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I had given up on my Bluebird pair since something got newly hatched babies from the last clutch. (We moved the nest box and changed the baffle to a wobbling stovepipe after that.)
I hadn’t seen them at all since then but yesterday they were back and Mama was busy building a nest! Yay! I feel good about the location and the baffle now but I’m worried about Bluejays. I have A LOT of bluejays around this year and I’ve heard of them killing nestlings.What can I do to protect the nestlings from them? Thanks!
-Martha
Hi Martha,
The best deterrent for avian predators is the addition of a hole guard installed over the main entry. If you’re not familiar with these, you can see a picture of one in the article that Gin wrote for my website: http://nestboxbuilder.com/nestbox-predator-controls.html#holeguards
Also, if the Bluebird builds an extremely tall nest, you can remove some of the nesting material from the bottom to increase the distance from the entry to nest.
Fred
Waleska, GA
NestboxBuilderI’ve never heard of blue jays being an issue, Martha. They raid open nests not nestboxes. I have tons at my house and they are not an issue. House Sparrows and House Wrens are an issue though.
Tammy
Thanks Tammy! That makes me feel so much better! I’ve never had a problem with them either but after the attack on the last clutch I am super paranoid and want to make sure nothing like happens again.
Thankfully we don’t have house wrens or house sparrows in this area.-Martha
Martha, do what Fred said. He’s right on target.
Lucky you! NO HOSP or HOWR! How did you manage that?
Gin
Atlanta, GAI have tons of bluejays and no problems from them. Sialis does say they can be predators, though. I keep my seed feeders in the front and just the blues in the back but they jays and cardinals still cruise through once in a while with no issues so far…
Where did you find that Lisa? All I saw was that blue jays will steal mealworms and attack adults. Mockers and sometimes Robins even do the same thing. By attack I don’t believe she means kill but just harass. Is that what you saw?
Tammy
I have a mocking bird that I affectionately call “bully bird.” That bird chases my poor blues away from the meal worms. He just enjoys harassing everyone! I tried buying one of those meal worm feeders that is enclosed in plexiglass with bluebird sized holes on each side, but the blues never took to it. It just sits there with a bunch of dried out meal worms in it. My blues aren’t picky either. They eat dried meal worms.
Susan
PennsylvaniaThanks for the input everyone. I don’t normally feed my Bluebirds but was planning to start. Now I don’t know…
-Martha
Tammy, I swear I saw it on Sialis.org. Will double check!!! Hope I’m wrong. My bluejays never even harass my bluebirds…
Tammy, just double checked and it’s on the predator chart on Sialis. For missing bluebird eggs. Never had a problem though personally…
My yard is crazy with blue jays. Like Lisa, I have bird feeders in the front yard, but my bluebird house is way in the back. I only put seed out from December-March (basically during the snowy months). I have never seen a blue jay anywhere near my blue birds.
Susan
PennsylvaniaThey have definitely never shown interest in harassing mine either. They don’t try to get in the mealworm feeders. Mockingbirds are my biggest bullies at the worm feeder. We don’t have Robins here so one less harassment source…
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