Hanging a Bluebird house is easy. Getting Bluebirds safely inside is a whole other story! Join me on my journey to provide safe shelter for Bluebirds - and learn from my mistakes!
To learn how to best support Bluebirds near you, visit www.sialis.org/ More about the many beautiful North American sparrows! www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/shape/Sparrows (House Sparrows are beautiful too, preferably in their native ecosystems!)
Okay, you had me worried! All our bluebird boxes are away from the home, and I make sure to scream into any birdhouses on the porch every morning, just to keep the house sparrows on their invasive toes. Neighbors see me fighting dozens of adult house sparrows, and sometimes even winning. 😂 Thanks for the video!
@@gardenforbirds No, seriously, thank YOU! I had no clue, but really am lucky to have the right setup and space, unknowingly though, I'm sure a few could be moved, and will be watched closely now! 🤗🐦 Happy spring!!!!
It's interesting that you shared that the sparrows will kill the bluebird babies and/or eggs. I have a bluebird house in the front yard and one in the back. The bluebirds hadn't returned to Minnesota yet, so the chickadees took advantage of the empty house. They had 4 fledglings in the nestbox...I had been listening to them for a couple days as I was weeding near their house. Then, the bluebird returned. I foolishly thought it was just checking out what was happening and waiting for the nestbox. Nope. I finally checked a couple days later when it was silent in the box...the bluebird had literally pecked out all the eyes of the chickadee fledglings. It was like a horror movie. I felt terrible that I hadn't tried to move the chickadees before the bluebird finished its carnage. I looked online and learned that bluebirds are also vicious killers who will kill baby birds that are in their way...they'll even kill other bluebirds. Just a powerful reminder that nature is so much more violent and vicious than we acknowledge. 😬
Oh that’s rough, I’m sorry you saw that 😞 You could try some houses with smaller holes for the chickadees - I think they can squeeze through a hole at 1&1/8”. Yes, nature is often surprising in its intensity 💓
Great information! And so true that we have to be vigilant and smart as stewards of nature❤ I'm having issues with Starlings at my feeders (its that time of year lol) and have changed the feeders and food so the starlings will find it unappetizing. I do it to keep the woodpeckers safe because if the starlings have food, they'll nest here and choose woodpecker nest cavities.
It’s hard knowing the access to nesting cavities is limited and going to non native bird species 😣 Thank you for your vigilance with your local birds!!
@@gardenforbirds absolutely. Last year I made the mistake of feeding mealworms in an attempt to draw the bluebirds to my feeders... but here was plenty of live bugs in the fields for the bluebirds so they never came in, but the starlings set up nests and feasted on the mealworms. Never doing that again!😆
That is very interesting! I’ve never tried meal worms and have been curious to learn more about people’s experience with them! I decided to focus the budget on planting for more bugs, as it sounds like you have too! I checked out your live streams - your garden is truly lovely! 💓
@@gardenforbirds Thank you so much, thats very kind of you to say!🤗 I've found every ones birds are different: I've seen people have great success with dried mealworms, some people need to soak them, for me I had to feed live mealworms before the bluebirds cared to come for them... and i found out it was much easier (and cheaper!) to just plant for them instead. I love that your channel promotes planting for the birds - plants can be expensive but theyre an investment that keeps providing for years to come! For me and my bluebirds, ive found cedars and winterberry are great for keeping the bluebirds around all winter. we'll be planting quite a few more berry bushes and shrubs this spring so I'll be happy to see what the birds like the most!
Very interesting info - thanks. I decided a few years back to do away with nesting boxes - except for two housing wrens above our deck that have never been harrassed. Instead I've been hanging suet cages filled with long-ish dried grasses mixed with strands of flax or hemp. They are quite the sight when first filled and hung. I start hanging these in sight of our feeders in late Jan and within a few days they are emptied. All kinds of birds visit these and use the materials to build their own nests - many within the dense bushes and trees in our small Delaware Valley wooded yard. A few cages are fixed to the top side of horizontal branches to make it a bit more accessible to the mourning doves and other larger birds like the cardinals and jays. Thanks for sharing your insights!
I'm afraid your cone guard will not stop rat snakes. They will perform a concertina movement around your wooden pole , then reach out, up and over your cone every time.The very keeled brown tree snake, in your videos, is a special snake that is not in our country so you will not confront it. What works 100% of the time is a 5-foot long ( not 2-feet) , 8-inch diameter HVAC cylinder. I've tested it here in Maryland on a few hundred setups and my track indicator shows snakes never get up the guard though I place boxes in areas teeming with snakes. No snake is harmed and no dangerous early fledges occur. Most never know that snakes take their nestlings. You need not worry about that anymore.
This is very helpful, thank you! I hadn’t been able to find anything about the cone guard being ineffective, so that’s very interesting. I fear I’m going to have to move the whole setup as the House Sparrows aren’t giving up their guard - despite having moved on to nest elsewhere. I’ll try the setup you described!
I had to look this one up! I see an interesting blog that gives some useful anecdotes about their own experiment with a spooker on a feeder. They do note some other bird species were spooked as well, but they cite some decent luck with reducing house sparrows too! birdseedandbinoculars.com/wordpress/my-dyi-anti-house-sparrow-halo/
Invasive species should probably be on school curriculums! 😅 Actually, I recently saw an interesting statistic that something like 67% of children 7-12 wanted to have more nature focused education. I think it’s probably about time to oblige them!
Yeah…there are a few species of birds who do this, but with House Sparrows being invasive, makes it harder to stomach. I think they must do it to try to guarantee enough resources for their own young. But I wish they’d quit it already 😅
WHAT am I going to do with you! How did you know that I just bought materials to make bluebird houses?! It's simple they said, just build it and they will come. NOW you throw all this... this... good information at me and well... if you know to do right, anything else is wrong. But seriously, thanks. I will check out your info below.
i don't get this at all. Is this trolling? Was research actually conducted? Everyone knows that you have to install TWO boxes, about 30 feet apart. The first box is occupied by sparrows. The second box is not - because the sparrows don't want another pair of sparrows (i.e., the same species) infringing on their territory, so they chase them off. You use the natural aggression of the sparrows to your advantage. So the second box gets inhabited by bluebirds (that the sparrows leave alone). Everywhere I see them - in all the parks as well as just up my street where the neighbors have an acre of open meadow/grassland, you invariably see the nest boxes are always installed in pairs.
Hanging two boxes is to reduce competition from Tree Swallows, but that is a separate concern - House Sparrows should never be allowed to nest in a box, here in North America. If they are nesting near your bluebird house, they may still try to kill your bluebirds - despite not needing the nest. To be safe, House Sparrow nests should be immediately removed. I leave the door open when they come back in trying to nest each time, to prevent them laying eggs!
When erected in pairs, one box is for bluebirds, the second is for swallows, chickadees, or titmice - species that will live peaceably next to bluebirds. If sparrows or wrens occupy the second box, they will likely harass or even kill the bluebirds. If boxes can be placed more than 50 feet from woodlands, it is better to have boxes separated by 100 yards unless trying to attract swallows also. (Sources: Audubon, North American Bluebird Society, etc.)
