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I’m just wondering. Just a newb here, but, do you think maybe they are providing more insulation during the cold snap? Or will the next day or two show them giving up on those eggs. Very interesting. I hope I’m thinking right but either way looks like you’ll have a nest.
We are just beginning to see bluebirds here on the WI/MI Border. Earliest report locally was about a week ago. Very little nest building going on. A couple nest boxes with some wispy bits of grass. We have snow in the woods still.
One PVC box I installed has moss nest from chickadees.
Tim
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’ll try to be completely clear on this…
You are asking an important question. So, do not feed dried mealworms to nesting birds.
The hatchlings only source of hydration is what they are fed by the mom and dad. If the mom and dad are starting a brood they will find all the bugs needed naturally.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Sad day today after returning from a weeks vacation. I took a look at my nest box in my yard and saw this…
I don’t know for certain, but prior to leaving a Wren occasionally landed on the box. His/her brood is in a nest box about 15 yards away from this one. I can’t say for certain but I believe that little turd bird may have killed the five hatchlings. Fortunately I have another nest box about 15 yards in the other direction. Prior to vacation there was no activity in the box. Today I found three nice blue eggs. So I think the pair will recover.
Now what to do with the Wren. They have seven hatchlings in their box. I will leave nature to take its course but it sure is tempting to evict the little turds.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
That is sad. Nature is wonderful and cruel. Are the nesting pair still hanging around?
I don’t have experience with this as I’ve never had a nest destroyed but there are folks here that will be able to help you out with some advice. If it were me I would just monitor the nest and see if they come back in a few days. Bluebirds know what to do.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Perhaps hang a silhouette of an owl or hawk on the window. I’ve heard that may discourage them.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Welcome AIH. I hope you get it figured out. I have heard that House Sparrows dislike the Gilbertson PVC boxes though we don’t have many House Sparrows around here to test that theory. They are plentiful in town though. You might want to give the PVC version a try. They are fairly easy to build; the most challenging part is making the oval entrance hole. I do that with a 1 3/8″ hole saw. Much safer than a Forstner drill bit.
One thing I learned this spring at the Michigan Bluebird Soc Fest is that line of sight is very important. Bluebirds are territorial. However, one “expert” speaker qualified that theory with his theory that even if the Blues can’t directly see the other Bluebird house, if it is within the recommended 100 yards they still know that the nest box is there and often will defend the territory regardless if line of sight is blocked.
This is a big ask… ask your neighbor if they will to move their EBB nest box farther away from your potential location after a brood has fledged. You would do likewise; locating yours as far from their nest box as possible. In a residential neighborhood that might not be possible. Or, ask your neighbor to relocate it after a fledge so that you can view their box as well. But, I know, some neighbors!
Another option is to ask a local authority if you could set up a small Bluebird trail on public property. Municipal parks, golf courses, cemeteries, schools, etc. are good locations. A trail can be two or more nest boxes. When I located my trails I paired boxes so Tree Swallows and Bluebirds would not fight over one box. Well, they will argue for sure but once they have established who is the boss (they both are) they will settle down and co-exist. A trail will get you out moving on a regular basis and you might find it fun to do routine walks on the trail. You can find out more about EBB trails on the braw.org website (my state’s org.) or michiganbluebirds.org.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
… No sticks in any of the nesting boxes. He’s a strange one!
Judy – Michigan
Probably bounced off someone’s picture window one too many times!
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
In the BRAW newsletter below there is an article about a small study to deter wrens.
https://www.braw.org/copy-of-bod-wb-newsletter-archive-1
Go to the”Summer 2023″ archived newsletter.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’m no expert on “Little Stinker” deterrents but I had success so far on one EBB trail by providing two small “decoy” nest boxes near EBB nest boxes. Though the stinkin wren did put a few sticks into an EBB box nearby they completed a decoy box nest and seem to be staying there. Interestingly, the other decoy hasn’t had a single stick deposited. It’s a bit of an experiment to see if providing smaller boxes are preferred. One success does not prove much.
In my home yard it’s a different story. Two decoy boxes are up and though one was filled, and I mean filled, with sticks they moved on and are nesting in one of two closely paired EBB nest box. They seem to be happy with that arrangement. After watching for about a week and realizing not even a little stinker can get inside the decoy I emptied it out hoping for a chickadee will adopt it.
I would say that you should provide that Wren box again. I hope it works.
I’ll confirm the decoy box dimensions if my “experiment” works. It was just some scrap I slapped together after reading about decoy boxes.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’m with ya Judy. They are little stinkers for sure. I wish they had the same protective status as House Sparrows and Starlings. I wouldn’t hesitate to deal with them. The most we can do is hope they settle down and start their own broods (or not, we don’t need any more of them).
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Thanks.
The MI Bluebird Soc. was really pushing the Gilbertson pvc boxes. From what I saw displayed there were as many pvc boxes as wood.
It’s my first experience with the pvc version. I was skeptical when I first saw them. Right now, the six eggs may say something about space requirements. As one speaker at the MBS Fest said, “As soon as you think you have Bluebirds figured out they throw you a curve”.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
I’ve built a number of the Gilbertson U boxes. Yes they seem to like them. I’ll try some slot boxes next time I decide to make some sawdust. I get scrap lumber from a saw mill down the road. So far it’s free. Free is good!
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Tammy, which Gilwood do you like? There’s what I think they call the “slot box” which has a wall to wall opening on the front top. The other box has a U shaped, oversize entrance with a wire to restrict Starlings and such.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
Yup. I’m a bit partial to the wood boxes as well Tammy.
I don’t know if I’ll build any more PVC designs. It depends how the nesting season goes. The new design of PVC box that MBS had is much improved over earlier plans I’ve seen. And I built the second batch of 14 PVC boxes based on the newer design. I’m not sure when the design changed but I’m thinking in the past couple years. There are still plans available for the early version.
Give some thought to getting a cheap wi-fi endoscope for monitoring nests. You’ll see everything you want to see with very little intrusion into the birds nesting world. I occasionally open the boxes if needed, but, I almost always just take a five second peek inside with the endoscope, snap a photo or video if I see something cool, and back away from the nest box to jot down any notes I want to take. The endoscope works wirelessly with a smart phone and the photos are stored in my normal gallery of photos. I’m doing a bunch of boxes and it makes it a quick task to check them all.
WI/MI Border, about 100 miles north of Green Bay
Tim C. WI/MI border.
