Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Welcome Stephen. It’s enjoyable seeing posts about your bluebird experience. It’s been fairly quiet here this summer but always welcome to see posts about birds, nesting, nest box designs you use, etc.
If you have time throw together a “signature” and tell us a little about your location. Just a state/province or region of a state/province would be great. For instance I am on the WI/MI border north of Green Bay. We don’t have winter EBB residents here. I believe you’d have to go a couple hundred miles south to see winter.
Looking forward to reading more…
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
My trails are now officially finished and all the nest boxes have been removed. After four summers I have found that when mid-July comes there won’t be any additional bluebird nests started so I began removing boxes around the first week of August. At that point I had two broods of Lil Stinker hatchlings and one brood of bluebird hatchlings still in their nests. They have now all fledged.
I have to get on the stick and figure out this season’s numbers.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Nice! I’ve only witnessed a fledging once with one bird leaving the nest in a blur as I walked up to monitor the nestlings. I missed the other four babes. Exciting stuff. And I’m sure you agree that we get a good feeling knowing we are helping cavity nesting birds expand their territory.
Keep it up David!
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
David, I’ll get back with some numbers for the season later. I will say that it hasn’t been as productive as the last three seasons. Partly due to natural swings in nature and partly my limitations this season at monitoring trails. Maybe the numbers will surprise me when I get them all totaled.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
No new news on the TRES. All have fledged and I still assume TRES will only have one brood each season.
I’ve begun removing nest boxes to bring them home to clean and store them for the off season. I’ve almost totally moved to PVC nest boxes. Easier to clean, easier to monitor and lighter to transport (about ten boxes are a mile hike to the farthest location). I used to prefer the wood Gilwood versions until I got tired of cleaning the TRES poo off the interior. The interiors became whitewashed! TRES are on the other end of the spectrum from bluebirds for clean nests.
I still have two EBB boxes with hatchlings that will probably fledge soon. No new nest starts since early July. I also have two nest boxes with lil stinker hatchlings. Those lil stinkers (House Wrens) have been very productive this year.
Truthfully, I like those lil stinkers. It’s weirdly entertaining to watch them fill every cavity with sticks until I observe them settle into one box. Then I can clean out the others to encourage TRES, EBBs and Chickadees.One success I had this year… on one of my bluebird trails I have a small clearing in the woods that is probably less than a third of an acre. The trail property owners mow the trails once in early July so this clearing continues as a small meadow. I’ve had Chickadees in a box in each of the last four seasons. This season, after the Chickadees fledged sometime in early June I noticed what looked like a EBB nest in the box. Then an egg. Then four eggs. Mom has not allowed me to check the box for a couple weeks as she sits in the entrance and gives me the eye! So I say hi and move on. The last couple days she/he has been out hunting and I got a peek at four beautiful hatchlings. I’m guessing they are about half grown and will fledge in the next week or so.
Overall a good season though a little less productive than the last three seasons.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Ditto what David said. I don’t have snake problems here but I’m thinking eventually raccoons may become troublesome. House Sparrows are also rare here but they are in town about six miles north.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Good to hear. If I could send you some little stinkers, er Wrens, I would. 🤔 We seem to be having a surge this season.
And today I determined I had another fully built, “abandoned” bluebird nest. I removed the nest and it was very clean with very little dander so possibly truly abandoned.
Curious what is your location? I’m on the WI/MI border so have only experienced two broods per season.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’m not an expert but I have some experience in my four seasons of bluebird trail monitoring. I have averaged two dozen boxes each season.
Bluebirds are very clean parents. When I clean out a box after fledging sometimes the only evidence of success is a little extra bird dander mixed in with the nest materials. I usually dissect the old nest to check for blow fly larva or other pests. This year there has been no blow fly larva. My first season it was very common to see the worms buried in the bottom of the nest. That’s when I learned how important it is to clean out old nests and dispose of the material far away from the box. IF the blow flies establish themselves and a second brood uses the nest the larva could kill the hatchlings. I’ve been told that at night the flies feast on the little guys blood. A brood supposedly can survive a small amount of that. But when they are established before hatchlings appear they could overwhelm the little guys.
It is not rare to have the experience you describe. I have had it happen three times out of almost 100 nest boxes installed. In 2025 out of 35 nest boxes installed I had 13, or 37% occupied by bluebirds. One nest was abandoned in a similar fashion as you describe. I have no idea what happened but I like to think they found another site that suited them better. I often pair boxes about ten or fifteen yards apart. Bluebirds have never occupied both boxes in a paired setting. I have had a great deal of success with Tree Swallows and bluebirds nesting at the same time in paired boxes. The TS and EBBs do squabble a bit when first establishing their chosen boxes but eventually when nest building and laying start they coexist well. I think they mostly feed differently so they don’t compete completely for food. EBB feed primarily on the ground and TS feed in the sky.
I’m not sure if the three abandoned nests I have had (4 seasons) were abandoned due to predation, unfavorable weather, or maybe they choose a different nest box nearby. Nature is not easy on these birds. A mating pair could have been attacked by predators and if that happened while they were out foraging you would never know. Have accessible water for the birds. If a drought occurs they might have to move out.
Keep trying. Don’t give up. It is very rewarding to experience the little guys fledging.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Those are very good questions. Hard to know the answer to that without monitoring continually. Anywho, congrats on the potential for three broods in one box! I haven’t ever had that success with our season being so short.
I’m interested in your general location?
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
The nest box I referred to previously made it through our cold snap and the little guys fledged a couple days ago. This is my first fledglings in boxes I monitor. No sign of bluebirds or fledglings during my last two visits. I hope they return for a second brood before those little stinkers (wrens) fill the box with sticks!
I now have four nest boxes with varying ages of eggs/hatchlings. Someone mentioned a few days ago about a noticable increase in tree swallows. That’s also the case here. I even have paired boxes about ten yards apart with two pairs of TS nesting. I love the TS but Bluebirds are my preference. Though I don’t get to decide.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Nice. My first brood fledged a couple days ago. They haven’t started nest building yet. No sign of them and the fledglings. Hoping they come back.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
That’s settled then. That’s the first I’ve heard of someone feeding suet, so I stand corrected. No expert here. I’m fairly new to the bluebird landlord world.
As far as feeding the dried mealworms… they know better than us if it’s a good source of energy for them and their hatchlings. I tried live mealworms my first year of providing nest boxes for them. The bluebirds loved them and I tried raising the worms but it didn’t go well. For the last three seasons I haven’t provided any supplemental food for them. I get why people provide mealworms. It’s great fun watching them collect them and bring them to their nest boxes. My nest boxes are all remotely located so I don’t have the opportunity to spend much time observing.
Anywho, it’s great you are providing the much needed nest box. There are far to few natural nesting cavities out there.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I would say let the bluebirds decide. Suet may or may not be a good choice during breeding season. I am not an expert by any means so go with information you find.
I just tend to not worry about what they feed on since they know better than me. Mealworms are a common feed for bluebirds, though I wouldn’t worry about them avoiding dried mealworms during breeding season. Natural, live bugs are preferred as the little guy’s only source of hydration prior to fledging may be from bugs mom and dad bring them.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
On my last two visits to the box with five eggs I’m happy to report a pair has been hanging close to that box on both occasions so I’m hopeful the eggs are viable. 30 degrees last night here. Going to say this quietly for people that hate bugs but I hope they start appearing soon. That pair apparently have found enough food to fuel laying five eggs so I just can’t see the bugs.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
My nest boxes have never had house sparrow problems. They are definitely in the adjacent town but not in my rural area. So no experience with them.
I have read some reports of the use of fishing lines and they seem to work after nesting and laying has started. I can’t say if that technique will work before a pair adopt your nest box. This is a great question and I’m going to follow the replies with interest.
Look into mylar ribbons as well. Some success has been reported.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
