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Some guy has decided that the small field/meadow where my bluebirds arr nesting is a great place to train his retrievers. They run all over the place barking each day. Should I worry or are bluebirds more tolerant than I think? I guess I can forget mesdowlarks and bobolinks.
Since this field is a public area – there would not be much you could do about someone else using it. But to answer your question, I believe blues are more tolerant than we think. AT LEAST, once they have a nest & eggs. I remember the very first (or 2nd) year of my bluebirding, I had a nest & eggs in our back yard, fairly close to our home. We had to have the roof shingled that year and the old roof had to be taken off, and you never heard the like of noise & goings on. I panicked, thinking that mama would be scared off from incubating, but after a little fluttering around she went back to her duties.
P.S. Right now this morning I have the owner of a large hayfield which is adjacent to my yard, spraying the field for something – maybe liquid fertilizer or something, hopefully not herbicide. Well he has a right to do this, but 2 years ago he sprayed a powerful herbicide and it severely damaged about 10 of our big trees & plants. They sprayed on a very windy day and the stuff drifted onto our property. (We had to contact him and get an agreement/down payment on any permanent damage – the next year these items did survive so he was not out any money) Very close to this property line is where I have two BB boxes, so I get worried. There are no eggs or babies at this time; however, I noticed the blues got out of that area today when they heard the equipment. We don’t always have control of things we want. Good luck!I agree bluebirds can be awfully tolerant. We don’t give them enough credit sometimes.
That said maybe you could approach him if is a supper regular occurrence? Just let him know what the boxes are for and request he not disturb the boxes directly or move slightly away from the boxes if possible.
Our local Riverwalk has people, dogs, children, bicycles, etc constantly and the Bluebirds nest along the trail. There are tons of boxes. It is actually a trail IN HONOR OF or IN MEMORY OF and they are successful every year. I do believe bluebirds are more tolerant of people than other birds. Sometimes I am out on my patio and the bluebirds will fly in to the dogwood and chatter until I feed them. I also have a friend who has hand fed adult bluebirds in her yard in the past. They get use to you………I call mine in every morning and they come just clockwork.
Lexi
VirginiaHow do you call them? whistle or other method?
I Feed our BB meal worms and it would be nice to have them nearby when I come out with the worms.
Dale
Very tolerant once they have settled in and get to know your routine and those of the neighbors. My neighbors on both sides of my house have dogs that bark at squirrels and birds in the trees. The blues have become used to the noise and they sit on top of the box, in the nest, on the shepherds hook, etc. and do not seem to mind the commotion. They will spook if something startles them – such as me opening the slider to walk out onto my deck without checking to see if they are nearby but if I am quiet, walk slowly, and don’t make quick movements they are okay.
David
David
Stafford, VA
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