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The Eastern Bluebird
(and other Cavity nesting Birds)


©JimZipp.com

Bluebirds are one of the most beautiful birds that can often be attracted to backyards with a bird house and nest throughout state.
The entrance hole size and placement of the box are two crucial aspects to attracting them. The entrance hole should be 1 1/2 inches in diameter and the box should be placed as far out in the open as possible and on a pole. If the hole is any smaller the birds can't fit and if it's bigger, Starlings may take over the box. Many other birds can use a bluebird box even if you aren't able to attract bluebirds.
The further out in the open the box is, the less likely another bird will use the box. (Except a Tree Swallow, which is another beautiful bird that uses the same kind of house in the same habitat as the bluebird). The good thing about them is they will nest next door to the bluebird peacefully if you place a second box approximately 20 feet from the first.

©JimZipp.com
©JimZipp.com BLUEBIRDS LOVE MEALWORMS! Feeding them can be great fun as they learn to expect them from you and "greet" you when you walk out the door. They often give me a little wing flutter and a soft warble when they see me! If that doesn't make your day, nothing will! There are bluebird feeders that are made out of wood with plexi-glass sides that bluebirds (but not much else) actually go inside to feed or you can use a variety of other methods depending on whether other birds are nearby that might eat the mealworms too.
You can attract a wide variety of birds with birdhouses, some that won't come to your feeders. The House Wren is a common backyard nester that spends the spring and summer here, then flies to the southern states for the winter. They eat insects and do not come to feeders (unlike the Carolina Wren which we see year-round). Other birds that use nest boxes include Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, woodpeckers, even Wood Ducks nest in boxes and Screech Owls as well. Many birds have difficulty finding appropriate holes in trees, you can help by placing nesting boxes in your yard! These boxes are often used as shelters in the winter as well. Downy Woodpeckers live in ours from fall through spring and we watch them go into the house in the evening like clockwork! ©JimZipp.com

©JimZipp.com

Although Bluebirds, House Wrens and Black-capped Chickadees are some of the more common birds we think of when we put out bird houses, there are many other birds that use boxes. Some use them in the winter for roosting as well.
Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Wood Ducks, American Kestrel's and Great-crested Flycatcher's are a few others that you may not have thought about. Occasionally House Finches will use them as well as Carolina Wrens, both of these birds are also at home in your hanging planters!
Every winter we have Downy Woodpeckers in every Bluebird House we own, and one made a new hole in a Chickadee House (the entrance hole was too small so he made a new one!). We also had a Yellow-shafted Flicker in our Screech Owl box. We missed having a Screech Owl but having the flicker was pretty cool too.
We stock most of these houses and we can special order any other houses mentioned. Some houses may be used by different species depending on where you place them (woods versus field, etc).


©JimZipp.com

 

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