Bluebirds

I couldn't find any place to post this. Wanted to let DG friends know that my bluebirds have returned for another season. Luckily I had ordered mealworms for them. They showed up Mon. morning. I went out and got 25 or so mealworms and put in the feeder. I called them to say Here"s your breakfast. I didn't even get into the house before they were there. The male went right in to get a worm, but the female was quite shy. I didn't see her go in then, but this morning they took turns going in. They are such a neat bird. Lots of times if they have eaten all the worms I put in the feeder and they see me in the garden they twitter at me to tell me they want more!! Donna

That is so neat they know where there treat is coming from. I have a hummingbird that dive bombs me sometimes when I am in the garden he is sure not afraid of anything. Not sure if he is trying to tell me to plant more flowers for him or to get out so he can have some peace. lol

That sounds wonderful Rutholive. I haven't had any bluebirds here. I put houses out for them but the swallowtails moved in. Is it a special feeder you use for them?

Poppysue, Yes they are special feeders for the mealworms. They have a lift up lid, front is clear plastic, and each side has a 1 1/2" hole near the top for the bluebirds to enter. actually there is room for two birds inside but usually only one goes in at a time. I have two of them one outback, and one in garden in front of livingroom windows. The only problem is that the sparrows can squeeze in and the house finches can easily get in, so i only put a few worms in at a time. This morning I went out to feed them and found they hadn't eaten the worms from yesterday. I didn't check the worms may have frozen as it was pretty cold yesterday, only got up to 41. Now this morning very cold 16degrees and a strong north wind. Nasty outside. i hope the bluebirds went into one of the nests. Donna

Are bluebirds and Bluejays the same thing? I have bluejays, they are funny, they like to torment the dog and tease all the neighborhood cats. They LOVE unsalted peanuts in the shell..they squawk at me for them, little beggars! then later I find some of them (the peanuts) hidden in my flower pots.

Carena, no bluebirds & blue jays are not the same thing. Blue birds are just beautiful. There is the eastern bluebird, western bluebird & the mountain bluebird.

http://www.stokesbirdsathome.com/birding/id/idpages/id110.html

Rutholive, you are so lucky. I envy you. For the last two years I have had bluebirds come to inspect my bird house but they don't stay. The tree swallows are always in one house but the other is empty. Maybe it just isn't in the right location. I know they are supposed to get along with tree swallows so don't think that is the problem. If you get the chance to take some pic's make sure you post them & enjoy your bluebirds.

Oh my gosh they are beautiful, I guess we don't have them here, I've never seen one before!

What a nice link-I had the eastern bluebirds first time last yr
Im going to try and get mealworms and houses up in time!!
Oranges for the orioles and grape jelly.
Thanks for the link
dori

We had a couple inspecting one of our bluebird houses tonight. Unfortunately, it was the one we are taking down because it isn't a good one (no opening for us to inspect the house and has almost no overhang in the front, and a gap in the back where rain can get in.)

We were in the process of constructing new houses today, and replaced the old one with a new one before they came back.

I listened to a bluebird expert last weekend - he said that putting up two bluebird houses increases your chances of having them nest in your yard 5 times more than having just one house.

Hope we get a househunting couple to choose one of ours!!!

I have 2 boxes out in my pasture....still no Blue Birds,the swallows take them over

I love Blue Birds......

I think you need to put up a lot of bluebird houses. The swallows do like the same houses, and they are very good birds to have around too. I have 7 bluebird houses at edge of my garden. They like to have open space around so I don't put them near or under trees. Actually on my 2 plus acres of garden i have probably 25 assorted birdhouses. I've been a birdwatcher for many years, and for some reason also collect birdhouses. I've got to order more meal worms tomorrow. The best source I have found is Grubco, 1-800-222-3563, www.herp.com/grubco email:grubco@dot-net.net. I order 5000 at a time. med. size.

Another thing I learned in the lecture last Saturday is that it isn't really important which direction the house faces (as long as it has a deep overhang for east or west exposures), but it should face a tree, gutter, electric line, or another perch (anywhere from 15-50 feet away) so the birds can watch the opening to their house. Here are some plans if anybody needs them: http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/plans.htm

And I added Grubco and a few other meal worm sources to the Watchdog: http://gardenwatchdog.com/vbc/64/ to make it easier for those looking for sources.

The ones I found included Grubco, Armstrong Crickets, Southeastern Insectaries, New York Worm, and Sunshine Mealworms (Tasty subject, huh????)

I have bluebirds here all the time -- and I don't put anything out, so there must be something they like. I do have a lot of worms in my soil. I am surprised because they were even around in January in the dead of winter! They sure are pretty. We also have some nice finches and get our share of cardinals too -- and again, I have no birdfeeder!

I had 5 bluebirds at my (heated for winter) bird bath yesterday. We're still "frozen in" and have snow on the ground here.
It was awesome. :-)

I fed the bluebirds the last of the first 1000 mealworms this morning early. They were chirping and telling me they needed more.
Today quite warm but still very windy. My mailperson brought the box to the house about 2:00 this afternoon. So now I have 5000 meal worms which will last quite awhile. I'm disappointed to only see one pair. Maybe another pair will fly in soon. Donna

HAH...thought of you today Rutholive! Went in the greenhouse and there (as a few times in the past) was one of our locals! He/she was trying it find it's way back out and ended up landing on the door frame. I was able to get really close while it just looked out at the onions and garlic bed!

And here is a close-up!

Horseshoe, Loved your pictures of the bluebird. It hasn't been warm enough here that i can leave the door open to the greenhouse. If they ever went in there in past years they found their way out before i saw them. They are such neat birds rutholive

Awwwwwww. That's so cool, 'shoe!

We now have three birdhouses up and "for rent" signs out, a fourth will go up as soon as DH takes it apart and re-works it a bit. (It doesn't have any means of opening it to check on the contents.

Hopefully we'll get a pair soon!

They like to nest at the edge of open fields Carena. If you don't have open fields near you, then you probably won't see them.
Around April 15, the hummingbirds return here and they actually tap on the window until I put the feeder out.

Looking back at those pics makes me wanna frame the second one. (I'm so pleased with myself!) ;>)

Our ghouse is a gravel floor with gravel bermed up around the outside edges and sometimes there becomes a hole (tunnel?) around the bottom here and there. The birds will often find their way in (especially the wrens) and make nests in the corner (the wrens do, not the bluebirds). They usually find their way out but the bluebirds need a little help!

We usually have many birds here, due to our location and gardening habits I'm sure. When I put up long rows of trellis for peans and beans to grow on I like to make some of the posts extra tall, just for the birds to land on. 'Tis great fun to see them perch there, then swoop down to eat a bug from the plants. It's their buffet line!

All in all, a few good birdhouses are wonderful to have for them, but also encourage them by making other things for them like a watering hole, perches, plant some birdseed (yep, just buy a bag of mixed seed and throw it in a corner somewhere! Some of that millet gets 10 ft tall, pretty!).

That so beautiful bird Shoe wish it has here.

Beautiful pics 'Shoe. They are such an intense blue aren't they. Hopefully this summer you will see some little ones flying around. Enjoy them.

Rutholive...where can you get the mealworm feeders that you have? Thanks! :O)

Sillylilly, I'm pretty sure I got mine from Duncraft. Their online is www.duncreaft.com. I've never ordered that way. I usually mail my order. Their address is Duncraft, PO box 9020, Penacook, NH 03303. I'm sure there are other places to get them. I just took most of my catalogs to recycle place a couple of days ago so don't have many to look at right now. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. rutholive (Donna0

Found it and thank you so much. Their prices seem a bit high on the mealy worms though.

I have takers!!!!! I am so excited, yesterday a male and female were setting up nest in my nest box!!!! YAY! I didn't even know these little birds lived around here until we moved to this house. This is going to be so much fun watching them.

Any suggestions to keep snakes out? I am thinking of wrapping barb wire around the post that the house sits on.

can you see the male?

male and female, too bad this is such poor quailty pics...

Congrats justmeLisa. Glad to hear that you are going to have a family. You'll be checking on them every day won't you? Enjoyed your pics & you enjoy your bluebirds.

Hey Lisa, Barbed wire sounds like a great idea! I, too, have lost too many bluebird babies to the snakes. Last year I went to the actual store of these folks http://www.wbu.com/ and got a snake cage that fits over the hole which worked. I didn't see it at the Atlanta store web site tho--they have alot of neat stuff in the stores!

Well, we now have four bluebird houses. And a couple was checking them out today. We think the male had one he liked, but he was having trouble talking the female into it :)

When DH pried open the first bluebird house (it was here when we bought the property), he found an abandoned nest with three empty eggs (apparently the nest was abandoned before the birds were hatched :(

It was pretty old, and that would explain why no other birds would nest in there. The box didn't open properly, and now it does, so it's been cleaned out and placed on its own pole.

SillyL, yes I think the mealworms are high at Duncraft. I order them from Grubco. I sent the address befor, so I think your best bet is there. Donna (rutholive)

Lisa, I had an incident with a big blacksnake eating some baby robins. I saw him preying on them up in a tree, so I grabbed his tail and jerked on it until he came down. He bit me so hard that it looked like a dog had me because he literally shook his head back and forth. I put that sucker in a tote bag and took him about 5 miles away before I let him loose. What I didn't know was that his teeth broke off in my hand and I was picking out snake teeth as they resurfaced for a couple of weeks. I am amazed that I didn't get an infection.

Incediable story! And I thought I was the only one here catching snakes by the tail..hehe.

What kind of snake was it? Looks sort of like a Rat Snake, they love baby birds.

I am also wondering if Moth Balls would make a snake think twice about shimmy-ing up a pole? I hate to think of all that hammering to put barbed wire up since my Bluebirds have started making their nest.

It was just a blacksnake. He has a slight color variation. We also have black racers which are much thinner and faster. I don't know if the moth balls would work but I'm pretty sure they would find a way to get around the barbed wire.

If I had a snake biting my hand like that, I think I would fall dead of a heart attack!

Woodspirti1, thanks for not killing the snake and turning him loose somewhere else. I'd have been terrified. You must have a great immune system to not get an infection.

Congrats to all of you having luck with your bluebird occupancy. Would a squirrel baffle on the pole prevent snakes? There's a huge effort in NY state to provide habitat for bluebirds since it is our state bird. Starlings and English sparrows are a huge nuisance and take over the nests so they have to be checked weekly. My sister has them nest and winter over in AR. She has a birdbath near the house and the parents bring the young'ns to teach them to bathe.

My method for snake handling was a long 3-tine hoe, scooped the buggers up into a trash bag and moved them to the creek.

Where are they now for my mole control!

My Bluebirds all bathe together, too, what a ruckus! Have you noticed that they like early am and pm for bathing?

Woodspirit, you were brave to tackle that snake. Glad you didn't get infection. We have Blue Racers and Bull snakes here. I see them once in awhile. I still have only one pair of bluebirds. i think they have decided to make their nest in a new bluebird box just put up a week ago out in my new woodland garden area. Haven't seen any Tree Swallows yet, they usually arrive shortly after the bluebirds. Donna