Build a Bluebird Trail: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-213 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-213)
Dale Evva Gelfand
Language: English
Pages: 32
ISBN: 1580172342
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Conservationists across North America are working to help protect and support bluebirds, and you can do your part by creating a bluebird trail. This is simply a series of nesting boxes (anywhere from a few to a few thousand) set about 300 feet apart along a prescribed route. Dale Gelfand tells you what you need to know about bluebirds and their habits, and she shows you how to create and monitor an effective bluebird trail with well-designed nesting boxes.
Breeding occurs in late March in the southern part of their range but not until early April in the northernmost areas. Mountain Bluebirds favor the western areas of Canada and the United States, with their winter range extending south into Mexico and east to Texas. Despite being solitary nesters, Mountain Bluebirds may nest in proximity to others, depending on nest-site availability. Mountain Bluebirds reuse old nesting sites both within a single breeding season and in successive seasons.
white belly. Territory, Breeding, and Nesting Western Bluebirds are migratory in parts of their range and year-round residents in others. Like their eastern cousins, some Western Bluebirds migrate south for the winter, but where they are found year-round, they generally move to lower elevations in winter. Their breeding range overlaps that of Mountain Bluebirds, and the two species often vie for suitable nesting cavities — those not already taken by House Wrens, House Sparrows, European
lesser degree House Wrens) from using your nesting box by removing their nests, you need to be able to distinguish the nests of all common cavity nesters that use nesting boxes: Blue-birds, House Sparrows, European Starlings, House Wrens, Tree Swallows, and Black-capped Chickadees. Bluebirds weave a neat, loosely built cup of dried grasses and weed stems or pine needles. The eggs (usually four to six) are generally light blue but sometimes white. Bluebird nest European Starlings build a
same protection as bluebirds, so if you find them nesting in your bluebird box, enjoy them as welcome visitors, and monitor their activity in the same manner. Tree Swallow nest Black-capped Chickadees build a nest of moss and plant down, lining the cup with fur. The eggs (usually five to eight) are white with brown speckles, and the female often covers them with moss. Like Tree Swallows, chickadees are welcome visitors in bluebird boxes, and you’ll enjoy the company of these social birds as
so don’t count on this as a solution. It’s better to add a pole guard. In areas where raccoons or cats are prevalent, leave a 5-inch (12.7 cm) roof overhang above the entrance hole to help deter them. You can also rub down the metal mounting pole with steel wool and then apply a layer of Carnuba car wax or silicone spray. Snakes, especially rat snakes and bull snakes, frequently prey on bluebirds, eating eggs and young. Even smearing poles with grease or Tanglefoot doesn’t deter them in their