Bluebirds!!!

[jack]

Originally Posted by dapjwy

Linrose,

I hope yours will be fine. I am not 100% sure that the house wrens are to blame...but I do strongly suspect them.

Are the nestboxes the bluebirds are using far away from shrubs and brushy areas? I think my land may be changing to habitat more favorable to house wrens. I will have to fight succession in the one section of my field where locust trees are starting to try to take hold.

Keep us posted.

Yes, most likely house wrens. The same thing happened in my yard. In the early days of ownership, I was planting in a former cow field, so when I put up boxes, they were quickly occupied by tree swallows and bluebirds. When my neighbor passed away and the new owners put up multiple housing birdhouses and fed cheap birdseed, English sparrows began to kill the nesting swallows and bluebirds, causing me to take down that sized box or narrowing the entry hole for only smaller birds; chickadees took over (though hounded by English sparrows).

Now, years later, all that I have planted though the years have turned the property into a densely populated native woodland, and the wrens love it. Now I cannot use either type bird house, and I have stopped feeding seeds entirely.

No more cavity nesters that I'm aware of are nesting here, though the plantings have rewarded with nesting orioles, cardinals, catbirds, robins, house finch, goldfinch, etc. But, i miss the tree swallows and chickadees.

Now my favorite pastime is watching the birdbath on the back deck, where all of the above mentioned species bath daily, and I'm able to keep an eye out for their health and success in breeding (lots of young birds in attendance with parents).

I would place a heavy bet that the house wrens, Linwood and Dap, are the villains!

[linrose]

The wrens have started hatching. So far all 5 bluebirds are alive and well. I saw a parent on a tree nearby so that's good news.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by jack

Yes, most likely house wrens. The same thing happened in my yard. In the early days of ownership, I was planting in a former cow field, so when I put up boxes, they were quickly occupied by tree swallows and bluebirds. When my neighbor passed away and the new owners put up multiple housing birdhouses and fed cheap birdseed, English sparrows began to kill the nesting swallows and bluebirds, causing me to take down that sized box or narrowing the entry hole for only smaller birds; chickadees took over (though hounded by English sparrows).

Now, years later, all that I have planted though the years have turned the property into a densely populated native woodland, and the wrens love it. Now I cannot use either type bird house, and I have stopped feeding seeds entirely.

No more cavity nesters that I'm aware of are nesting here, though the plantings have rewarded with nesting orioles, cardinals, catbirds, robins, house finch, goldfinch, etc. But, i miss the tree swallows and chickadees.

Now my favorite pastime is watching the birdbath on the back deck, where all of the above mentioned species bath daily, and I'm able to keep an eye out for their health and success in breeding (lots of young birds in attendance with parents).

I would place a heavy bet that the house wrens, Linwood and Dap, are the villains!

Thanks for the insight, Jack.

After reading your post, I recall your neighbor and the European house sparrows.

I am happy that you are rewarded with so many other species. I have had orioles nesting in our yard for several years now. At first, I only discovered it in the winter while the branches were bare and their distinctive nest was no longer hidden. A few years back, they bested right out in the open (not sure if it was intentional or if the tree didn't lead out much on the br asnch they chose)...either way, I was without a good camera to capture the action--and it was close to eye level when viewed from the top of the slope. :-/


Anyway, I hope to see the young brought to my water feature (taking a break from building it now). I love that you see so much action at your birdbath--I hope to see the same in the shallows I intend to create.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by linrose

The wrens have started hatching. So far all 5 bluebirds are alive and well. I saw a parent on a tree nearby so that's good news.

That is good.

Hopefully it stays that way. I'm hoping the wrens will be too busy feeding their brood to bother them.

[dapjwy]

I will know more next year...I plan to remove the locust that areinvading the field, remove the extra boxes near trees or shrubs, and try to keep things more open--some of the shrubs I put in will grow into a buffer between the woodland and the meadow...I hope I've planned things well enough to have bluebirds for many more years to come...time will tell, Iguess.

[dapjwy]

Off topic, but...here is my view right now:

[dapjwy]

Off topic, but here is my view right now...


Once the pond is established...I wonder what other birds I will see beside my regular visitors. I'm hoping for barn swallows, kingfishers, and blue herons...and killdeer (although, I'm not sure this will attract them).

[linrose]

It's good to have a tree somewhere close to a bluebird box that the parents can hunt from and the fledglings have a close place to learn to fly. They also use telephone lines and the fence line by the prairie bed. Next to a fully wooded area is not good though. We took down a box too near the woods that had cowbird problems.



So far all 5 bluebirds are alive, hungry and feathered out. I saw the male on top of the box yesterday. Unfortunately for the wrens one of the parents was dead inside the box on top of 3 babies. I removed the dead bird but I don't hold out much hope for the 3 babies left. They are fuzzy but no feathers. I don't know what happened to the other 3.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by linrose

It's good to have a tree somewhere close to a bluebird box that the parents can hunt from and the fledglings have a close place to learn to fly. They also use telephone lines and the fence line by the prairie bed. Next to a fully wooded area is not good though. We took down a box too near the woods that had cowbird problems.



So far all 5 bluebirds are alive, hungry and feathered out. I saw the male on top of the box yesterday. Unfortunately for the wrens one of the parents was dead inside the box on top of 3 babies. I removed the dead bird but I don't hold out much hope for the 3 babies left. They are fuzzy but no feathers. I don't know what happened to the other 3.

There is an oak tree probably 40 feet from the box. It is 10 years old. I would not have planted it there, but I remember finding the seedling when we first moved in. I decided it would mark how long we lived here.

I have a picture of the father bluebird atop a telephone pole with three fledglings from several years ago.

Sorry to hear about the wren and the babies.

Good to know your bluebirds are doing well.

[linrose]

Two stubborn bluebird babies left in the nest. They are now old enough that they have blue feathers already. Three have already fledged and I see the family flying from tree to tree. Those two must be comfy cozy with all that extra space and another to keep company with. I guess they are still being fed.