by Peggy Nuckles

Created on: June 24, 2010

Desc:  Simple tips for attracting and keeping a Bluebird population

The other day I went down to the Bluebird house on my pond bank and took a peek to see what type of bird was nesting there this year.  Since the bird house is high above my head, I held my camera up and shot blind into the hole.  Here is what I found:

Two young bluebird males all feathered out and ready to leave the nest.  I was happy to see them.  Wrens nested there last year and wrens have become the official permanent residents in my other bluebird house.  I have nothing against wrens, in fact I'm crazy about them, but after all these are Bluebird houses.

Bluebirds are Missouri's state bird.  As such they enjoy a space at the bottom of our liscense plates.  However their numbers declined when Starlings were imported to this country.  It turns out that they like to nest in the same places that Bluebirds do, and Starlings are bigger.  Bluebirds are now pretty much dependent on the generosity of those humans who will buy and put up houses with entry holes that are too small for Starlings to get through.

Their houses are cheap to buy, hard to place correctly.  I decided to put up a bluebird house after seeing a couple in my yard.  At that time their numbers were coming back after a severe decline.  They were, in fact, the first bluebirds I had ever seen in my life.  I bought the book, Enjoying bluebirds More by Julie Zickerfoose, 1993, Bird Watchers Digest Press.. I was dismayed at how many difficult steps are necessary to place the Bluebird house to ensure the survival of the nesting pair and their young.

Place the house in an open area.  Bluebirds like country fields.  I live in town.  Bluebirds are sight hunters and need plenty of sunlit, open space.  I have eleven acres of woods.  My only option was to put the house up along a pond bank and let the little birds hunt over the water.

The house should be on a pole, not nailed to a tree.  This discourages invasion by insects that can bite and ultimately kill the young. The pole should have a length of wobbly stovepipe mounted on it   This discourages climbing predators, such as raccoons or possums.  The plans for mounting this stove pipe are in the above-mentioned book and, believe me, they are not simple.

They involve cutting heavy-duty screen wire into a circle, attaching that to the pole, then bending pieces of stovepipe down

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