FishUSA.com Fishing Tackle

Author Topic: Bluebirds  (Read 15680 times)

Raquettedacker

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 11,601
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #15 on: Nov 30, 2020, 04:10 PM »
You guys keep talking about sparrows,  sure there not house wrens.  Or like what my son use to call them. Check Mark Birds...  Because thats what they look like... ;D
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

rgfixit

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 12,554
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #16 on: Nov 30, 2020, 04:43 PM »
No..these are English Sparrows. We have House Wrens around. I’m pretty sure they’re responsible for dispatching the last clutch of bluebird eggs this past summer. Nasty little birds for sure.  The sparrows fight for nesting rights. The bluebirds are serious about defending their nest box and their territory.

Fun that we’re ’re sharing bluebird scenarios going into winter.

That’s what I like about this site. Lots of common interests.

Rg
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

SizeMatters

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 743
  • Shut up and fish!!
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #17 on: Nov 30, 2020, 05:01 PM »
I saw a flock of 8 last week while hunting.  They too were going house to house checking them out.  I thought it strange but my friend said they're in that area year round.  I don't see them at my place but I don't have houses up for them.  THey'd just be snack shacks for the coons around here.
Bigger isn't always better but Size definitely Matters!

MILLERMANKT

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 655
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #18 on: Nov 30, 2020, 09:24 PM »
yup nice only problem is DAMM sparrow keeping them out of boxes
Same here

Doubles Shooter

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 798
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #19 on: Dec 01, 2020, 06:09 AM »
It took years for a pair of bluebirds to use our nest. Usually house wrens which were fun to watch. Then one year a pair finally moved in. One morning all 4 eggs were on the ground with holes in them. Sparrows. Well, I set up a snipers hide and the pellet gun made them go away. It was ten years before another pair of bluebirds moved in. Sparrows are definitely not welcome in my yard.

rgfixit

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 12,554
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #20 on: Dec 01, 2020, 01:59 PM »
Try a slot entrance with a shallow cavity. No more than 5” inside. The sparrows dont like the shallow box and prefer a round hole entrance. Also, if the slot is full width it gives the bluebirds the advantage in chasing sparrows our of the box prior to nesting. Our best breeding pair are very aggressive and defend against all interlopers. W’ve seen them attack squirrels, crows even the neighbor’s cat. (Got to it before I could).

The other big thing is ....dont put out anything sparrows will eat. No millet, cracked corn, shelled sunflower or such. Only sunflower seeds. Sparrows have a hard time eating them.

Rg
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

old man river

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 99
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #21 on: Dec 01, 2020, 02:21 PM »
feeding blue birds
 I used to set out live meal worms in a small Custer  bowl (clear)
once they knew that they are there 
they would be on them before I could get back inside my house
ralph

rgfixit

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 12,554
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #22 on: Dec 01, 2020, 02:35 PM »
I get round blocks of a combination of dried meal worms and shelled sunflowe seeds. They love them.

Rg
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

Raquettedacker

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 11,601
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #23 on: Dec 01, 2020, 03:19 PM »
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

Raquettedacker

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 11,601
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #24 on: Dec 01, 2020, 03:23 PM »
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

rgfixit

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 12,554
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #25 on: Dec 02, 2020, 04:41 AM »
Yup....that’s the one.
A couple years ago I ran into this style house. I altered the nest box entrance and the bluebirds had their first successful clutch. I’m going for a Peterson style box with a slot entrance. Sparrows have a hard time landing on a sloped front box with an overhanging roof. Bluebirds just dive right in.

Lots of time to get that ready before spring.

I’ve been looking at songbird roost boxes. Might make one and see who makes use of it.

Rg
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

Doubles Shooter

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 798
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #26 on: Dec 02, 2020, 06:04 AM »
'Dacker, Thanks for the vids. My grandson and I are planning on making some houses over the winter and I like the idea.. I need to get out more. I've never heard of the slot style boxes.

RG, That Peterson style should work at my daughter's place. they have 5 acres of open land in farm country with a bunch of sparrows. It's had to defend. 

I also found plans for a Carolina Wren house. We have them in the back yard too.


rgfixit

  • MFF Mod Team
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 12,554
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #27 on: Dec 02, 2020, 01:59 PM »
I’m not putting out any wren houses next year. They’re nasty little birds. Have a feeling they did in the last bluebird clutch as well as another wren family in a different house. Watched the parents feeding chicks for a couple weeks and all of a sudden they abandoned the nest box. Opened it up and found 5 dead chicks..

Started on a roosting box today.





Decided to shingle it with little cedar shingles. I made some shingled houses a couple years ago and have a bunch of them from that project. Think I’m going to figure out a way to re-saw some on the band saw.

Lots to do to complete the box. Perches, latch, entrance hole, stain and finish.  A bit of a break from Christmas gifts. Guess it’s kind of a Christmas gift for our feathered friends.

Rg
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

MILLERMANKT

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 655
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #28 on: Dec 02, 2020, 11:34 PM »



Here is a set of 5 bluebirds in one of my houses 2 years ago.  I think 3 survived

taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
Re: Bluebirds
« Reply #29 on: Dec 03, 2020, 05:43 AM »


I wonder if that would work to keep sparrows out of a Martin house?

Why does this work?
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Sponsor
© 2004- MyFishFinder.com
All Rights Reserved.