| |  | | Bluebirding Basics | Until adequately recently, Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) were uncommon in many areas, mainly due to loss of habitat open space/snags), and contest for nesting sites from introduced species (starlings and house [English] sparrows). However, bluebirds are coming back. They are fascinating, beautiful birds. You can help increment their numbers. The keys are: - Larn to recognize nests and eggs. See nesting timetables: typical Eastern | Mount | Western
- Put up nestboxes (think location, location, location.)
- Control predators and House Sparrows.
- Supplement food and water.
| |       | | Learn to recognize nests and eggs (more photos) - also see nautical chart on relative sizes of eggs.  | Bluebird: Neat, cup shaped, woven nest of 100% fine grass or pine needles. Occasionally bits of fur or a few feathers and rootlets. Fairly deep nest cup. Eggs are pulverization blue, sometimes white. NOTE: Western Bluebirds volition routinely add together ribbons, cellophane, feathers, thin bark and leaves to their nest. Note: Rare open-cup nests were found in surface-mined lands in KY and on oak limbs in SC. | | | House Sparrow: Jumble of odds and ends, including coarse grass with seedheads, cloth, white feathers, twigs and sometimes litter. Tall nest, may have tunnel-similar archway. Eggs are foam, white, grey or greenish, with irregular brown speckles. | | | Tree Swallow: Nest of grass lined with feathers. May be messy. Flatter loving cup than bluebirds. Eggs are pure white. | | | Black-capped Chickadee: Downy nest of moss, fur, and soft plant fibers. Female may cover eggs with moss when leaving the box. White eggs with brown speckles. | | | Tufted Titmouse: Featherlike nest of moss, fur, and soft plant fibers. May have many earwigs living in it. White eggs with rose/mauve speckles. | | | House Wren: Messy nest of twigs, occasionally lined with fine fibers or feathers. Males may build unlined eggless "dummy nests" in nearby boxes to reduce competition. Tiny glossy white eggs, sometimes tinted with pink/vitrify, with lots of fine pinkish brownish/reddish dark-brown/brown specks that sometimes form a band on the larger end of the egg. | |
DO... |
DON'T... | | | Build or purchase a nestbox designed specifically for bluebirds. These boxes are made of unpainted, untreated 3/4" - 1" wood or PVC, have an overhanging slanted roof (2-5", with a shallow saw kerf (groove) to keep pelting from inbound the box), no perch, a round 1.5" diameter pigsty (or 1.375" 10 2.250" oval pigsty. Mount Bluebirds need a one 9/16" hole), ventilation, drainage holes, are deep plenty and so predators tin can't attain in and get to the eggs, and have a door that opens for cleaning and monitoring (if rough wood is not used, add kerfs to inside of door to enable fledglings to climb out). Birds may roost in the boxes in cold weather, and the basis may be frozen in February/March when they start firm hunting, so put boxes up in belatedly fall or winter. Meet plans. | | | Put upwardly nestboxes in semi-open up grassland habitat, such equally mowed meadows, large lawns, cemeteries, orchards, roadsides, and areas with scattered trees and short footing encompass. Areas with fence lines, some medium size trees, or phone lines provide perches for hunting and nest-guarding. If no native birds utilise the box for two years, try a different spot. (Annotation: Western Bluebirds practise non favor large, open meadows.) | | | Mount boxes on 8 ft., three/four" bore galvanized pipe, with the entrance pigsty 5 ft. off the ground. If away from prevailing winds, face Eastward/N or NE. | | | Continue boxes a minimum of 125-150 yards apart. If nesting bluebirds are harassed by Tree Swallows, or more than l% of bluebird trail boxes are occupied by swallows, fix a second, "paired" box 5-20 ft. from the offset. Boxes that Tree Swallows nest in should have "kerfs" or grooves (saw marks about iii/4" autonomously) or one.v-2" wide x 6" long plastic screen (gutter guard) stapled tightly within below the entrance hole to enable fledglings to exit. | | | Install predator guards to keep snakes, raccoons and other predators from raiding nests (e.g., a ii-four ft. long, eight" diameter stovepipe or PVC pipage sleeve on the pole, mounted (so it wobbles) merely under the box), even if you lot don't have problems the showtime twelvemonth of nesting. Losses without predator protection may run 25-33%. | | | If squirrels chew the entrance hole to widen information technology, screw a metallic hole guard (available from birding stores) or a ane.5" thick block of hardwood with a one.5" entrance hole over the damaged hole, or supersede the forepart part of the box. | | | Attempt attaching strands of ten lb. angling line to boxes and feeders to scare Firm Sparrows. Sparrow spookers made of mylar are VERY effective - put them upward AFTER the first egg is laid and remove after fledgling. | | | Plant native trees, shrubs, and vines that provide fall and wintertime food for bluebirds. Consider offering mealworms. | | | Provide water. | | | Monitor boxes at least one time a calendar week to check on progress and command Business firm Sparrows, paperwasps, blow flies, etc. | | | You lot can remove eggs that have not hatched 5 days after last egg hatched. | | | Bluebirds like a clean box. Remove bluebird nests as soon every bit the young fledge, or if nesting fails, to encourage some other breed. Put nests in the trash to avoid attracting predators. If mice nest in the boxes over the winter, clean them out in February. See instructions. | | | Replace or repair whatsoever split up, rotten, or broken pieces on boxes that could permit rain in and chill nestlings. | | | Exist patient! See more tips. And be prepared to become possessed by these captivating birds. | | | | DON'T install nestboxes in brushy and heavily wooded areas, besides shut to trees or shrubbery. This invites Firm Wren attack. | | | DON'T install nestboxes within 200 yards of barnyards where animals are fed, or where Business firm Sparrows are abundant unless you are willing to actively manage House Sparrow populations. | | DON'T mount boxes on trees or argue lines--they provide easy admission for predators. More info... | | | DON'T install boxes well-nigh where pesticides or herbicides are used. Don't apply pesticides inside boxes unless they are approved for caged birds. | | | DON'T hesitate to destroy House Sparrow nests and eggs. Firm Sparrows are not-native invasive pests, and are not protected by constabulary. Yous might retrieve they're beautiful (some bluebirders refer to them as "rats with wings"), but they will assault and kill developed bluebirds (sometimes trapping them in the nestbox), and destroy eggs and young. Firm Sparrow nests, eggs, immature, and adults may exist legally removed or humanely destroyed under U.Due south. federal police. Information technology is improve to have no box at all than to allow Firm Sparrows to reproduce in one. | | | DON'T remove agile nests of any native bird, including Tree Eat, Tufted Titmouse, or chickadee nests. It is illegal to disturb an active nest of whatever bird except House Sparrows, starlings and pigeons, which are not protected. Empty Business firm Wren nests can exist removed. | | | DON'T feed corn, bread, milo, or millet in bird feeders, as this attracts Firm Sparrows. Stick with black sunflower seed, thistle (nyjer/niger/nyger) and fruit. Or try a Magic Halo. | | | DON'T worry that monitoring will brand the parents desert the nest. Bluebirds tolerate man presence. Touching the nest will not brand the birds leave--your mother only told y'all that to keep you from harassing them. Virtually birds don't have a good sense of smell. | | | DON'T monitor more ofttimes than 2x/week, or in early morn (equally eggs are usually laid 1-2 hours after sunrise)/evening/during bad weather. | | | DON'T affect eggs while monitoring. Some, specially chickadee eggs, are very delicate. Likewise oil from hands could inhibit hatching. | | | DON'T open the boxes once the birds are 12-14 days old. (Their optics are fully open when they are 8-11 days old. Parents may merely dip their heads into the box hole to feed the young at this historic period). Information technology can cause young to fall or hop out of the nestbox before they are capable of flying, reducing their chances for survival. | | | DON'T pigment boxes a nighttime color. (Light colors on the EXTERIOR only are adequate.) If desired to preserve woods, coat exterior but with linseed oil or a product like SUPERDECK (Coastal Greyness), and allow to dry thoroughly before box will be used. | | | DON'T assume the nest is abandoned. During egg laying, adults may spend very niggling time in the box. On hot days, the female may go out the nest for long periods of time. The merely certain mode to know the nest is abandoned is if neither parent has visited the nest for iv full hours after the young have hatched. If information technology has been abased, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator (e.g., Joan Fuller 974-3265), the Audubon Society or the Northward American Bluebird Society. | | | DON'T go discouraged if bluebirds don't nest in your boxes the first twelvemonth. | |
Bluebird Timetable - run into photos of nestling development. Also see general bluebird nesting timetable and more than information on bluebird biology for Eastern Bluebirds | Mount Bluebirds | Western Bluebirds. Also see typical get-go egg dates by Land. | | Scouting: Feb to Mid-March: Bluebirds start checking out nesting sites. Belatedly arrivals, or previously unpaired birds may nest as late as July or fifty-fifty August, and some pairs have multiple broods. It's never too tardily to put up a nestbox, as they may be used for a subsequent nesting (encounter Number of Broods), for roosting, and are also often checked out in the autumn by birds that may return the following spring. | | | Nest building: ii-6 days. | | | Egg laying: 5-7 days. Usually laying ane per mean solar day (skipping a day in common cold atmospheric condition is possible but uncommon), for a full of 4-seven eggs. Often showtime egg laying a few days after nest is completed. Egg laying can exist delayed (sometimes for a week or 2 - 3 weeks is not unheard of) in cold conditions, for young parents, or in cases where nutrient is scarce. In Connecticut, the get-go egg is by and large laid in Apr. (Primeval reported in CT: First week of March. Latest reported in Baronial - iii broods that twelvemonth. Ane brood/year is more common in CT.) After broods tend to have fewer eggs, and Bluebirds tend to lay more than eggs per nest in the due north vs. s, but southern birds have a longer nesting flavour. | | | Incubation: 12-xiv days. While they may sit down on eggs occasionally during the egg laying menses, "total-time" regular incubation doesn't showtime until all eggs are laid. They may wait well-nigh a week if weather is still cold. They may beginning incubating earlier the clutch is complete in warmer weather. Hatching failure is highest during warmer conditions. | | | Hatching: May occur over 24-48 (rarely 72 hours) | | | Fledging: sixteen-21 days, typically 17-18. Occasionally a runt will fledge one or even two days later than the others. When they are first born, they look "a bit like hairy shrimp." Insect availability may speed up or filibuster fledging. If the box is empty in this time frame, the nest is flattened, and there is some fecal material (white) on the walls, it usually means fledging was successful. Once they exit the nest, bluebirds practice non return to it. When the babies are 28 days old, they can fly well. They tin can feed themselves by Day 30. | | | Number of Broods: Ane to four broods per year. Quaternary brood attempts may be fabricated in southern climates. The number of broods probably depends on timing, temperatures, nutrient availability, box availability and the experience or historic period of the parents. A subsequent brood may be started inside days or weeks of fledging the previous brood. It may be in the same box or a unlike box. | If you lot continue runway of dates, yous will exist able to avoid opening the box after the young are 13 days old, to foreclose premature fledging. At this historic period, brilliant blue feathers are evident on males. Also encounter www.texasbluebirdsociety.org "Eastern Bluebird Nestling Daily Growth Serial" or Pam Ford'due south photos to help determine age. Some studies have shown that xxx% of bluebirds return to previous nesting sites the following season. If you would like to join the participants in Connecticut's Bluebird Nest Box Network, contact Geoff Krukar at (860) 675-8130.
| |  Food
68% of a bluebirds' diet is made upward of insects: grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, spiders, and caterpillars. They also like fruit - east.g., flowering dogwood, holly, mulberry, wild grape, Virginia creeper, pokeweed, and Viburnum. (Although they volition swallow the fruit of multiflora rose and Japanese honeysuckle, these are invasive species, and should be eradicated.) Bluebirds love mealworms. They may eat suet (see link for recipes). Bluebirds rarely swallow birdseed (they will occasionally take shelled sunflower and peanut chips). |
For more than data:
References | | Berger, Kridler and Griggs, The Bluebird Monitor's Guide, 2001. | | | State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Eastern Bluebird, Wild fauna in Connecticut, Advisory Series, 1997. | | | State of Connecticut, Connecticut Wildlife, Bluebird Bulletin , March/April 2002. | | | Stokes, Donald and Lillian, Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds, Boston, 1991. | | | Zickefoose, Julie, Enjoying Bluebirds More, The Bluebird Landlord's Handbook, Birdwatcher's Digest Press, Marietta, Ohio, 1993. | |
The bluebird carries the sky on his back.
- Henry David Thoreau |
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