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I had success in my yard with TRES this year but on my trail it seemed to be a down year. A lot of HOSP problems I had to deal with…one adult male was killed…bluebirds eggs were tossed and they left. When cleaning my boxes I found one box with a single abandoned TRES egg inside with no other evidence of activity. Another box I found an adult female sitting on eggs…her beak and eyes were open but she was dead in that pose with no injuries. Very strange year.
I will share that for my yard box I had a baby who jumped out of the nest. I was successful keeping him in the box the rest of the season by attaching an open cardboard box to the pole beneath the nest box and for some reason it kept him from leaping out again. Hope this helps as an idea for others who have this happen. Last year I lost a couple that did this so I was desperate to find a solution and it worked!
Congrats and great work Tim! I can’t seem to get a lucky year. Lots of tree swallows which I love very much (lost one adult to hosp attack). I had multiple pairs of bluebirds duking it out this spring on my trail only to end up with a hosp dumping their eggs and chasing them off two attempts! I got the sparrows under control but too late…and kicking myself for bot getting there sooner and putting a spooker up in time. Praying for another pair to give it a chance as I still have one box without tres open and ready.
I think but not as well as a sparrow spooker with reflective ribbon strands. And it is all about timing…only after the last eggs are laid I believe. There was another poster (Carol…hope she is well) I haven’t seen here in a while who swore by it. I made one out of pvc pipe once and it seemed to do well. Just made a big L that hung over the front of the entrance.
I agree if you don’t have the will to eliminate sparrows then keep the box down. They will eventually kill babies or adults. Sad because the bluebirds need us and sparrows really need to be thought of as incredibly overpopulated and dangerous mice and rats with wings honestly. It is not an over exaggeration. Plugging my web page if this helps convince
Thanks. Pretty sure it was a sparrow. The gap is that big. And the sparrows had started a rat nest in each one…plus killed a swallw right across from it. I am kicking myself for not remembering to block the gap before trapping because it happened to me before and a sparrow escaped after tripping the van ert. Sorry about the ads I didn’t even realize that!! Good grief.
Anyways figured this site mught be helpful for your own education outreach and happy to take any suggestions.
so long story short I had a real bad sparrow infestation this spring that came on suddenly at the trail. Bluebird eggs were tossed and an adult swalow was killed all in 24 hours. Due to a terribly designed box (those cedar walmart ones are poor craftmanship lately) a gap allowed the sparrow to escape my van ert. This was after the first bluebird eviction and before the bluebird second nest was raided. I have since caught the sparrow (damage is done unfortunately)and it seems settled down now.
Here is the poster i plan to put in a few locations near the park linking to my site
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.
