when I lived in Mi I put up bluebird houses to try to get them to nest.. followed all the directions on what size the house had to be, how high off the ground it should be, the diameter of the hole.. just everything with no luck at all.. I take an old birdhouse on a post that was going to be thrown away and stick it in the ground just so its out of the way and guess what I find today.. you got it... baby blue birds!!! WHHHOOOO HOOOO!!! I cant believe it.. and the "regulation" bluebird house I put up..it has titmouses in it... go figure...lol..
blue birds ...
Blue birds are such gorgeous little birds. I see a few every once in a while. They are just passers by around here.
I feel honored to have them.. silly I know...so far Ive Blue birds, chickadees and titmouses nesting in bird houses Ive put up, mason bees in their house and I got to watch a hummer take a bath in the new fountain I built.. its little things like that that make all the work I do outside well worth it
We had three Blue Buntings this morning. That's a first. In the past, there has only been one!
We have as many bluebirds nesting as we have bluebird houses. It is so exciting to see them around the yard. I call them my bluebirds of happiness. We are lucky as it appears that we are getting more each year. I do love them, and I'm so happy that you all have some too. One of the exciting things about living in TX!
w I had decide to put up more birdhouses andd made several over the fall/winter this was something a friend was going to throw away and I took it casue Im a dumpster diva.. Im glad I did!
bad news..
went over to check on my bluebird babies yesterday and they were all gone.. something had have gotten to them.. no telling what it could have been.. we have feral cats possums racoons and other critters roaming loose..
I had been told that when you check on your bird houses make sure you always continue on past them, making a loop so predators dont stop cause you did and I did that.. but it was only 4 ft (maybe) off the ground and wasnt a deep cavity box like they normally like that also helps protect them from predators cause they cant reach deep enough to get them.. Im so bummed..
this fall Ill move my regulation BB box to where this one is and see what happens next spring.. at least I got to see them....
blkraven2, I'm sorry to hear about your baby bluebirds! I hope the birds use that spot again, with the deeper house. Since you have the birds in your yard already, it seems like it will happen. Anyway, you're way ahead of me.
I put up two of the "regulation" bluebird houses and have had no luck at all. We may not have enough plains-like open space to attract them. I've put out mealworms, nesting material balls, and blue ribbons. Once I played a recording of bluebirds. Still no luck. After all that, it's time to accept that baby bluebirds probably are not gonna happen here. I'll leave the houses up though.
I also put up two houses for screech owls. They aren't being used either! However, screech owls definitely live near me. I hear them almost every night. Our house has a hill behind it that is very wild and brushy. I guess they have some hollows down there to nest in that suit them just fine.
I did all that when I lived in Mi and like you had no luck with them the sparrows just drove then away.. hopefully next year Illhave them again..
lol - We've just been excited that we have a pair of blue jays nesting...
Annette_M, do yall do anything in particular for the blue buntings? I would LURVE to have some of those. Our neighborhood has several patches of abandoned dairy pasture, with nice brushy areas along the fence lines, water, and a good variety of food - I think that's nominally what they want. Maybe they just have to find us...
One of Austin's outer suburbs (Leander) has made itself into a bit of a little bluebird hub, further west than maybe one would expect to see a lot of the birds. The instigators seem to think it was a result of having many boxes, and of being rigorous about throwing the sparrows out. So maybe it's one of those things that works better if the whole neighborhood plays?
I have a flock of buntings along with the blue jays that nest in my area.. this is one of the babies that fledged from a nest above my driveway from last year....
We don't do anything special, but we do buy "premium" song bird food at Sam's. They are really pretty illusive.
