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Oh, my goodness – Tammy & Fred – I read this incorrectly and yes, it calls for 1 1/4 to 1 3/8″ for the wire opening!! We have made 3 of these and I checked the one closest to house and it is 1 1/2″ so I’m assuming the rest are, too. I can’t believe we both read this wrong. We will correct this problem by adding another wire just below the present one, which will be no problem. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, BOTH! It is possible the 1st one we made was correct – I haven’t checked yet, but the blues did fledge 5 birds from it last year.
Cher, I have a pergola (large arbor type) in my backyard perennial garden which DH made 10 years ago. The 4×4 posts are cemented into the ground because of its size and all the wind we have, and it has survived lots of storms other items have not here. Maybe longer stakes will help yours.
Just have to post pic of this garden in 2014, as last year was a horrible year for plants & gardens here. If you zoom in you can see it better. Some of my BB boxes are in this area.
Tammy, this is our modified version of the Gilwood – added some additional ventilation slots on each side (shown in the picture above) because my boxes are all in full sun. The front entrance is not shown here, but it is regulation Gilwood on the hole. Also put hinge in the back to make it a top opener, in addition to the front door. Love it this way, because I am just 5′ tall and had to get on step stool with screwdriver to open my older top openers. The top opening allows for taking pictures easier when wanted. The hasps on each side keep the top securely down & tight. I still have two of my older, original 1 1/2″ hole boxes, and this is where my present blues have a nest, but no eggs yet. Seems like HOSP, starlings & TRES like the Gilwood – however, I did have one nest of blues in my 1st Gilwood last year. P.S. I wish my pair would get in gear – they are always about 3-4 weeks later in laying eggs from my previous pair, which is okay because we have had a very cool snap for the past week or more. Saw her put in more nesting stuff, today, so maybe tomorrow she’ll have an egg.
Thanks, Gin, I believe I will do just that. I have never caught a starling in any of my older regular circular hole boxes. Let me tell you when you get a starling in a sack, they are big and wild!! This batch must be smaller juveniles from last season or something. P.S. I have caught numerous HOSP in this box & other boxes, too, this season. The blues did investigate it but I believe have an almost full nest in a box closer to our home, regular style.
Amen to what Cher & Gin say – not just with the plexi-glass but we DO need to report on unsuccessful attempts with our ideas, as well with the successful ones. This is how we learn. More general things might work in one part of the country and not in the other, i.e. box design, shade vs. open, etc.
Cher, you need to move to the Mid-West or warmer!!! Is that an arbor or pergola that fell down from the snow? BUMMER!
Renee, my blues are VERY slow this year also. My first pair which I had about 6 years always had a nest built by mid to late March. This newer pair usually has a nest built by April 6-7, but we have had a very cool snap this past week or more so this may be why they haven’t finished the nest which they have started and are guarding. There is some nesting material but not a lot yet. But they are around, so I have high hopes. Good luck.
Congratulations on the blues’ 3 eggs – my pair are very slow again this year, although we have had a very cool past week, but they do have a nest started and I see them in & out of it. As far as the dried mealworms, I believe there are some people who do have luck with them – but it takes a lot of perseverance on our part. I had not had experience myself with them, as I feed the live worms. Strange about your blues’ activity – my birds are very active the first 2-3 hours after daylight and then somewhat again just before dark – guess they are all different, just like humans!
I don’t believe putting plexi-glass on a roof hole would be a good thing, unless it were very small. I would be more inclined to make your ventilation areas a little larger it you wanted more light, not on the very top where the sun bears down. I even have to put a Styrofoam heat shield over my wood roof to keep the heat down, as my boxes are in full sun. Gin is definitely correct in that the correct box and location is what will attract the birds. Good luck.
Cher – love your theory – I do think (me in particular) we tend to try to micro-manage our blues too much – after all they are wild birds! But this is NOT to say we should not do all we can to protect them after inviting into our yards!
In regard to the bleach, I do like to sanitize my boxes – especially after having a horrible case of mites in a TRES box (which I did not catch) last year. By the way, I believe this is what caused the babies death just about 2 days prior to fledging (I felt horrible about this). I put my box into a 5-gallon bucket with about 1/8 cup of bleach and let it set a few minutes. Then like Cher says, rinse, rinse, rinse. I like to then set it in the sun for several hours. By the way, bleaching boxes with a little stronger solution is a great way to lighten boxes which have darkened with age. My boxes after 7 years were really dark (they are natural cedar) and are out in full sun – HOT. After putting them in this stronger bleach solution, they looked like new, light colored, wood again – better in hot weather. Of course, I did this after nesting season and they had all fall & winter to get any odor out. Good luck Evie.Yup, pretty much normal. Always more activity the first 3-4 hours after daylight, very little in the afternoon (but maybe some more when feeding babies, etc), and you will see them again towards very late afternoon, prior to sun setting. This is the best times to catch HOSP, also, I’ve found. They have their own alarm clock I believe.
I had something similar happen last season. My mama was incubating 5 eggs, and one day I found an egg on the ground, under the pole, no sign of trauma or anything. She continued to incubate other eggs & they fledged. I came to the conclusion it was removed by them for some reason, probably not viable, but like Gin says, we never know for sure. Good luck on the other eggs. I have no full nest yet – my pair are strange in that they want to build 2 or 3 nests first and finally decide which one to use later.
P.S. Mullybirds – it is highly recommended that the sparrow spooker NOT be put on before the first egg is laid. Looks like your pair accepted this early, but this is not the usual thing to do. We wait until they are committed with the 1st egg, and then put up the spooker. Also, the HOSP can get really accustomed to the spooker if it is part of the box right from the start. But looks like you have done great for the first attempt at bluebirding. Good luck!! By the way, where do you live – must be in a warmer state to have eggs being incubated for several days already.Nothing really new – we have had a very cold spell the past two days so not much bird activity. When I checked about 2 days ago, the nesting material was the same. I do see my pair of blues around this box, but then I also see them on 2 others, also. This is a fairly new pair, only 3rd year I believe for them. They have a habit of building about 2 or 3 nests before choosing which one to lay eggs in, which means they have only had 2 broods a year. My previous pair I had 6 years ALWAYS had 3 broods, and just built one nest at a time. I’d like to teach this pair to read the rules on nesting!!! I have trapped about 4 HOSP at a different box, and have them claiming one box right now, but I am waiting for a new female to show up before I set trap again. At least, that’s what I actually see, but then these birds are very sneaky!
Yes, Lexi, the fence is a lot farther from the box than it looks – about 10′ away – the picture is very deceiving. The tree is about 20-25 feet away, or more. Thanks for the comment & thought.
Welcome, Bob – I too live in Missouri, mid-Missouri and this is my 9th year of bluebirding. Our first BB boxes were from the Mo. Conservation booklet and fledged LOTS of blues. (I believe we made the top of these boxes with a little more overhang than called for) Later, we decided to make some Gilwood-style boxes with front openings, but this is only my 2nd year with them, but they are supposed to be a very popular box. In regard to advise, please do not mount your boxes on posts with barb-wire attached, as this creates a ladder for predators, such as snakes, and raccoons, etc. I personally do use the steel barb-wire fence posts (just because we have them available) as a BASE, and then slip a slick, smooth steel post over them with a baffle underneath, and this creates a very sturdy post system, capable of taking all the strong winds we have. A really great website (which is almost like a BB bible here at this forum) is http://www.sialis.org/ Putting up that many boxes will be a great challenge for your 1st year and it is getting late, but good luck. P.S. Maybe you can just put up a few boxes with proper posts the first year and then expand as your budget allows? Let us know how you do
