The Eastern Bluebird is one our most beloved birds. This easily identified species is choosy about their nesting sites. Development destroyed much of their natural habitat and has led to a serious decline in population. Concerned citizens maintain a number of nesting boxes in an attempt to regenerate the numbers.
Nesting boxes should be installed before February, when nest building begins, and should remain up all year to provide protection during cold weather. Bluebirds will raise two or three broods each year, but will not re-use a nest built for the prior brood. This means you should remove the old nest just as soon as the little ones fledge. Allow the box to remain open a day or two to air out. This helps keep insect populations down. Do not use pesticides inside or outside the boxes.
Regardless of our age, most people enjoy watching birds build their nests and feed their young. One of the nest boxes in the Mary Snoddy garden is mounted on an old sign post pole, with a baffle to make it safe from cats and snakes. Our bluebirds get busy every February, with eggs arriving a short while later. I tap on the side of the box before I open the front, and Mother Bird obligingly exits while I do an egg-count and later a baby-check. The parents don’t seem to mind my benign interference. I cheer them on as the hatchlings fledge, but feel a sense of loss at the same time. (Empty nest syndrome, anyone?)
The internet is filled with instructions and videos on how to build and place a bluebird nesting box, so I won’t replicate those instructions here. The North American Bluebird Society has an informative website. Visit http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/nabs-fact-sheets/ Here’s an extract: Site nest boxes on poles (not trees) in open areas. Provide water and food sources. Exclude predators. Enjoy!
This week I saw a baby robin that had fallen from its nest but was not able to fly. I saved it from an approaching predator (one of the Snoddy farm cats) but was uncertain how to proceed with the indignant little package of fluff and attitude. I found a graphic provided by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, What To Do When You Find a Baby Bird. It has great advice, so I shared it as a photo.
Checking the nest box for an egg count.
…And here they are!
This baby robin plopped onto the netting I use to protect Hosta from hungry deer. I placed it back into a nearby shrub, and the parents soon coaxed it into the air, but not before it threatened me with bodily harm.
