortality , such as getting hit by a car . The more you have to weave around , the more potential something will get you . ”
While the adult bluebird duet may attempt to re - nest , Gross and other Game Commission biologists agree that the excessively wet spring has been difficult for many kinds of birds and mammals .
“ Mostsongbirds , including bluebird , forage on worm during the nesting time of year , ” Gross says . “ When it is raining on a regular basis , they have greater difficultness finding adequate amounts of food for thought for their immature . The baby bird are very demanding of food , requiring several visits each day . The very young tyke also are poorly insulate with KwaZulu-Natal down , so elongated absence seizure by the adults have in mind that they are unprotected from the moth-eaten , often go bad of exposure if not starvation .
“ If the adults are away longer , the nests and their contents are more vulnerable to depredation from domestic cats left to run liberal , as well aswildlife predators , such as racoon , git , chipmunks , squirrels , opossum , snakes , crows , Corvus corax , jay and hawks . ”
Ground - nesting birds are particularly vulnerable , he say , because unvoiced rain and overspill can overwhelm the exposed eggs or young .
“ prominent - stick nests of some of our raptorial bird are vulnerable to getting soaked and librate down their supporting tree or snag . Some denuded bird of Jove nest tree have been washed away by flood water supply this leaping . High , mirky water make it more difficult for ocular predator , like bald eagles and Pandion haliaetus , to recover their food , cause them to range far from the nest to ply decent food for their new . Some bird of prey tyke starve when their parent can not hunt quarry during bad atmospheric condition . ”
Mary Jo Casalena , Game Commission wild turkey biologist , says wild turkey nests might be impacted from the wet spring , too . Hen turkeys hatch ballock have no choice but to tough out pelting event .
“ Wet hens emit more odor than normal , so mammalian predator , with their keen olfactory good sense , can more easy locate these ‘ smelly ’ hens , and either stimulate the hen to abandon their nests , or in reality kill them on the nests , ” Casalena says . “ Keep in mind that [ for ground - nester ] predation to nest normally is high , and biddy are most vulnerable to deathrate during nesting time of year . ”
John Dunn , Game Commission Game Management Division chief , noted that cavity - nest wood ducks , such as common mergansers and hooded sheldrake , can have their family washed away or flooded by eminent waters .
“ biz birds can re - nest if expiration occur to nests or young , but second - clutch sizes are always lower and nesting achiever is concentrate compare to first nest , ” Dunn says . “ frigid spring accompanied by wet weather have a bigger shock than just high hastiness . Since the meridian of crosshatch is late - May / early - June for turkeys , grouse and pheasants , the weather we have the next couple of weeks will be more important than what take place earlier . ”
Ground - cuddle mammals , such as cottontail rabbit coney , also are affected by exceedingly soaked condition . “Cottontails construct a nest at the bottom of a sloped yap about 7 inches below the primer surface , ” say Tom Hardisky , Game Commission secret plan mammal life scientist . “ neonate are left unattended by the adult female , except for periodical feeding , until the immature allow for the nest at about 2 weeks of age . Cottontail litter swear on body heating system from one another and are particularly vulnerable to flooding rain and high water system tables . female will re - nuzzle if a bedding material is misplace .
“ Most mammalian that multiply in a hideaway will move their neonate to a siccative site . However , many species of small mammal , as well as most gnawer , nest on or below terra firma grade . Some aquatic gnawer in stream habitats , such as muskrat fur , are very susceptible to fatality rate from sudden water system - level rises . Muskrat burrows that quick fill with urine can entrap adult and their immature , causing them to submerge . keep up flooding will move subsist muskrats to new areas , where they may feel food scarceness , greater exposure to disease , or increased predation . ”
conditions - related phenomenon can be problematical on wildlife in the short term but should be observe in view , according to Calvin DuBrock , Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management theatre director .
“ As long as overall populations are healthy and adequatehabitatis maintain on the landscape , there ’s piddling cause for business concern about long - condition issue , ” he says .
