Bluebird house

I'm glad that photo was useful. We had terrible winds last night and mine is laying on the ground. It is stilll very cold and windy and right now I am too wimpy/lazy to go out and fix it!! The Mockingbird was the main reason I started using the cage and rarely see any Mockers in the yard anymore. They seem to be in charge of the north east corner of the hayfield!!

As far as Wrens and problems with them: I did not have any problems with Wrens until last year when a House Wren arrived and proceeded to claim all the nest boxes as his own. I had a new female Blue that built a nest and the Wren kept destroying the eggs. The Blues finally gave up the nest box. This year I will put a Wren guard up as soon as the first egg is laid (as well as putting up a Sparrow spooker)!! Of course there is a good chance that the Blues may not nest here this year since they have not claimed a box. I am also having a House Sparrow problem so I am dealing with that unfortunate situation.

In the mean time I get to see and hear the Blues everyday and they come to my kitchen windowsill and have their mealworms.

Thank you Rose for the cage feeder photo and other helpful info. I notice an abundant of BBs number in the neighborhood. I'm going to give it a shot at attracting them to the garden. But should others occupy the houses, that should be okay too. A part of me just shudder when I envision all type of dangers for the little Blues out there. BTW, there is a difference b/w House Wrens and Carolina Wrens? Or are they one and the same?

Both the male and female BB are hanging around the nestbox again today. They sit on the roof a while. Then the male goes inside, then sticks his head out for a while. Then goes back to sitting on the oak tree limb. Saw the male chase away a male HOSP again. I have not seen the female with any nest making material, though.

Saw my first Titmouse - 2 of them - this morning, hopping around in the big oak tree that's also the perch for the BBs and Carolina Chickadees. It is cold and very windy but the birds are very busy.

And I have gotten absolutely nothing accomplished except standing at the windows with the binoculars.

G

Lily...House Wrens and Carolina Wrens are two different birds. The House Wrens will destroy the nest and eggs of the Blues. They arrive around here in late spring and you can hear them when they arrive. The Carolinas are here year round and I would love to have them nest in my yard. Here is a link showing how to deal with House Wrens http://www.sialis.org/wrens.htm .

LOL Dog...I know the feeling!!

This message was edited Feb 28, 2011 8:51 AM

Dog & Lily: I'm thinking you might just let the bluebirds rent that real estate for free!! I put my nest box where I can see them from my living room chair. While I read garden books and do research on my computer, one eye is on the bluebird nest box!
Many birds like meal worms, and it's frustrating to buy your meal worms and feed all the other birds except the bluebirds. Bluebirds are slow to find and eat the meal worms. Sometimes, I keep feeding the other birds until the BB finally see what's going on and start eating them. Other times, I use the meal worm feeder and coax the BB into finding and eating the MW.
Putting the MW where on a shallow dish on a table would be a good idea-especially if they see the worms, and they are eating them. Then, slowly move the table further away - they will follow the table with the worms. When, you finally have the MW where you want to feed them-which is away from their nest, put a MW feeder on the table with easy access. Then, close the feeder up and let them find the entrance to get to the meal worms. Also, I have mashed the meal worms on top of my feeder for them to "discover" the worms, and then they finally figure out there's meal worms in the feeder.
Yes, I intended to show you my MW feeder. For some reason it did not copy and paste and I did not check to see if it did. Sorry about that. I will post the feeder.
My husband made a MW feeder as well. I will try to take a picture of it, but I have to say the commercial one is a little more functional. But it does work.

I have the Carolina Wrens here and enjoy them all winter. Last summer, they built their nest and raised babies in our garage and flew in and out of the garage window. Many years, they chose one of my hanging plants to raise their babies. Carolina Wrens are almost like a cacoon---they have a roof over top of their nest also.
House Wrens are a whole different bird. They can be very aggressive. I have had HW for several years now. I have tried to discourage them. They have nested and raised HW for the last 3 years in our yard. Their boisterous song gets on one's nerves. They have left my bluebirds alone, but that's not to say that this will be the summer they become mean and aggressive. Our Conservation Department had a lesson on making HW nests two summers ago. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen.
Here's the feeder, and I highly recommend it.
http://www.bird-house-bath.com/d/Bluebird-Baffled-Feeder.html

This is the meal worm feeder my husband made. I took several pictures.

Notice on the above picture how we "opened" some of the spaces so the BB could get in easier. This keeps the big birds from getting in to get the worms.
This is the fastener. It's some sort of spring.

This is the inside where the meal worms are to be placed. He used a little plastic dish that salad dressing or such comes in. It did not last. The weather made it brittle and it cracked into pieces. There's a second "floor" just where the dish "fits" into the hole in the middle. You can see it most clearly at the back part of the feeder. I recommend making the hole larger and using a ramekin. He made the hole for the little "bowl" to fit in the size of a salad dressing container that fast food will give you.
Lately, I have put a false floor in the feeder and put Bluebird Banquet suet on it. The flicker sticks his loooong tongue in and reaches some of the suet. If he works that hard for it, he gets to have it!! (oops a little off topic)

This message was edited Feb 28, 2011 5:04 PM

This is the last picture. It's the top of the feeder and the "hinge".

This message was edited Feb 28, 2011 5:00 PM

Thanks for the link on wrens, dellrose. I didn't know that it's only house wrens to watch out for. Not sure which kind I have; I'll start looking for that white eyebrow. DNP, I know what you mean about watching birds and getting nothing done. Last year I spent hours trying to get a good pic of the chickadees at the birdhouse. (Got lots of pics of nothing but tailfeathers as they darted in.) They are so fast going in and out. I finally got an OK pic of one going in with a seed in his/her mouth. Other than bluebirds, they are just about my favorite bird. If my feeders are empty, they will perch as close as possible and fuss at me as I fill the feeders, as if saying "It's about time!"

Birder: Thanks for posting the photos. Very helpful. I shopped Lowe's yesterday looking for something I could modify. The only thing I found that could possibly work was 1/2" hardware cloth. Thought perhaps I could cut out 1 1/2" squares and grind off anything sharp with my Dremel, leaving possibly 3/4" or 1" strips of the hardware cloth uncut in between the squares to stabilize it. Don't know if the description of my "invention" makes any sense. Would appreciate thoughts on that. Going to look some more for possible things to use.

Ladybug: I also love the Carolina chickadees. Sympathize with the difficulty getting photos. The last two days I could have gotten priceless photos but, wouldn't you know, DH has the camera with him on a trip. The male BB has spent a lot of time sitting on an oak tree limb about 8 feet from one of my kitchen windows and it looks like he looks straight at me. Maybe he's "people watching." LOL. Once yesterday he flew down and got something to eat off the ground, ate part of it but then flew up to the female and gave her the remainder. That was so sweet I almost cried !!! They seem to be paired and very interested in the nestbox but haven't started building a nest yet.

Mealworm question: I forgot to ask what size? When I got to PetSmart, they had small and large and I decided on the small ones. So little time - so much to learn.

Thanks.

Sharing food with the female is a mating ritual, and it is a very "sweet" one at that. It's fun to watch.
MW can be any size. I usually get the "medium" MW. Having a mix or small ones would be good when the BB babies hatch. This is when they really go for the MW.
It would be very much to your financial advantage to order your MW rather buy a few at a time locally. Here is the phone # I am getting my MW from: 478-988-9412
It's Southeastern Insectaries Inc. 606 Ball Street Perry Ga. 31069
It's good to find one that is the closest to you so the MW aren't in transit as long. They come in a cloth bag with newspaper---No Sifting Out the MW, and it works much better.
There's another MW place I used to get them from in Ca., but it is further away for me.
I will give you that address if you are interested. The guy above works with you really well.

Definitely would order in bulk. The Perry, GA, would be a lot closer than California for me. The package I got at PetsMart said store at 43º to 55º. My refrigerator will not go above 40º. How critical is the temp difference?

Edited to change "below" to "above 40º."

This message was edited Mar 1, 2011 8:39 AM

Dogs--I made a big mistake!! I was showing this thread to my husb. this AM. He said he didn't make this feeder!!! He said I ordered it on line--I don't even remember that. :( I am so sorry to give him unnecessary credit.
I don't know what hard cloth is. I am thinking it is very fine metal fabric? I think it has been used in drains to strain stuff.
The material used in both feeders I have is vinyl coated "garden fencing". It would be so much easier I would think to find the vinyl coated fencing rather than cut holes etc.
We have some vinyl coated fencing we either purchased form Lowe's or a farm store, but the holes are 2" X 3". The holes in both of my MW feeders are 1 1/2" X 1 1/2".
My husb. is quite busy fixing our Purple Martin pole this AM before he goes off to work. It's cold out today-just below freezing last night. We have no wind so one can work outside.

Feeding Mealworms:
I purchased a small college dorm type refrigerator just for my meal worms years ago. It works like a charm. I keep it in the garage. As long as the temps are above freezing, you will be okay with your MW in the refrigerator. We've even left them outside over night, or other times they have been left at the front door over night. I have even had my dorm style refrigerator mistakenly get turned off for a day. The MW are quite active but, they were just fine. So, the temps are not that big of a deal within reason. They stay dormant with cold temps. That's what you want other wise they hatch into beetles. I have never had that happen. I've been ordering my MW for probably ten years. If you put them in your refrigerator, keep them up front. I believe it gets colder in the back-I have had liquids get ice in them if they are in the back of the refrigerator. I kept my MW in the refrigerator until I purchased the small college dorm one. Spring semester will be over in May-students that are graduating will probably be selling theirs. You might put an add in the paper wanting one or watch Craig's list ect. I purchased mine from Walmart before the fall semester started. They were pretty cheap then too.
One more thing, and then I promise I will quit. Instructions for MW tell you to "feed" your MW sliced potatoes or carrot etc. I did this for awhile, and it was a pain. Now, I just put the bag in my refrigerator and use them up. No feeding, no sifting--just put them in the feeder. That works just fine. The Bluebirds will thank you for it by singing their soft, sweet song and by their presence.

Birder, I was going to mention that your feeder was the same as my small one. It was designed and offered for sale by Cher Layton on her Bluebirdnut Cafe forum a few years ago. She also designed the larger, round one that is available now, but she sold the rights to a company that makes them. But she still sells the larger one.

I use large meal worms exclusively. Once they were sold out so I bought jumbos. They ate them but they had to break them up. Looked like the titmice or the chickadees, biting off tiny pieces of a worm.

I feed woodpeckers, several pair of Carolina wrens, several pair of titmice and several pair of song sparrows, in addition to the bluebirds. I go through 25 thousand large a month in the winter and about 15 thousand a month after the parents chase the youngsters away in the Spring. I order them from Rainbow in Los Angeles and they are very reliable. They ship FedEx second day air. Costs me just over $50 per 10K shipped. I used to buy 500 at a time from PetSmart or from Wild Birds Unlimited, but just couldn't bring myself to pay so much for so few.. Plus, I never liked all the meal they packed them in.

I also had a problem with refrigerator space. My wife absolutely wiould not allow them in either the fridge in the kitchen or the extra one in the garage, so when I started hosting BB's I went to Lowe's and bought my own full size refrigerator to keep in my basement shop. My wife wanted me to get the small size fridge too but since I had lots of space, I opted for a 17 cu footer. We had a long argument about it. Nothing in it but worms and diet Pepsi. Now when she asks if she can store something in my fridge, or my freezer, it makes my day. Of course, she washes everything she takes out of my refrigerator, even if it was in the freezer.

I also do not bother to feed the worms. I agree it is too much trouble. I turn them over in three weeks or so and have never had a problem.

Here is one of mine, taken this morning.


Before I forget, I would mention that the dish you use must be heavy enough that the wind won't blow it over and one that has slick sides and is deep enough that the meal worms won't crawl out. In warmer weather the worms really wiggle and crawl, looking for shade. Something like a small ash tray works pretty well, if it is deep enough.

This message was edited Mar 1, 2011 3:24 PM

Cuz: I have used Rainbow Mealworms in the past. I found this resource when they were out of MW for seems a whole summer or something. I don't know what happened. I believe I checked the prices once and thought they were about the same. For me, the MW come quicker form Ga. Plus, when I would order from Rainbow, I would often talk to someone who could hardly speak "Englis". Communication was somewhat difficult and I found this guy just less stressful.
Also, I had to wait two hours to talk with someone as they are on Pacific Time.
Overall, I just enjoy doing business with this guy better. I order 5,000 at a time.

I soon got over having MW in my refrigerator and also "handling" them. I grew up on a farm, and I used to do a lot of fishing with an earthworm--so it didn't take long for me to get with the program.

I bought from Sunshine in Oregon for many years. When the MW shortage came along several years ago, they limited sales to established customers, which I certainly was. But when I tried to call in an order they didn't answer their phone. I switched to Southeastern Insectaries in Perry, Georgia, which may be the place you like. I liked dealing with Phil too and we had a setup where he was to automatically ship me 10K large every other Monday. I was with them for 2 years. During that time there were very few shipments that were large; most were mediums which my birds ate twice as fast. I asked about it and he said they could barely meet the demand and had to sell the worms before they were fully grown. Then, toward the middle of the summer my supply ran low and I called him in a panic but he could not fill my order --not even 5K. So I switched to Rainbow. I have never talked to anyone there by phone; I use their very convenient web site. All the options are laid out for you. I order on Sunday night, the order is processed on Monday morning. I get email updates from them regarding the status of my order and my order is delivered here by FedEx on Wednesday afternoon. Never have they been late and never has any arrived dead.

My wife grew up on a farm too. Her Dad took her hunting and and she certainly can bait a hook. She is not reluctant to handle the worms. She just thinks they look gross and she doesn't like the idea of them being near the food she puts on the table.

This message was edited Mar 1, 2011 7:22 PM

This message was edited Mar 1, 2011 7:32 PM

Love your picture,Cousin Dave! Looks like the bluebird is stretching after waking up and getting started for the day!