Donna is right the guard may not work since the Wren knows it's there. One other thought is (when the first egg is laid) to turn the box 1/4 turn, you will have to watch to be sure mom finds the hole and not the Wren. As soon as Mom finds it put the guard up making sure there are sides on the guard so the hole can not be seen from the top of the box. Again make sure Mom finds it. Last ditch effort would be to move the box entirley in plain view of the Blues. If none of this is successful the worst that will happen is you will lose the eggs and the Blues will nest again. Also get a high powered water gun and attack the Wren whenever you see it near the box. Good Luck!

I agree with the previous post that I would not mind blue birds pooping on my truck or car at all. Just wash your car more often and enjoy the fact that a nearly extinct beautiful bird is pooping on your car. Most of us on this forum would love to have your problem. This forum is for those of us who love these little blue baby's survive by going to great lengths to protect them. They were nearly extinct because they have so many predators to compete with in the wild and the fact that we humans encroach on the wild animals habitat by taking away more and more land of the land they live in for our ever expanding out of control population and greed. Are you sure they are blue birds and not swallows because they can look alike to the untrained birder eye. However both blue birds and swallows are welcome to poop all over my truck, because the swallow eats a ton of mosquitoes and are also beautiful birds to have around. You can tell if they are swallows by watching them in flight, if you cannot see the color difference in the two birds, swallows have bluish purple shiny wings. The best way to know if it is a swallow is to look at them in flight , there wings look like a boomerang and they will fly around in the same area if there is a good bug hatch on to feed. The blue bird male is very very blue and they tend to dart from place to place feeding on bugs in the air and often on the ground. If your interested in keeping your car clean from a bird that is so loved and protected by so many people all over the country than I would say you have come to the wrong forum. My answer is, as a blue bird lover is enjoy these nearly endangered, friendly, beautiful bird with a song that is so sweet and long to be heard by us here on this forum every year. Put up some blue bird houses if you can on your land and enjoy them instead of trying to keep them from pooping on your cars. We can wash the poop of of the very thing that is nearly making the blue bird and many other species in the wild extinct. Enjoy nature and its creatures and beauty now because it may not be there for long. Im sorry to make this post so long and I may come across as a tree hugging democrat. Not true at all, I have been hunting and fishing all my life own guns legally, and love to be out in the woods away from people with my dogs running off leash where they are the happiest. But over the years these wooded areas got smaller and smaller because us humans have exploded in numbers. We build houses in the woods but call 911 when they see a bear or a coyote in the back yard and immediately want them killed because they want to live in the country but do not want there kids getting attacked by a wild animal that has most likely made the land that was taken away from them by a human there hunting feeding grounds for years and years. And of course the wild animal always loses in the long run. OMG I just got myself all worked up on this subject. I apologize, but I guess you may get the drift that I am for protecting the birds that pooping on your car rather than chasing them away. UH, yah I went a little to far but just wash your cars and enjoy nature while we have it to enjoy. Gina

Thanks for the replies! The thing is, there HAS been a nestbox available both years. Last year it was on a pole (and I've got an extra baffle for the pole if necessary), and this year I've used it as a HOSP trap and mounted it on the house and then on a tree. The blues have never shown any interest in the nest box, where ever it was. Never even seen them go in or sit on it. They nested their first brood last year in another snag that had a hole about 20 feet up, but that snag fell over last summer so they moved to the one they like now. The only birds showing interest in the nest box have been the HOSPs (trapped 1 last year, 2 this year with the Van ert) and some HOWRs last year after which I removed their sticks and left the box open. Fortunately this year the HOSPs have since stayed away more or less and no sign of any HOWRs. X my fingers they stay away. I speculate that perhaps these birds were raised in natural cavities and that is what they're most comfortable with? There must be some way to baffle the tree?

Hello - Not sure if anyone can help me, but I have a nest of chickadees in a yard light pole in front of our house. The nest is about 8-12" below the hole where the cross bar used to be. My concern is that the babies will not be able to get up the smooth pole to get out. Parents are still feeding them, and when we peeked, they appear to have some feathers. Should we just leave them alone and see if they get out?