Recently many of you have seen Bluebirds in your yard and wondered why. The Eastern Bluebird is a year round resident in TN so it should come as no surprise that on any given day you may see them appear in your yard to take advantage of a birdbath, or check out a nestbox, or even visit a suet feeder, as I see them do with some regularity. Their main food sources consist of insects and fruit, but on cold day’s insects may be hard to find and since many other birds also take advantage of tree and shrub fruit, it too may be difficult to find. So, alternative food sources such as suet may have appeal. Other foods you can offer Bluebirds include raisins, blueberries, dried and live mealworms, which we stock year-round. In some cases, usually in very wintery conditions, Bluebirds can be seen eating sunflower and peanuts if already out of the shell. They do not possess the seed cracking ability of our usual seed eating feeder birds.
It is quite common to see Bluebirds visit nest boxes during the winter. You may even see them carry some nest material into the box. This is not actual nesting behavior but more than likely a male showing off a good place to raise young to a female. It never hurts to get a head start. We are of the opinion there is no time like today to put up a new Bluebird box. The sooner they see it the better.
And Bluebirds have been known to roost in a nest box, again, usually during more extreme winter conditions.
Keep your eyes upon the backyard and let us know what you’re seeing. Keep the water fresh and feeders clean. This is a good time of the year for an interesting bird to appear at water or food.
With less than two weeks left until Christmas perhaps you still have a “difficult” person to shop for. You already know The Wood Thrush Shop has everything needed for bird feeding but maybe you didn’t know about some of our other merchandise.
We have gifts starting at as little as $3, like birdseed treats and decorative drink coasters, to beautiful Bee Glow Lanterns, to our biggest Corinthian Bells wind chime for $470.
Here’s a list of items that may help you with your search.