Houston Domestics

Posts Tagged ‘Bluebird house’

There are 3 species of bluebirds in the US, Eastern, Western and Mountain bluebirds. Mountain bluebirds are found in the West at higher elevations, Western Bluebirds are found west of the Great Plains and Eastern Bluebirds are found on the Great Plains. Bluebirds have intense colours and a cheerful song and are huge favorites with bird watchers. Populations of bluebirds declined during the last one hundred years, being ejected from their favorite nesting sites by starlings and sparrows.

How to Help the Bluebirds

Several groups of bird watchers have instituted various means to encourage the nesting and reproduction of bluebirds. In Missouri in the 1950’s the people made a National Bluebird Trail with over 7000 bluebird houses. Founded in 1978 The North American Bluebird Society advances the revival of bluebirds. To assist bluebirds you can set up a Bluebird Trail by making a sequence of bluebird boxes The ideal bluebird house has been specified by the North American Bluebird Society and you could make your own or buy a commercially made bluebird box.

Setting up a Bluebird Trail

The best position for a Bluebird Trail is a rural area with thin undergrowth and dotted trees or bushes. There should be perch sites such as fences, wires and trees to allow the bluebirds to sit on while searching for food. Sightings of bluebirds in southern states have shown that they have returned to this area. This has shown that bluebirds have benefited from the establishment of Bluebird Trails. Places suitable for a Bluebird Trail are out-of-the-way locations of golf courses, parks and cemeteries as long as pesticides have never been applied. You ought to stay away from heavily forested areas with lots of of brush. Bluebird houses should be placed 200 yards away from each other and be four to six feet above ground.

Attract Bluebirds to Your Garden

You can attract bluebirds to your garden by placing mealworms (which can be bought online) or raisins soaked in water on platform garden bird feeders.  Heated birdbaths will also attract them during the winter months.

While bluebirds will sometimes nest in a birdhouse that is not designed specifically for their species, they are more likely to nest in a bluebird house, meaning one that is designed specifically for them.There are many different plans that you can obtained for free on how to build a bluebird house.  These plans usually also give instructions on the placement and care of the bird house so that there is the best chance possible for the birds to nest there.  If the person’s house is not in a wooded area or at least one that has a lot of trees and bushes available for the bluebirds to eat from, then the bluebird house is unlikely to attract them to the area.

Habitat For Bluebird House

Bluebird houses should usually be placed in an area where there is low vegetation and some bushes in which there live insects for the bluebirds to eat.  Bluebirds will usually perch on branches of the trees to spot insects that are dwelling in these areas before flying down to capture them.  Meadows and fields are great places to put a bluebird house since it allows the birds to clearly see the insects that they eat and swoop down to eat them.

When placing the bluebird houses in the yard, they should not be placed closer than one hundred yards apart since the birds are very territorial creatures.  They do not like to be too close to each other when nesting.Keeping bluebird’s house at least hon hundred feet from any brushy area or area with dense trees where wrens will nest prevents the bird house to be taken over by them, if it is too close.  It should also be placed at least a quarter mile from a farmyard or barn where sparrows tend to live so that they will not be as likely to take over the bluebird house.

There is also the issue of the birds being able to easily find nesting material even there is feeding availability and the spacing of the bluebird houses.  These birds usually like to use grasses and pine needles as nesting material.  The bluebird house should be placed in an area where these materials are easily available so that the birds do not have to travel as far to obtain them and carry them back to the house.  In addition, there should not be any pesticides used so that the birds are not inadvertently poisoned by these insecticides.