New to Bluebirds

I recently moved to a more rural property than before, and to my delight, I have bluebirds! I see them nearly every day now. There are 3 nestboxes on posts already on the property that are bluebird nesting boxes. I cleaned them out. They are now empty, although I think the previous owner already cleaned them out last fall because there wasn't much in them. He told us that they have been used by bluebirds before.

What do I do now? Just sit and wait for occupants? I see the bluebirds around but I haven't seen them hanging out around a specific nest box. It would be great if I saw them starting to build a nest. I suspect it might be still a little too cold here due to there still being snow on the ground, etc.

Should I put out special foods? The property has some timber on it, and a pond, and lots of native prairie plants with seedheads still on them. I think they are probably doing fine for food, but I would like to encourage them to stick around!

Thanks for any suggestions for a bluebird newbie! It's very exciting to have so many different bird species in my yard now, compared to my city property. Today I saw an Eastern Kingbird which was entirely new for me. Probably boring for lots of folks, but when you come from a yard that had sparrows, juncos, robins, house finches, and an occasional hummingbird, this is heaven! I now have blue jays, various woodpecker species, bluebirds, cardinals, kingbirds, and others I haven't identified yet, and that's only in the first week!

Claire

Sounds great Claire!!!

Along with having a bird bath It would probably be a good idea to start feeding them Meal Worms which they love.

In the 3rd post of this thread is information about meal worms along w/ in the 2nd post there are some suet recipes for Bluebirds.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/805666/

A great site about all types of Bluebird information is here.
http://sialis.org/

Pelle

Thank you Pelle! Great links! I find the Sialis site is so full of information - it will take a while to digest it all. I was looking at the mealworm site as well, and I suspect I will order some, but I am confused by the pricing. For the "500 cup" it says"Per Each $3.50" Does that mean per mealworm or per cup, so 500 times $3.50, or $3.50 per 500 in a cup. Likewise, 1000 bulk says "price each, $6.50" so I can only assume it's $6.50 for 1000 mealworms (which seems really cheap!) because it can't possibly be $6.50 per mealworm.

I am certainly concerned about the house sparrow problem and will do my best to deter them.

Someone local told me not to put up a purple martin house because the purple martins will drive other birds away. I didn't see anything about that on the Sialis site in particular, except that the sparrows sometimes take up nesting in the PM house.

Thanks so much!
Claire

The way I read it is 1 cup (containing 500) is $3.50. The more cups, the price is less. You could also order the bulk amounts which might come in bags.

You could D mail secondcousinDave to make sure as I know he orders from them.

When you do start feeding them try to put the feeder fairly close to where you see them, then gradually bring it closer and closer to the area where you would like to view them or take photos of them.

I've never heard that about Purple Martins either.

Also, if you do have lots of sparrows with the houses, then take a look at the Sparrow Spookers on the Sialis site. They report good results.

http://www.sialis.org/sparrowspooker.htm

Claire

My birds have finished their nest but as of today, no eggs yet. And I suspect the warmth of spring comes sooner here in Virginia than in Iowa so you probably have several weeks yet. If you are seeing just two birds it probably means they have paired up and have run all the others off, which will happen before they begin nesting. They are very territorial during the nesting season. Even if you have more than one house, one male will not tolerate another male within sight or about 300 feet or so and they will fight continuously if they are.

I order my mealworms from Sunshine in Oregon and order 10 thousand at a time, approximately every 2 weeks, year round. That is because I have blues that stay with me all winter and I also have many other birds that go for the mealworms, including, unfortunately, house sparrows. Sunshine charges $30 per 10 thousand and gives a 10 percent discount if you tell them you are feeding bluebirds. They offer several shipping options. I have mine shipped UPS second day air, which costs almost as much as the worms. In the hot part of the summer, I have them shipped overnight, which is about $10 more than second day air.

Read the Sialis site carefully, and often. Make sure these are NABS approved bluebird houses. I would be leery of houses mounted on posts, particularly if these are fence posts. In fact, make sure these are slick, metal posts, are located beyond a cat's jumping distance from a fence and have baffles installed on the posts to keep snakes, raccoons and other climbing preditors away. If you don't consider and address all these things, you may be setting your bluebirds up for disaster.

Dave

Thanks to all for the helpful info!

Pelletory - I'm glad you haven't heard that about purple martins. I did some Googling and found that bluebirds actually seem to be more territorial than PMs. I have 5.5 acres and 3 bluebird houses. I may consider installing a PM house on the part of the property furthest from any BB house and see how it goes. Of course I will keep the PM house under watch for other species who choose to try nesting in it.

Mrs Ed - great ideas on the Sialis site for spooking! I will have to watch for sparrow populations and see if they become necessary. So far, I have only seen a couple of sparrows, and they were chipping sparrows, which I think (hope) are probably OK.

2dCousinDave - thanks for the great info on the mealworms. Do you use a special type of feeder for the mealworms that prevents the mealworms from walking off on their own? The bluebird houses (I shall take a pic of them) are mounted on cylindrical steel posts, no fences anywhere. They do not presently have baffles, but I can certainly install some. The houses are at least 300 feet apart. There are 3 of them and the previous owner said it would be best not to install more because of their preferred territory size. I think they are about 1 house per 1.5 acres. I'm hoping the bluebirds will be happy with that layout. Will I need 3 separate mealworm feeders?

Thanks again!
Claire

Claire

Sounds like you have a nice setup.

My lot is small so I can only host one pair of BB's. However, I do have others that nest in abandoned woodpecker holes in the trees behind my lot and those bluebirds are NOT permitted to enjoy the mealworms. Papa Blue has great eyesight and arrives from nowhere as soon as one of the neighbor blues approaches the feeder. Interestingly, he does not object when other species, including chickadees, titmice, song sparrows, downy woodpeckers, Carolina wrens and nuthatches, visit repeatedly.

You can feed them mealworms in a glass bowl or any container as long as it has a slick inside surface. Otherwise, the worms will crawl out, as they are very active when it is warm or if they are in direct sunlight.

If you have bigger birds ( such as starlings, robins, mockingbirds, bluejays, cardinals, that will gobble down all the worms), you may need to buy a cage type feeder that will not allow birds larger than bluebirds to get inside.The Bluebird Nut Cafe sells two sizes, one larger than the other, and I have and use both. You may also need to get sparrow spookers to keep HOSP away from your houses.

Dave

Hi Claire,
Heres one of the feeders Dave is talking about.

http://www.tmbstudios.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BBNDMWF

Heres the other one.

http://www.tmbstudios.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BBNMWF

Hooray, hooray! Great excitement on the bluebird front. Today I checked all 3 nest boxes to observe progress. All 3 have nests in them now. I am so excited about this. One of the nests has no eggs (yet), one has 2 eggs, and one has 5 eggs!!! 5!!! Goodness gracious. I feel like I should distribute the eggs evenly! LOL! I wouldn't really do that, it just feels all lopsided to me. I can scarcely wait to see the babies start to grow. I have to go to Sialis and read about when I can (or cannot) look at the babies and check on their progress. I do hope they will all do well. I am a bit worried about the 5 eggs because they might be too many for mama bird.
Claire

Thats great news Claire! Congratulations!!

Hi Claire - congrats on your nests/eggs! 5 eggs is a standard # of eggs for bluebirds - they will sometimes even lay 6. The second brood is often smaller, although one of my pairs last year successfully fledged 10 babies in 2 nestings......those birds must have been exhausted........MuddyLou

Hi, Claire! We were just like you when we moved to a small farm: wanting to do EVERYTHING possible to help the BB's we inherited........or at least I did! We added more and more boxes in all the 'right' locations. Turns out the BB's have their own ideas. We have had them nest in decorative boxes in flower beds close to the house and in decrepit boxes way across the property. And they all manage, thank you very much! Mama BB lays one egg a day, so your 3-egg-box may not be finished. Around here, we have cowbirds........gr-r-r-r.........who lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, so I do check the boxes for those additions. The BB's will raise those parasitic eggs as their own.

When I discovered mealworms, I worried that the BB's wouldn't know to go to the feeder, so I put a few worms in a little dish on the ground a few feet in front on the nesting box, with the wire feeder a couple of feet away. The BB's discovered the worms immediately. After a day, I put the dish into the feeder, but left the lid open. It didn't take the BB's long to go into the box. So, the next day, I closed the lid. And the next day, I hung the feeder, eventually moving it next to the patio so we could watch the BB's better. I also have a plexiglass feeder with a dome lid, but the cardinals and woodpeckers clean it out in no time, so I only use it in the winter. I don't mind the smaller birds getting into the wire feeder. I will mention that the larger woodpeckers hung on the wire feeder and pecked the cup inside, trying to get to the mealworms. I replaced the little cup with a detergent bottle lid which is a heavier plastic. I have had good luck with mealworms from www.grubco.com and the prices include shipping, so you might want to shop around. I have lost mealworms to the heat in transit, so I order plenty before hot weather hits. I keep my mealworms in a plastic tub with wheat bran. DH drilled some tiny holes in a plastic bowl so we could 'sift' the worms out of the bran at feeding time.

If you do nothing else, at least have a birdbath in the afternoon shade (so the water won't overheat in the summer). BB's are THE cleanest birds! We have had several bathing at once, splashing the water everywhere.

You are getting off to a great start, and trust me: your enthusiasm will only grow. You will watch papa feed mama while she's on the eggs, and then you will watch the pair feed those hungry babies, eventually bringing them in close to the feeder. What fun!

thanks for the great info MuddyLou and Mima56! I now have 5 eggs in the nest that had 3 the other day, so that's exciting! The 3rd nest is still empty.

I did not get any mealworms yet but have been considering it. I definitely will have the birdbath up soon. We have very strong winds here and I am trying to figure out how to get it in place so that it won't fall down. I've been checking into the different types of mealworm feeders also. I need to make up my mind!

I think that the cowbirds can't fit in the holes of the nestbox. I saw a pair the other day hanging around one of my nestboxes but they didn't seem able to get in, and the bluebirds were attacking them. I was rooting for my BB's! I also saw starlings investigating the box but they also could not get in. I will keep checking the nest to be sure though, because I am not fond of the cowbird habit. I realize it's "nature" but I have a connection to my bluebirds now and I don't want them to be bothered by the cowbirds.

I have also recorded my 3 bb box nests on NestWatch with Cornell now.

Claire

Sounds like things are going great at your place, Claire! Once in a while you will have a nest that is neglected for some reason. Could be some other birds built a nest close by and the BB's weren't comfortable. Or they may just be taking their time laying eggs.

Don't feel you must have mealworms handy for all to go well. We worked our way up to 17 boxes through the years before we ever even heard of mealworms! As great as mealworms are for the babies, I feed just as many, if not more, during the winter when bugs are scarce.

RE the cowbirds.....I think every bird site agrees that it's wise to be vigilant against them. But that's for another thread, under 'Pests' or something!

Your enthusiasm is wonderful, and the Blues will be ever so grateful for your efforts!

Two "full" nests! Lucky you! I've got 3 completed nests (maybe 4 now, will have to recheck) on my "trail" - but no eggs yet....still too cold here...siigghhh.....living vicariously through you, Claire! I agree w/Mima re: the mealworms. I've always fed my backyard bluebirds, but never the trail bluebirds, and they all do fine....

Send pics of your boxes if you get a chance....

I am fascinated today to see the bluebirds busily diving at 2 starlings that come anywhere near the nest box, but they leave the robins alone when the robins are in the same place that the starlings were. Do they know that the robin can't possibly fit in the nest box, or do they have an innate sense of what birds represent a threat? I am just amazed at their selective actions! They couldn't care less about the robins. The starlings seem to make them go berserk!

I don't know how I missed this thread over the past couple months, but I'm sure glad I found you all. I'll be sure to try the suet recipes mentioned. It sounds like you all are having great luck with the bbs. How are yours doing CMoxon?

Mima - seventeen boxes? Wow. Do you have that many now? That must keep you very busy checking up on everyone - Hotel Mima! Do you have nests yet?

Muddylou, it won't be long now. You are not too much further north than I am. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, toes, too.

Ta-da! FINALLY my backyard bbs have returned & are making up for lost time. VERY busy this morning with nest building. There are also 4 bb nests over on the cemetery trail, and 1 chickadee nest. No eggs yet..........

Excellent! Keep us updated on eggs!

Here is a pic of one of my bb nests with eggs.

I went to monitor my nest boxes and still have one empty of eggs, although it has a nest. Maybe they have decided not to lay them there. I have 2 nests with 5 eggs. One is in this pic. The other one, I went to monitor, I clapped my hands as I came close (I didn't want to startle them) and then I tapped gently on the back of the box, as I have done in the past. Not a sound, so I opened it. Poor Mummy bluebird was sitting in there! I think I was probably more surprised to see her than she was to see me!

Why would she be sitting there still? Does that mean the eggs have hatched? Even when I opened the top, she did not go out. I am worried about this! Have I given her a heart attack? Poor little thing, I didn't mean to frighten her. I am just checking for pests or things like that, and monitoring my boxes.

I hope she will be OK. I am all flustered!
Claire

Thats beautiful Claire!

I'm sure the Mommy will be fine. :-)

That's just beautiful Claire. I'm sure she will be fine. You're doing a good deed.

Hi Claire - your mom is fine. The same thing has happened to me countless times. I truly think it startles you more than it startles her.

Thanks all for telling me the mom will be fine. I am glad to hear I'm not the only one who has done this, and very relieved to hear that she will be OK. I figure she's telling Daddy bluebird "This is the LAST time you make me nest in this box...I want premium accommodations next time...enough of these humans staring at me!"

I hope to see baby bluebirds soon...
Claire

So do we Claire!

I did the same thing w/ the nestbox the Chickadees are using. I went even further in giving warning that I was there and an adult Chickadees flew up in my face!!!!

Talk about being shocked!

(Sh-h-h......We won't tell her what it's like to open a box and see a snake staring back at you......will we??)

ACK!!! Now that I definitely want to avoid! I feel bad because I haven't installed baffles yet. The previous owner didn't have them and said he never had a problem. I want to be extra sure, but one thing at a time at this new place, and it's not my first priority....

I'm sure if mama bb had flown up in my face, I would have probably fallen over backwards in the shock! What a video that would have made!
Claire

We hatched! We hatched!!!

Congratulations Claire!!!!!

Thanks Pelle! I'm so excited! The other nest with 5 eggs is still eggs, but the eggs look sort of dark.

nice!

CONGRATS!! Your babies are beautiful!