Wannabe- I'm in the Waukesha area and I bought a 1 gallon Bluebird last year. It came through the winter just fine with no protection. I have it close to the house on the NE side. It's still very small, but has leafed out very well this spring and I see a lot of flower buds on it already.

Glad you liked it Jane. Purple Martins are wonderful birds and they bless the people who care for them and protect them from Starlings\House Sparrows with a summer full of breathtaking sights and sounds. Martins love gourds Jane and you should try those if you never have. Make sure that the gourds you but or make up yourself have the Starling Resistent entrances on them. That is the number one thing you can do to start a martin colony. If the martins show up to investigate a new house\gourds and have to fight off a bunch of starlings\house sparrows they will not stay. They will simply move on even if everything else about the martins site is perfect. At an established martin colony the martins will put up some fight to claim what is rightfully theirs from these foreign birds but in the end if the invasive species are allowed to remain the martins will lose. It is a sad reality that is being played out all across the Purple Martins range right now and most people never realize it is happening until one day they look out and say.."What happened to those beautiful,swooping birds we used to have in that house? Where did they go??" Then a Starling pair sits on one side of the house. Two pairs of House Sparrows occupy the other side and this former "Martin House" that was once a thing of enchantment and pure beauty has now been transformed into an apartment house for slumbirds. If you seek a colony of martins Jane you must adopt setting up your gourd\houses,etc to address stopping the foreign invasive species. That is the key to getting started. Once you are a martin landlord and you see how wonderful they truly are you will always want to host them in your backyard bird habitat. They are simply majestic in every way...Mike

I live in lower mid Michigan, and although I seldom see bluebirds in winter, I hear them all thru the winter. They normally are flying over at about the length of a football field up into the air. They have 2 different calls, so once I learned them, I can mimic them and occasionally get one to drop down a little to check out who or what is calling. I run a heated bird bath and will see them at the bath maybe twice a winter. We have a starter orchard and I have seen the blues gather in groups in the orchard in the fall. We had a drag out summer here. as I noticed that some robins raised 4 broods, a bluebird pair raised 3 broods, and although I can't prove it, I think a couple of tree swallow pairs had 2 broods. It wasn't all that hot, but the rains were timely which helped the insect and worm supply.

Large numbers of bluebirds from northern NE and Canada spend there winter here in Southern NE. My local birds winter here in Northern RI. Buy many northern birds are seen moving south well into Feb. Snow pack will force them south the birds that choose to stay local perish in major snow storms. Yearly my nest box's are in crusted with bluebird mess. And some times dead bluebirds. A snow free winter will create a surplus of bluebirds A harsh winter will thin there numbers out. We have had some of the worst weather here in the northeast. And there population is a very low level (the lowest since 1990) They need a mild winter to re-populate many area's lost by this harsh weather. If you live in the north feed mealworms and you will be the talk of your community with bluebirds all year! They have winter as far north as Maine! (with a good berry supply) Ray