My property is similar to yours, except we own both sides of the tree line. We have the bluebird house closest to our house, and a purple martin house well beyond the tree line. Last year, tree swallows took up residence in the purple martin house, but they were beautiful too. The bluebird house you situate lower to the ground so would be much easier for you and your children to look into, monitor, watch the nestlings fledge, parents feed, clean etc. Bluebirds also readily raise more than one brood. Our swallows only did one and then they were gone. I recommend that if you only put up one house, make it one for bluebirds-you'll really get to enjoy it and the family usually hangs around the yard well after fledging.

Thanks!!! I picked up this bluebird house yesterday. From what I can see on the internet it is not the typical bluebird house. He has been there for many years and had a lot of houses on his property and had lots of success with this house. He said the birds will typically use the 2nd hole down first and then the bottom hole. He is about a mile away from me, I'm hoping to have the same success. Now I just need to get my husband to mount it for me!!!

Wouldn't you know it. After I first posted yesterday I went out for a few hours and when I pulled in the driveway I saw a single starling in my front lawn. This morning I saw swarms of them outside along with several robins that I see every day. Hopefully they are just passing through :(

We have had bluebird houses for 10 years now. They are used by both bluebirds and tree swallows. The tree swallows are also a beautiful bird and should not be discouraged from using the houses. By placing two close together, the idea is that tree swallows will use one and bluebirds the other. Not always the way it happens in my experience.

Housing birds is a very rewarding hobby, but requires that you become knowledgeable about things that can go wrong. I HIGHLY recommend that you go to the bluebird forum and ask your questions. They are extremely knowledgeable and very nice.

have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluebird forum

Christy, while your birdhouse may be pretty it is a decorative birdhouse, not a proper nestbox to offer blues. First, the floor of the nestbox (where the nest will sit) should be much deeper than they are on that box to prevent birds like Starlings from reaching in and grabbing the eggs/baby birds out. Second birdhouses do not need perches, just a draw for House Sparrows. Third, only Purple Martins use multi-holed nestboxes, multi-holed boxes like these are a huge draw for House Sparrows and House Wrens which will also poke others birds eggs and throw the babies from the nest. Fourth, how do you open this box to clean it after the babies fledge or to monitor if you suspect a problem. Please go to sialis.org to see proper nestboxes for Blues and how to properly install them. You will be glad you did....just because the person that made this box had Blues in it, doesn't mean it is a safe nestbox. Good luck!

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: All you need to know about Bluebirds and how to properly host them.....

Thanks for the advice :) I have read that website, most of it - it has a lot of info. I did read a paragraph that said:

MYTH: Bluebirds behave the same way, all the time, everywhere.
REALITY: Eastern, Mountain, and Western Bluebirds in different areas behave differently and show different preferences. Even the same birds may behave differently as they age; as seasons, climate, and conditions change; and from one year to the next. Some people who aren't following any of the "rules" still successfully fledge amazing numbers of bluebirds year after year. Avoid "never" and "always" and do whatever works in your area!

This made me a little more confident in this nest box. Even though have not seen a single HOSP, I will certainly cut off the perches if need be. And I will not host the Starlings, if need be take the whole thing down. Who knows, I could be as successful as the woodworker down the road!! For cleaning, he recommended taking a hanger and yanking out the old nests, and I will pull it down and rinse it out with a bleach solution at the end of the year. If others (besides Starlings and HOSP) take up residence I will most likely buy the more recommended house to put up in another location. While this one is pretty, I would rather a lighter and easier manageable house to take care of!!! Unfortunately I can't just return this one, so hopefully it will work :) Thanks again for your advice!! Christy :)

I believe "do whatever works in your area" refers to spacing, not nestbox dimensions. The guide to proper size holes, box size, etc. can be found here: nest box guide That house appears to be 4 X 4 inches, which is too small. Also, as Donna pointed out, the holes are too close to the floor, making it easy for predator birds to snatch the babies out. You will also need to properly mount it, and make sure there is a good guard on it. I think going through all that work, you may want to purchase a nest box that is safe for them, so you won't have to do it all over again. You could always plug the holes in the decorative box and use it as a decoration in your garden. I will also tell you that I never had problems with HOSP until I put up a box. Remember the HOSP are looking for nesting sites, and once you provide them, they will come. You will need to be prepared to deal with them when they do. Wishing you success this spring. It is not always easy, but it is well worth the effort to help bring more Bluebirds into the world.

I did get another one today. They were selling them for $10 at the NC Credit Union via the NC Bluebird Society. I just started a new thread on the Bluebirding forum about if I need a baffle or not? I found a baffle on Amazon for $20, but not sure if I need it or not!! Thanks, Christy :)

I am so glad you got a new birdhouse. Yes please put a baffle on it but what kind of baffle were you looking at? A cone shaped baffle does not work for raccoons, you need either a pvc or stovepipe. I like the stovepipe myself as I can put them up without my hubbys help. The sialis site explains putting up the baffles.....Good luck.

Donna

i was born on a farm way out in the sticks. every spring the bluebirds built a nest up under the eaves of the house
one windy spring the nest ended up on the ground. i made up a box of scrap wood more like a open tray with sides and no top and nailed it up under the eaves where the nest had been and put the nest into the box with some straw and dry grass and within an hour the birds had rebuilt the nest and started laying eggs. generations of bluebirds for most of my life used the same box every year. after we moved into town the house was tore down. We never had a snake or raccoon or a cat or anything else climb up the wall to get to the nest.

dklucius, while under the eaves would not be easy access to raccoons or cats it still wouldn't be a great place for a birdhouse such as you built. I would think it would be easy pickings for a Starling from how you described it. Plus unless you monitored it, noting when the eggs were laid, when they hatched and when they should fledge, you cannot be certain that just because they used the nest, that it was a successful nesting. May have often failed without you even knowing.

i live in the foothills not too far from the mountains and we have a short growing season it frosts up into may and starts again in Sept. the bluebirds here only fledge one batch a year they usually nest in May and the young fledge by the first part of June. the young ones all over the garden and orchard and the shrubs for weeks after they fledge and by the warm part of summer they all leave out together for the mountains to spend the rest of the warm season. and return again in the spring to the farm. one spring my dad had to go into the hospital out of town and we put a tub of freshly hatched baby chicks in a large galvanized tub with food and water in the laundry room and were gone a week. When i opened the front door on coming home the house was full os chirps and tweets and i went into the room to see 4 baby bluebirds in with the baby chicks fat and sassy

Dklucious I'm not completely following you, how did the baby bluebirds get in with the baby chicks?

I have pondered the idea of mounting a nest box right on the side of the house for Chickadees - all the critters that a baffle is used for, cannot climb the side of a house either. My sister who lives in Idaho put nest boxes on the side of their barn and Mountain Bluebirds have used those.

Aren't Starlings prevented from getting inside a box, if the nest hole is too small for them?

the rafters of the roof hang over the sides of the house and there are boards to cover the gap between the rafters the board was loose and the birds got into the attic and from the attic into the house. there is a place in the ceiling to climb up on a ladder to get into the attic.
we are lucky here that the starlings are not here in the spring and summer and then only some coming thru during the winter. i see house sparrows occasionally but have never had a problem with them. people here cut a small circle in a tin can lid and tack the lid over the bird box hole big enough for the bluebirds to get in but small enough to keep out the bigger bird and make the box deep enough so they can't reach in far enough to get at the babys or eggs.