The Best Location for your Eastern Bluebird HousesMany
of us think of adding a bird house in the spring, the fact is, birdhouses
are best put up in the fall or early to mid winter. As well as being used as a winter roost by various birds, the nest box
should be in place early because the eastern bluebird, in some areas, will be looking for a nesting site in February or March.
Now do not be concerned if you cannot put up your house as early as recommended, eastern bluebirds may have 2 or 3 broods
in a season, so a late placed house may still be used during the breeding season. Where
you locate that birdhouse can determine the
success of your blue bird breeding season your Eastern Blue birds nest boxes should be placed facing a tree or shrub that is within 100' of the bird
house, but try to have it not facing into prevailing winds. The reason we have it facing a tree or shrub is so that the Bluebird
can see the entrance hole from a perch nearby, and also so the young, when leaving the nest, have a perch in sight to fly
to. The area around the site of the nest box should be open, as in a large lawn, field, apple orchard, or a cemetery. The
vegetation should be low growing, though the occasional young tree is fine. An area that has fences, telephone wires etc,
gives the bluebirds a place to perch while looking for the insects upon which they feed.
Secure Blue
bird houses to a fence posts or a poles
using hangers, screws or nails, how you secure the nest box could be important, wire wrapped around the box to secure it could
inadvertently create an unwanted perch. Make sure that the bird house is stable and does not move, placing the nest box on
a tree is also possible but less desirable because of easier access for predators. Even on a post or pole there is a danger
from predators, so if you are able to install a predator guard in the form of a baffle, under the house, on the post or pole,
the odds increase for a successful outcome. Hang it at a height of between 4 and 6 feet, and space 100 to 125 yards apart, it is recommended
by some to place nest boxes in pairs 15' to 20' apart and then place those 100 yards apart, the thought being if one home
gets taken by another species, there is still another available. You will not get two pairs of blue birds nesting real close
to each other because they are territorial. If you have problems with house sparrows taking a nest box, you can always put up another house 10' to 15' away for
another chance of a Bluebird taking up residency. The house sparrow (sometimes called the english sparrow) is a real problem
in some areas and many things are tried in order to reduce their impact on the population of bluebirds, various bird houses
are available that may (or may not) be less desirable to sparrows, but it seems that any bluebird house that bluebirds (eastern)would
occupy could also be used by sparrows. NOTE.The house sparrow is an invasive species, it is not protected by the U.S. Migratory
Bird Treaty Act, and because of that some people use sparrow traps to capture and kill them.
If you are faced with the
problem of wrens taking over your occupied bluebird (eastern) birdhouses, we may have the solution with the use of a birdhouse
with wren guard. Bluebirds feed on insects,
so avoiding pesticide use will increase chances of attracting birds. Another way to increase the odds of attracting Bluebirds
is by supplying nesting material near by in the way of pine needles or soft dry vegetation like grasses. One chore worth mentioning is to clean out your bluebird houses at the end of the season, bluebirds do not like old
nests. After cleaning out the old nesting material we would suggest washing out the interior with a solution of 1 part bleach
to 10 parts water and then let air dry.
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