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David, thanks for your great tips and methods! I saved all of your tips in a word file for future reference. So helpful!
Stebet, don’t be discouraged over sparrow counts. This is why you keep a tally. At month’s end, you realize, wow, that trickle turned into 24 birds! (or some such number) Be encouraged! You can do this!
I’m not handy, either, and I used this method to put up my boxes:
https://www.nysbs.org/handouts/GilbertsonPVCNestbox.pdfSee page 2. You get a small piece of rebar, drive it into the ground straight (trickiest part for me!), then slide electrical conduit over it. I got mine at Do It Best hardware locally and they cut the piece for me to size (i bought the big piece, but they cut it in half). Then you mount the house using the clamp on back method. I’m not handy and I actually figured this out! Just another idea. It’s probably cheaper than the WBU one, all told.
These Iowa guys sell some additional items that you can use with the box–brackets, a thing to keep it from spinning in the wind.
Lisa, so exciting!!! Very happy for you!! Fingers crossed for another round this season! You have much activity to enjoy now. Fun!
Stebet, I definitely think the starlings are an issue. They are sneaky little buggers and may well do what Dana described, grabbing a baby and taking off with it. I saw a blue jay do that once with a house wren baby. Starlings would definitely do that. I think they’re horrible. I just don’t know the answer….wish I did!
Sky, it has to be a double-walled polycarbonate roof, like they use in greenhouses. It has channels for airflow so it doesn’t cause the box to overheat. It’s UV/air cooled acrylic. It’s not just plexiglass. I misspoke on that. Dean Rust says he adds extra ventilation just to be sure things stay cool.
Thanks, Sky! I’m happy, too. I was nervous they preferred the neighbor’s yard, which does have a pond nearby. We just enjoy them so much!
David, so glad you caught this. Once I have a final egg count, I’ll post a new thread with that info. I’m so glad you share that info up the chain, so to speak. I appreciate your efforts!I keep trying to post this, but it won’t go thru…just disappears. Try a plexiglass skylight in your roof. This quote is from Dean Rust: “I took over a 20 box trail at Hempfield High School in 2012 that was completely infested with Sparrows due to lack of monitoring. After reading an article in Birds and Blooms that suggested letting light into the boxes to deter sparrows, I started drilling 2 1/2″ holes in the tops of the boxes and then covering them over with plexiglass to keep the water out. Within the first year the 15 boxes that I put skylights in were sparrow free, but the remaining 5 boxes had sparrows in them. So I decided to complete the trail so all 20 boxes had skylights. After doing that, the trail was completely sparrow free. To this day (5-5-15) the trail is completely sparrow free!”
Link to how-to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxYDkEe5avM
Stebet, check out the thread “Sparrow or wren?” David posted a nice photo in it of his box set up. It’s really helpful, and one of my all-time favorite pictures!!
Robbe, I finally found 1 blue egg in the bluebird box on Saturday….today it was 2 blue eggs. It’s clearly a new female, because the nest includes two blue-black, curving, iridescent feathers. It’s very striking. Usually by now I have babies in a box. Don’t give up. I’ll say some prayers for you!!
Fyi I still have not seen these bluebirds who are setting up housekeeping here, and I’ve been in the yard quite a bit. They’re very elusive. I have no idea when they’re out there!
Meredith, you are going to be successful eventually because you’re trying so hard and being diligent to get all your ducks in a row, so to speak. You’ve already prepared so many things in this process. It inspires me. This whole thread reminds me of when I started with bluebirds. I saw them in the neighborhood in spring, then spent summer and fall studying and planning. I got what I needed to host them, but struggled with the sparrow aspect. Like you, I felt I could not harm the sparrows.
But the more I learned, the more I encountered the statement, “Do not put up a bluebird house if you’re not willing to deal with the house sparrows.” It took me months to get to a point where I knew I could do that. Once I set myself to the task, I was able to do it. I know you’ll be able to, as well. And if, heaven forbid, you ever have the experience of having a sparrow destroy a nest or adult in the box, trust me—you won’t find it difficult to deal with the sparrows.
Fingers crossed you get a nesting pair of bluebirds this year!
I’ve used fishing line successfully on boxes pre-nest making. I have it on the box roofs in an X year-round to try to keep those noisy sparrows from claiming a box. I have it dangling on one box year-round. I never have it on the swallow box, and I always have a time in March where I’m trapping sparrows like mad in that box. Sometimes the bluebirds are skittish at first with the fishing line, but this year I know I have a new female and she has accepted it.
But I do agree with phillyblues. If HOSP are a problem, take the time to trap them. Once you reduce that initial population, it does make a big difference. I also do lots of in-box trapping any time of the year–I’ve even waded out there in deep snows because some HOSP male chose a box and started singing on top of it. Hope you figure out a method that works for you!
Stebet, how big is the hole on your box? Supposedly starlings can’t get into the 1.5-inch hole prescribed for bluebird houses. If the hole is larger, could you possibly make a hole reducer and use duct tape to hole it in place and effectively exclude the starling? I saw a hole reducer where the guy used copper sheeting and held it on with electrical tape. In a pinch like this, I’ve made them from plastic lids, like you’d find on a can of nuts or oatmeal tub.
Does fishing line keep starlings away? You could try on the top of the box in an X. I really dislike starlings. Btw the one time I used a bird guardian, the box ended up being occupied by house wrens!
MO-Carol, thanks for your comment–you are so right! I was directing my comment to TN-Carol. So funny!! I agree with your approach—definitely not one size fits all in any of this. That’s something I learn anew every year. Appreciate you so much!!! Your experience and wisdom is always good to hear. Thanks!!
I just replied to your photo on David’s post. Congratulations!!!!! The season has been slow to start, but hooray, it’s going for you!!! Makes me hopeful. Tbh, tho, I’ve never heard the male bluebird sing as much as I have this year. It’s a really sweet little song.
Phillyblues, I just asked you if you had a nest yet!! Hooray!!! This is super news. Makes me remain hopeful. They were at the box today, but didn’t stay long. My neighbor was shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow, so too noisy, I think. I remain optimistic! I do have a 2nd active nest of chickadees! So amazing. And we have 2 robin nests on the property at the moment, along with the tree swallows and house finches. So there’s lots of action to enjoy, but I’m hoping for bluebirds, too! This encourages me so much!
