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Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

Bluebird care

house sparrow

ANTICIPATION!  What to understand before setting up your first bluebird box.

You’ve read the section on bluebird boxes. You purchased a bluebird box or built your own with a design approved by the North American Bluebird Society. The nest box has been placed in the best location you have available. Now it’s the bluebird’s turn to do the work!

Well, not quite.

THE FIRST RULE OF NEST BOXES!

Do not put up any nest box, bluebird or otherwise, unless you are committed to monitoring and controlling who uses it.

Both the European Starling and House Sparrow compete with native species for nesting locations. They will readily use nest boxes designed for many different species of native birds. House sparrows will even kill adult and young bluebirds in the nest.

Learn to identify House Sparrows and starlings and their nests. If either species is observed trying to nest in your bluebird box, the nesting material should be removed as soon as possible. You may have to remove it several times. Raising House Sparrows and starlings is very detrimental to native species. Starlings are easily controlled by selecting a nest box with the correct hole size but House Sparrows may require more direct intervention.

house sparrow and european starling

House Sparrows and European Starlings are introduced species that compete with bluebirds for nesting locations.

 

If you have boxes that have been up all winter, inspect (and clean as needed) in early spring. Start by peeking carefully into the nest box to check for hornet or wasp nests attached to the top of the box. Remove any such nests while taking appropriate safety precautions for yourself.

If it appears that mice have nested in the box, take special care. A respiratory disease called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome can be spread from rodents to humans. One of the most common methods of contraction is through breathing in dust that has been contaminated with the disease. To protect yourself, wear rubber gloves and avoid inhaling any dust if cleaning the nest box after mice have sheltered there. You may wish to wear a mask/respirator with HEPA filter.

 

SUCCESS

At last, something other than a House Sparrow has adopted the home you made available. It’s a bluebird and what a beauty! Now the fun starts! (One of several other native bird species may have moved in to set up housekeeping. You can learn more about some of the more common friends that might move in by visiting the other cavity nesters. Other native cavity nesters should not be evicted from the bluebird box. Just enjoy their presence.)

Double returns! Becoming involved in the raising of the bluebird family not only adds to your enjoyment and satisfaction… it also improves nesting success. When a nest is monitored with care, the adult bluebirds will not abandon their nest, eggs or young.

Monitoring (nest checks) involves carefully opening the nest box, observing the contents of the nest, responding to any undesirable conditions and (if you wish) recording the results of your nest check. If chicks are present, care should be taken to insure they do not jump from the nest box. Be sure to close the box securely after your nest check.

 

When to monitor

Nest box monitoring should be performed during mild, calm and dry weather conditions. The goal is to keep the eggs or young as warm and dry as possible. Nest checks should occur on a 4 to 7 day cycle. The timing is not critical. You may wish to check nests on a shorter cycle time if trying to control blowflies or House Sparrows and stay with the 7 days if everything appears to be going well.

 

How to monitor

Do your nest checks as quietly and quickly as possible. If it is necessary to remove more than one chick at a time from the nest, place them in a dry, protected container to shield them from wind, cold and the sun. Keep in mind that handling of eggs and young should occur only in special circumstances, such as heavy blowfly or ant infestation or very wet nesting material, etc. These conditions are described in the next section.

If you are removing nesting material because of blowflies, wet nesting material etc., dispose of any used nesting material far from the nest box. Doing so will ensure that you are not alerting predators to the presence of the nest site.

It is good practice to wear thin rubber gloves and/or to wash your hands thoroughly after handling birds or cleaning the nest box.

 

What to monitor

As a top bluebird guardian you will want to start by determining the approximate stage of the nesting process. Bluebirds lay one egg a day until the entire clutch is complete. Four to six pale blue (sometimes white) eggs are usually laid. It is good practice to record the number of eggs, young and dates.

The incubation period for bluebirds is about 13-14 days. Chicks fledge and leave the nest about 17-21 days after hatching. Do not open the nest box after the chicks are 13 days old (16 days for the mountain bluebird) or they might be encouraged to leave the nest prematurely. (Check the individual species profiles for more exact information on incubation and fledging.)

If a young bird does leave the nest box prematurely, place the bird back in the nest box and close the hole with a rag, sock or other material. The birds will often calm down after a few minutes and the cover can be removed.

A handy tool to have around is a thin piece of plywood or other material that has been drilled with a 1 1/4″ inch hole. In cases where the young bird continues to leave the nest, this piece of wood can be placed over the regular hole (use a screw or duct tape). The adults will be able to continue to feed the young birds but the young will not be able to leave the nest through the smaller hole. Remove the cover at night (the night of the same day) and everything should be back to normal. Make sure you do not leave the cover in place past the anticipated fledge date of the young birds.

 

Insect pests

In some areas blowfly parasitism can be a problem and ants have been known to invade bluebird boxes. Look for the presence of blowfly larvae on the chicks or under the nest.

Moisture

After periods of heavy rains, the nesting material may become saturated with water. In such conditions you can replace the existing nest with clean (no insects), dried lawn clippings or grasses in a shape similar to that of the original nest.

 

Injured or dead bird

It is illegal for unlicensed individuals to care for or handle bluebirds (or most other migratory and native species). If you find an injured bird, you should first contact a local rehabilitation center or your state Fish and Wildlife Service for advice.

 

Orphaned birds

If you are positive that baby birds have been orphaned in the nest box, contact a local rehabilitation facility or your state Fish and Wildlife Service.

eastern bluebird

A fond farewell

If you are lucky, you might observe the young birds leaving the safety of their nest box. Watching “YOUR” bluebirds grow and head out on their own is a fun and exciting event that you helped create. Congratulations on a job well done!

Some bluebird managers remove the old nesting material after nesting is complete and all the young have headed out to their new lives. Removing the old nest material seems to encourage re-nesting, so some managers remove the old nest as a matter of course.

You do not need to sterilize the box. Just wipe it out with a dry towel. If dried mud or dirt is present you may wish to use clean water to help remove it or just scrape out the materials with a putty knife or stiff brush.

After nesting is complete, some bluebird box managers will close off the entry to prevent mice from moving in during the winter. Bluebirds will often produce two and, in the south, even three broods, so be careful in making a decision to close the box. Others leave the boxes open year round, so its up to you.

If you have recorded information on your nest box(es) you may wish to report the results to a local bluebird society or to the the North American Bluebird Society via their Website. The record sheet enclosed with this product conforms to the questions asked by the NABS.

About the Author

Sam Crowe

Sam is the founder of Birdzilla.com. He has been birding for over 30 years and has a world list of over 2000 species. He has served as treasurer of the Texas Ornithological Society, Sanctuary Chair of Dallas Audubon, Editor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's "All About Birds" web site and as a contributing editor for Birding Business magazine. Many of his photographs and videos can be found on the site.

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