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Thanks, Chris. Hard to disagree. My trail is not large enough to support more than one bluebird nest. There are 6 boxes spaced about 20 yards apart. The tree swallows take all but one. But they really made it stressful for the bluebirds ….dive bombing the box like kamakazis….and I do wonder if the couple years I didn’t get bluebirds they just gave up the hassle. I still love tres. I really cannot stand house wrens tbough. I used to like them a little bit but they are annoying in too many ways. My yard boxes have had tree swallows and chickadees and I always clean the wrens sticks out before they get too far in (plus half the time it is just them fillimg the boxes up for no reason)…and obviously take care of sparrows. Still waiting for my first yard bluebirds. They have inspectes beforw but no takers. Oh well. Not sure what else I can do.
I hate starlings so much. I caught a ton of them a month ago. My neighbor was breeding them in a giant ridiculous decorative “purple martin” house. So I caught them all in my sparrow ground trap. Just put a ton of dried mealworms in it and they just pour in. Ever since then (caught about 20 or so) they haven’t been too bad.
Yeah. My one year I almost got bluebirds to nest in my yard I made the mistake of putting dried mealworms out to entice them more. Ended up attracting starlings and the blues never came back! Good luck. People around here seem to love breeding them. Too much ignorance on these invasive rats with wings.
Thanks Chris. How many years did it take for you to get blues? I am optimistic. We’ll see. I am gettting really good at sparrow elimination for sure. I made a big dent but it will take some more years as this neighborhood is overrun. It’s a shame because with the golf courses surrounding it…it should be a bluebird neighborhood. Hope I can pull it off.
Thanks for the suggestion Chris. Yeah I always figured since I am able to attract swallows out front it would be a matter of time for bluebirds. The swallows would just leave and hunt on the golf course and come back to the box periodocally so I always figured blues would do the same. It sure is a puzzle for me. So now I just left the peterson out front and put the old NABS style one in the back in a differnt spot closer to the open yard behind me. Hoping I didn’t miss my chance just yet. Thankfully I splurged and bought a peterson box over the winter. There was no way I was makimg one…as you said they are very complex.
Yeah I see petersons a lot on the nearby state parks and they seem to be successful. But my instinct is bluebirds prefer the more weathered worn in boxes of either style.
I put two boxes up specifically because I have had tree swallows nest in the front yard for several years. So I wanted the bluebirds to have a potential box there too. Also figured it couldn’t hurt. My nearby trail is successful with both bluebirds and swallows (6 swallow nests and 1 bluebird on the same lot). My front yard is more open and faces some nice open lawns…plus the golf course is just behind those houses which might help.
If I take one box down would you leave the newish Peterson box up or the old cedar NBS box up? The peterson has a normal round hole.
Again…really appreciate the help.
Thanks for the ideas on moving them. I have two boxes in the front yard spaced 10 feet apart. One is a Peterson box the other is NABS. Each facing a different direction. One in the back (walmart cedar box). Not sure what else to try at this point. In 2019 I had a pair checking the boxes for 3 days straight. Last year nothing. This year just heard them the one day for an hour. A couple visits over the winter. I even thought about removing one box. Maybe too many boxes? Driving me nuts. This morning had another sparrow show up. Maddening. I will post some shots of my neighborhood and yard next if you spot anything
Another good easy site is postimages
Nice work. I started using the clear outdoor bags as well because several times my laundry mesh bag had a tiny seam rip and somehow the sparrows can immediately escape any weakness.
