Get ready for bluebirds

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Have you been watching and listening?  Birds are singing and going through the motions of courtship. The breeding season is fast approaching.  It’s evident Eastern Bluebirds have already begun searching for mates and potential nest-sites.  Several times in the past few weeks I’ve seen multiple Bluebirds land on and look in the nest boxes around my yard. (See video) In the video you will see classic courtship behaviors like wing fluttering. 

Although most Bluebirds won’t begin their first nesting until early to mid-April, their search for nest sites will typically intensify in the last weeks of February and into March.  Some eager Bluebirds may get on nest as early as mid-March.

You may think you don’t have the right situation for Bluebirds because you’ve heard they need the perfect setup to be attracted.  Not true.  Bluebirds adapt very nicely to all kinds of yard situations.  If Bluebirds needed the “perfect setup” as described by the many articles you may read about them they would be extinct by now. Offer a couple of nest boxes in good locations and see what happens.  If you already have nest boxes now is a good time to make sure they are cleaned out and free of old debris left over from last year’s nesting’s.  

Here are a Few Tips on Choosing a Location:

Ø  An open lawn area may be preferable but not absolutely necessary.  Choose the most open location available in your yard even if it means there will be a little more human traffic. 

Ø  Bluebirds are typically more sensitive to a lot of bird traffic, so it’s not recommended nest boxes be placed near bird feeders.  What’s a comfortable distance?  It’s impossible to be exact but we would suggest 50 to 100 feet away, or out of sight of feeding stations.

Ø  You may have heard that nest boxes need to face east.  While this may be helpful to keep wet weather from being a detrimental factor this is not something Bluebirds require.

Ø  A Bluebird box does not need to be on a pole, although the advantage of a pole is it allows you to position the box in the location you determine to be the best.  Bluebird boxes can be mounted to trees, fences, structures like garden sheds, and utility poles.  A height of 4’ or 5’ is sufficient.   Our pole system for Bluebird boxes will put the box at 5’ after installation.

Ø  How many boxes can be offered in a typical yard situation?  So, there is no harm in offering lots of nest boxes (birdhouses) in your yard but do not expect them to all get used at the same time especially if they are close in proximity to one another.  For instance, two nest boxes within 25 feet of one another are not likely to be occupied simultaneously.  Birds are too territorial to accept this situation unless they are colony nesters like Purple Martins and Cliff Swallows.  But feel free to decorate your yard with lots of birdhouses if that’s your thing.  Offering multiple nest-boxes is great and it does lessen the competition for a single box but  do consider the nature of the species you are trying to attract and what kind of setting would be most appealing.

Ø  We are often asked “when is a good time to put up a bluebird box”?  Every day is a good day to put up a bluebird box.  After all, the sooner they see it the better the chances are of attracting them.

And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE remember to not let your desire to attract Bluebirds cause you to clean out other songbird’s nests like Chickadees, Wrens, the Tufted Titmouse or White-breasted Nuthatch. In no way does cleaning out a Chickadee nest ensure you will get Bluebirds instead.  Chickadees typically nest earlier than Bluebirds and only once. Bluebirds will nest up to 3 times per season and have plenty of time.  Even if you do not get Bluebirds during the first nesting there is still time for two more.  Besides, if a Bluebird wanted the nest-box it would easily out-compete a Chickadee.  Enjoy the fact that you’ve attracted a native songbird to your offering and watch the process.  It’s a lot of fun.

….Next Week How to Feed Bluebirds

Bird Bio: Yellow Billed Cuckoo

While playing golf last week I was treated to a nice long look at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  Sometimes my best birding happens when I’m not even trying.  What a beautiful and interesting bird.  I’ve seen them before but never much more than a glimpse as this species stays very well concealed in tree tops and heavily vegetated areas. 

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a common summer resident in TN arriving from Central and South America in April and departing by mid-October.  They are seen, but more often heard, in deciduous wooded areas.  Large caterpillars are its preferred food.  The tent caterpillar may be its favorite. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a long slender songbird about 12” in length.  They are tan to gray above and white below with rusty brown wing edges, and has bold white spots on the underside of its tail.  The bill is long and decurved (curves downward), the lower mandible is yellow.

While many of you may never see this bird you may be hearing it on a daily basis and not even know it.  To describe the call is a bit difficult.  It is a rapid throaty kind of knocking sound.  Click here to listen to a sound clip on allaboutbirds.org

Get Ready For Bluebirds

Have you been listening?  Birds are beginning to sing.  They know spring is fast approaching.  It’s apparent Eastern Bluebirds have already begun searching for potential nest-sites.  Several times in the past few weeks I’ve seen two and three Bluebirds land on and look in some of the nest boxes around my yard.  Their biological clocks are telling them the breeding season is almost here.  Although most Bluebirds won’t begin their first nesting until early to mid-April, their search for nest sites will typically intensify in the last weeks of February and into March.  Some eager Bluebirds may get on nest as early as mid-March.

So, get a jump on your neighbors and offer a couple of nest boxes in good locations.  If you already have nest boxes now is a good time to make sure they are cleaned out and free of old debris left over from last year’s nesting’s.   

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Here are a Few Tips on Choosing a Location:

Ø  An open lawn area may be preferable but not absolutely necessary.  Choose the most open location available in your yard even if it means there will be a little more human traffic. 

Ø  Bluebirds would be more sensitive to a lot of bird traffic so it’s not recommended nest boxes be placed near bird feeders.  What’s a comfortable distance?  It’s impossible to be exact but we would suggest 50 to 100 feet away.

Ø  You may have heard that nest boxes need to face east.  While this may be helpful to keep wet weather from being a detrimental factor this is not something Bluebirds require.

Ø  A Bluebird box does not need to be on a pole.  The advantage of a pole, however, is it allows you to position the box in the location you determine to be the best.  Bluebird boxes can be mounted to trees, fences, structures like garden sheds, and utility poles.  A height  of 4’ or 5’ is just fine.   

Ø  How many boxes can be offered in a typical yard situation?  So, there is no harm in offering lots of nest boxes (birdhouses) in your yard but do not expect them to all get used at the same time especially if they are close in proximity to one another.  For instance, two nest boxes within 25 feet of one another are not likely to be occupied simultaneously.  Birds are too territorial to accept this situation unless they are colony nesters like Purple Martins and Cliff Swallows.  But feel free to decorate your yard with lots of birdhouses if that’s your thing.  Offering multiple nest-boxes is great and it does lessen the competition for a single box, but do consider the nature of the species you are trying to attract and what kind of setting would be most appealing.

And PLEASE remember to not let your desire to attract Bluebirds cause you to clean out Chickadee, Wren, and Tufted Titmouse nests.  In no way does cleaning out a Chickadee nest ensure you will get Bluebirds instead.  Chickadees typically nest earlier than Bluebirds and only once.  Bluebirds will nest up to 3 times per season and have plenty of time.  Even if you do not get Bluebirds during the first nesting there is still time for two more.  Besides, if a Bluebird wanted the nest-box it would easily out-compete a Chickadee.

….Next Week How to Feed Bluebirds

Bird Bio: Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Male Red-bellied

Female Red-bellied

The Red-bellied woodpecker has always been one of my favorite feeder birds.  This handsome woodpecker measures around 9.25” in length with a wingspan of roughly 16”.  It is common in mature deciduous woods, and visits backyard feeders regularly.  It has a uniformly barred back, which causes some to misidentify as a Ladder-backed woodpecker, brown under parts, and a white rump that is obvious in flight. The red on the male covers the crown (top of head) and nape of the neck, while the red on females, only the nape of the neck. Many people will ask why it’s called a Red-bellied woodpecker because they fail to see the red on the belly which is a faint round spot about the size of a quarter.  If you get them at your feeders watch closely and you will see the red spot.  The call is distinctive and very unlike the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers.  Calls include sounds such as a churr, or chaw, and a kwir.  

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Standing dead tree sections are a great way to attract Red-bellies in the nesting season.

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Starlings can be a threat to Red-bellied nest sites.

“Red bellies” nest primarily in cavities in dead snags of trees, another good reason to leave some dead wood in the trees around the yard.  In my yard I’ve had a Black Locust tree dying for years that I’ve left alone because a pair of Red-bellied woodpeckers choose it every year to excavate a new net-site. I’ve read in some books they will use a birdhouse but I’ve never witnessed this.  Starlings tend to be a real threat to a Red-bellies nest-site, often sitting very close by while the woodpeckers work for weeks excavating and then harassing them until they give up, or the Starlings destroy eggs or babies.  They will raise two to sometimes three broods here in the south. 

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Male red-bellied on a fresh fruit feeder.

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Red-bellies love peanuts in or out of the shell. 

At feeders they readily accept sunflower and safflower seeds, raw peanuts and shelled roasted peanuts, suet, and even fruit.  “Red-bellies” rarely back down to any bird at the feeders, even Blue jays tend to give them space. Don't forget all bird feeders (including peanut and suet feeders) are on sale through February 18th.

AND NEXT WEEK, BLUEBIRDS.  It’s that time.  February is a great time to get Bluebird boxes out as they begin to pair off and begin looking at potential nest-sites.  Over the next few weeks we will cover frequently asked questions about Bluebirds, like nest box location, competition from other birds, and best ways to offer live mealworms.