Eastern Bluebird

May 31, 2015 23:41:25 GMT dicklaxt said:

I'm blue too,,,,,,,,,,we have lots of Blue Birds around here but they like some space and my yard is only 25 x 65 so I don't have any. Do you have nest boxes for them? I've been told they are also very territorial and boxes should be 75 feet apart minimum.

dick

Obviously my father's bluebirds never received the minimum distance instructions.

When I lived at the homeplace where I grew up, there was a black plank fence that surrounded the house/yard and was on both sides of the very long lane that led to the house.

My father sawed 16-inch sections from several hollow sourwood, gum, and sassafras poles, making every other cut square and the other cuts angled; thus cut, each sawed section had a square cut bottom and an angle cut top.

These hollow poles were approximately eight- to ten-inches diameter, with about two inches of wood surrounding the hollow center.

The square cuts became the bottoms and the angled cuts became the tops, to both of which he nailed appropriately sized square boards, leaving sufficient overhang on the bottoms for nailing through into the tops of the fence posts.

He used a plumber's hole bit of about 2-1/2" diameter to cut "doors" and added a wooden peg underneath these holes to serve as a perch; no self-respecting birdhouse lacks a perch underneath the opening.

The natural bark was left on and amazingly remained there for years.

The posts of the above-mentioned plank fence were eight foot apart and he had one of these hollow log blue-bird houses mounted atop every post, and there were a lot of posts.

Every year, almost every house would have a family of blue-birds.

Which leads me to another blue-bird story: about fifteen years ago, I left a truck sit unattended for a few weeks; and, when I raised the hood to check the oil and such prior to using it, there was not one, but TWO, huge blue-bird nests under the hood, one atop each wheel-well.

The nests were both full of eggs and the owners were dive-bombing me.

Instead of doing the smart thing and tossing the nests out and using the truck, I made other arrangements and let the birds have the truck for a few more weeks.

Those baby blue-birds were not blue; they were black and grimy; they looked as if they had been living in a stove-pipe; as, the truck was diesel and had it's share of fuel, oil, and exhaust leaks.

Getting all that nest material out from all the wires, hoses, and crevices was quite a chore and there is plenty of evidence of their being there still today.

Thanks for reading.  

Jun 1, 2015 22:06:04 GMT John said:

Nice shots reg. Bluebirds were plentiful on our farm when I was a kid. They lived in rotted out fence posts. Lot of people have been trying to attract them here in Ohio with boxes but I ain't seen one for a few years. Hope they get to be plentiful again.
John

Jun 1, 2015 23:33:31 GMT dicklaxt said:

Jun 1, 2015 0:26:26 GMT BuckSkin said:

Obviously my father's bluebirds never received the minimum distance instructions.

The posts of the above-mentioned plank fence were eight foot apart and he had one of these hollow log blue-bird houses mounted atop every post, and there were a lot of posts.

Every year, almost every house would have a family of blue-birds.

 Thats very intersting,so much for the rumor of needing space,,,,I always thought that author was FOS....smile

dick

Neither do I see near the numbers of blue-birds that were around when I was growing up, nor many other species.

When I was a kid, Bobwhite quail were a common sight and hardly a day passed without hearing their unique call; it was not uncommon to see two or three different coveys in a single day; now, it is rare to hear a single call and I haven't laid eyes on one in many years.

I believe the scarcity of birds can be attributed to local ordinances requiring vacant lots be mowed a couple times each year, weedeaters, riding lawnmowers, spray weed-killers, and much more frequent bush-hogging of pastures and unused acreage.

It is just too easy for people to keep their properties neatly trimmed.

Although I am definitely not a tree-hugger, much to the consternation of my neighbors, I let my fencerows grow wild, with cedars, blackberries, climbing roses, honeysuckle, and such; and, I have left a few small "islands" untouched; I figure a poor old rabbit or a few birds need somewhere to hide from the countless housecats and occasional hawk.