SOME LESSONS IN WHAT NOT TO DO!   Early spring. The Bluebirds arrive. A male shows interest in one of the nestboxes which, in our ignorance, we have placed in a tree. We have no idea that this is not a good idea. Guess we should have done our research before advertising the houses "for rent".

After much flying back and forth to check out both boxes, the pair choose a similar nestbox, placed in a tree on the other side of the property. We are shocked and disappointed to discover shortly thereafter that the female has been killed by a marauding house sparrow before she can even begin building a nest! This does not discourage the male, who soon brings another female to the same nestbox. She accepts it, and nest building begins. Tragedy soon strikes again, however, when, after the fifth egg is laid, one of them disappears overnight! What has happened? A thieving squirrel? A raccoon? A snake? Doing some research at this point, we discover our blunder in placing the nestboxes in just about the worst of all possible places! A tree affords numerous opportunities for predators to climb into the box and raid the nest.

After talking to some Bluebird experts, we decide to move the nestbox, with nest intact, off the tree and onto a pole just a few feet away, This arrangement, while a safer one from the human point of view, proves to be unappealing to this Bluebird pair. We watch and hope in vain for almost two days. The pair will not re-enter the nestbox in its new location! In desperation, we relent and place the nestbox back on the tree. Sadly, they will have nothing to do with this particular nest for the rest of the season.  They move across the yard and into the first nestbox they had investigated, which, in our preoccupation with the other nest we have not yet taken out of (you guessed it!) the tree! We begin calling our tenants Anakin and Padme, as we feel that this name is appropriate to an independent-minded pair of "skywalkers". (Note: The fact that the Skywalkers abandoned their nest after our moving it is not necessarily typical of all Bluebirds. We have talked to a number of other Bluebird landlords who have had success in moving a  nestbox with eggs, or babies.)

We feel just terrible about our bumbling efforts to help the Skywalkers. We decide, under the circumstances, to do our best to help our couple in their current chosen location, despite its now-apparent inappropriateness. This is not the course of action we would recommend for others to follow. It is a risky thing, at best! We fashion a makeshift "sparrow spooker" by tacking mylar streamers to the tree above the box which hang down almost to the entrance hole and blow around in the breeze. As its name would imply, a sparrow spooker makes a nestbox less appealing to marauding house sparrows. However, it cannot be placed on the nestbox prior to the commencement of egg-laying; otherwise the Bluebirds will abandon their nest before it is even begun. When installed after the first egg is laid, the spooker discourages the murderous house sparrow male from entering the box, but does not seem to disturb the Bluebirds.

At times, it seems as if all our energies are focused on house sparrow control. Before the Bluebirds' arrival we were ignorant of the habits of these birds, but we soon learn why Bluebird lovers find them so offensive!  We also obtained a "Gilbertson nestbox", which some say the House Sparrows do not prefer to nest in, while Bluebirds find it acceptable. However, we learn that this won't stop the House Sparrows from entering the nestbox to carry out their devastation on eggs, nestlings, or adult birds. This season, the Gilbertson box is occupied by a family of tree swallows. You can just see the male peeking his head out of the entrance here. The lesson we learned from all of this?  Plan your nestbox placement carefully! Do your homework first, then choose the best location possible!  There are many, many resources on the web for people who want to help Bluebirds. Check out our links to other excellent informational sites and forums.  Go on to next photo page