I'm not thrilled with blue jays. They are up there on the list of fragmentation related increased levels of predation of birds nests, yes, they do go after other birds eggs and babies. I had a devil of a time with them last summer particularly when nestlings fledged. I had about 5-6 box nesters last summer and warred with the jays over all of them - worse with the ground nesters. They went after the babies every single time. They seem to have some sort of radar for the event. Fortunately I work from home and it's a racket when happening, but I scared the Mom bird just as badly. I have bird feeders and I do my best not to supply what they like for food, such as peanuts and corn in my case. I do have a nut feeder but it's one they can't use. However, jays are also attracted to water so at bird baths which is important to have for all birds. Not much you can do about them, suburban gardens are perfect habitat. Try and provide thickets and dense shrubs to protect smaller birds is about all you can do. Make sure your bluebird box is somewhere near a thick shrubby area, the babies can fly to it when they leave the box. Other people really like the jays. It's humans that have created a better situation for them to hunt in, so not their fault, but dang it stinks to see them going after baby wrens.

You will find helpful information at the web site linked below. Click on Nestboxes, then Placement. This provides a listing of the preferences of all the cavity nesters. You can use this info as it applies to the habitat you have available for your nestboxes. For example, chickadees might prefer more of a tree canopy, and bluebirds might prefer a more open location. I say "might" because they also like to keep us guessing LOL. There may also be other things they consider when choosing a home which we humans know nothing about, such as a preference for the same type of habitat or nestbox in which they were raised. IN ADDITION! You might want to carefully add a hole reducer for the chickadees to prevent harassment by larger birds (even the bluebirds), or even protect them from house sparrows. Nestbox specifications on that same web site will give you the recommended size, and there is even an entire page on hole restrictors under "Problems and Solutions" which mentions WHEN and HOW a hole restrictor should be added to avoid scaring the chickadees off. There are also some hints on the link for "Nestbox Pairing." The direction your nestbox entrance faces might not be as important as the location, as the birds will often perch on top or nearby to monitor their territory or enter to feed their young. Lots of considerations such as prevailing winds, amount of cover, visibility, etc. You will also find IMPORTANT information to prevent climbing predators - refer to the page on Predator Baffles. Bet has provided us this wonderful resource, collecting input from everywhere and everyone. Thanks Bet! BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

we have had over normal snowfall this winter. there is still a couple foot of snow on the fields with only a few bare spots under trees. But the pair of Lewis's woodpeckers are here early and the male is drumming on the light pole setting up his territory but the male and female are both coming to the feeders together so i don't think they are ready to start with the eggs. the juncos and chickadees and most of the winter birds are still here and usually leave about the later part of march to nest elsewhere. My orioles come mid april to late april to nest close bu usually 3 pairs. Most of the spring birds do not show up till mid april to mid may. and have not seen any of them yet.

Since house wrens are protected, you can only discourage them. I have left boxes open, and always remove "dummy" nests that they put in (just sticks, no nest cup). Sometimes if you leave the box open for a few days they will leave to look for more suitable housing, and then you can close the box to make it available to other birds. They are awful, horrible birds. I had a nest of Black-Capped chickadees and they broke every egg and threw them out of the box. Then they didn't even use the box. They are destructive and very persistent.