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My brother in Bucks PA must have had 4 from one pair in the backyard and at least 2 from a pair in the front yard. I think one of them even nested in a natural cavity.
Unfortunately I opened the box to find only one dead hatchling. Not sure what happened to the other two.
Maybe first try to establish them in a nearby park and the overflow may come. If you already have them around I would think a season or two. I am in a smaller lot suburb in Philly area and have been successful with tree swallows but never had bluebirds nest. I have had them come and go here in the off season and dearly spring and one year had a pair seemingly ready to nest but a neighborhood cat scared them away I think. I concentrate on keeping a friendly habitat and eliminating house sparrows. Those being around could also be a deterrent in a suburb.
Well whatever happened this nest didn’t work out. Haven’t looked in the box yet but i have been by several times with no adults in sight. Hopefully I didn’t scare them off with the predator guard but I did see the female going in and out after I installed it but that was over a week ago. Scared to open it. Man what a dud year. No luck.
I use recordings on a random playlist (from an old android phone I have) a lot for all kinds of birds and it absolutely helps attract bluebirds. I keep other birds on it like phoebes and kingbirds that I think make bluebirds feel like it is a good place to check out and not be threatened. I feel like I hear the short one note call by bluebirds more so I play that a lot. I do wonder if it scares them away if playing continuously because i have attracted them for sure but they seem to move on from fleeting visits. I get tree swallows easily every year but bluebirds are tough to keep here. I also tried the mealworms but the starlings find them and clean me out. I do have a amall cage feeder that keeps them out for the most part but I only get Carolina wrens going in there. I plab to try in the fall again. My brother has a platform feeder that he has tons of bluebird activity on but he has less of a staring problem. Agree with van ert being essential. If anything I am really good at controlling HOSP. And it is making a significant impact finally. I use the ground cage trap in the off season and that is critical for trapping the influx of hosp flocks that come through.
Thanks! The pole idea is a good one but since this is a public park I would be pushing my luck to put a pole up in that space because the grounds crews would probably mowit over or remove it. I do have a contact but the crew might forget and remove it. Stinks! Any kind of baffle idea welcome.
Well I should have listened to Tammy. That baby got out again and died. No idea what happened to the other babies. I have a predator baffle up and the hole has an extra buffer. I can only assume a raccoon somehow snuck them out or a bird picked them out somehow . This year has been a dud. No bluebirds yet (other than a visit in early May and a total tree swallow nest failure. PA weather was probably a factor as June has been mostly miserable weather for tree swallows. Oh well next year.
