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Don’t give up hope! They may come back. Looks like you have a great house design and baffle set up. I am a little concerned about how close it is to the fence. A raccoon or snake could climb and stretch over. I know the picture could be deceiving…..just a thought.
Lexi
VirginiaWhat an inspiration you are!!!! Thank goodness there are people like you willing to take initiative to get the job done. I hope you will keep us informed on how the trail does.
Lexi
VirginiaOur 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
VirginiaChickadees are cavity nesters. As far as I know they don’t build in shrubs. It looks like the base of the nest is sticks. I know some mockingbird eggs are blue, but they can be pale with spots like that. My vote is mockingbird.
Lexi
VirginiaTammy,
If the openings are 1.5 inches it will keep out mockingbirds. That company also make the feeders with 2 in openings. The reason I know I purchased a feeder last week. Another lady wanted a different color and that one had 2 inch openings. She called the garden center back and said the mockingbird went right in.
Lexi
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This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by
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This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by
Lexi
VirginiaCarolyn,
That is a great photo and an interesting behavior! I hope your bluebirds come back to that box and build this spring. One of my friends has a partial bluebird nest now. So far I have only had one house sparrow nest in a trail in town I monitor(I plan to trap them). I am eagerly awaiting spring.Lexi
VirginiaI would suggest installing a nest box in your yard and installing a water feature. Bluebirds love water, especially shallow moving water. Also planting berry producing shrubs and trees will entice them to your yard in fall and winter. Providing food will in some instances….but I would start with the box. Then you could start feeding mealworms near the box during nesting season(if you have a successful nesting). This is how I started years ago. Here are my bluebirds at the bird bath.
Lexi
VirginiaI never knew live mealworms were calcium depleting!!! I do crumble “Peanut no melt suet dough” in with my mealworms now if I don’t have homemade. The bluebirds come at the same time every morning and most evenings show back up for a snack. I also have Blue Muffin Virburnum, Beauty Berries, Winterberries and Dogwoods in my yard. There are lots of cedar with berries on our farm. It is always a good idea to have natural resources in your yard.
After Christmas a local garden center has a workshop where you strip your live wreath of Christmas decorations and use it for an edible bird wreath workshop. The bluebirds, as well as all birds love it!!!
Carolyn, if you feel like putting something in the nest box for winter I would use clean pine needles or clean dried grassy material. Since this is what they use naturally. All of our boxes have nest cups and I never add anything but I live in a much warmer area than you.
Lexi
VirginiaHello everyone!!!
Its been a while. I’m Lexi from southern Virginia. I’m VP of the Virginia Bluebird Society and president of our local bird club. I have been loving bluebirds for as long as I can remember. My maternal grandmother and great uncle were bird lovers and started me at a young age. I continue to learn something new from our feathered friends everyday.Lexi
VirginiaI feed an array of different seeds. One feeder is shelled sunflower and they would never eat at it. After this seed cake, one male is now on the shelled sunflower feeder every day. The Blue Jays were devouring the cake, so I had to buy a special feeder for the seed cylinder. They love it so much they are ignoring the live mealworms, which has never happened before. They use to sit on my window feeder and basically beg when the mealworms were gone, until I came outside and put more in.
Lexi
Virginia -
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