I think i may have some Dee's starting a nest in one of my boxes. Lots of moss in the bottom, could be a TUTI tho. We were checking the boxes the other day and found a huge wood bee in this box. DH killed it and now their is moss in there :-)
Bonnie

Good luck with your Dee nests. I have one also, with one lonely little egg in it. Unfortunately, that's been the only egg for the past five days. Don't know if they've abandoned the box or something happened to Mama Dee, but it appears to be a no-go.

LindaSkyview
Western NC

So sorry Linda I hope they star another nest.
Cathy

Linda so sorry to hear that. Did you have a sudden weather change? My female blue laid one egg then didnt lay anymore for a few days. Then started laying again. Yesterday there was three. I hope nothing happened to mama Dee. Good luck and i will be thinking of you and your little Dee's.
Bonnie

Chicadees continued House shopping yesterday. The bluebird box they showed the most interest in was also being checked out by a male House Sparrow. I moved the nestbox trap over to right by the box they were all interested in and got the male House Sparrow this morning. He is history, hurray. Will see what the chicadess decide on.

Boy, those chicadees sure do like to house hunt. I noticed just a short while ago that paper wasps were trying to claim a box. So I sprayed the heck out of them. After that I was checking another box to make sure no wasps and when I opened it, the chicadee was inside and flew out right in my face. Difficult to say who was more startled, the bird or me!

At any rate today I have been watching them fly around, eat suet and thistle, grab a mealworm or two, and between all this pop in and out of the nestboxes in my backyard.

i have a nest in 1 of my boxes and it is a titmice nest. > i think

Rita it really sounds like they like your place. I think you will definitely have Dee's nesting there. Especially with all the good food you are feeding them how can they not pick your place. Sounds like birdie heaven :)
Bonnie

newyorkrita said... "paper wasps were trying to claim a box. So I sprayed the heck out of them."
What did you spray them with? (Water, I hope.)

No, I sprayed the OUTSIDE of the box with wasp spray and then hosed it down afterward. I made sure those wasps had not started one of there nests inside also.

Big Chicadee squabble today. Three Chicadees when I usually see only two and of course they are very territorial. Two of them were squabbling like mad and one got chased off in a hurray.

Ok, so the news is that the chicadees picked out a box and are nest building today. It was the same one that I scared the chicadee out of afew days ago.

The good news is that the House Sparrows will not be able to get them as this box has an 1 1/8 inch entrance hole and was one I bought labeled as wren/chicadee house.

As an aside on entrance sizes, those chicadees went in and out of all my boxes many times regardless of entrance sizes while they were deciding and I have boxes of 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2

The bad news is that this is the box the house wrens fledged their first brood from last year so even though the male had dummy nests, mrs house wren picked this one for the real deal. Then before the wren babies fledged the male started building a nest in another box about 15 feet away and as soon as they fledged those wrens nested in that second box for a second clutch. I was never sure if he had a new wife or they were the same pair. That was the first time I even had wrens nesting althought this will be my forth year for chicadees.

What should I do? Will a wren guard stop them from trying to pick that box? Last year there was no problem, they never bothered each other. I am just worried that the wren might think this is HIS box?

Boy, watching those little guys sure is entertaining. Today I could see them carrying little pieces of moss into the nestbox.

This is the first time they choose a box so close to my kitchen door and patio area. I can see the comings and goings just by standing at my back door.

No further progress on mine. I get dee'd every time i walk by the box or check for more wood bee's but no more moss or anything in the box :-( I check once a week but nothing.
Bonnie

I looked inside the box late this afternoon when I was sure both chicadees were out of their nest. There is a lot of moss in there.

Well, my chicadee family is doing well. The fledglings are all feathered out and sometimes when the parents are not around I can hear the little guys Dee-Dee- Deeing in the nestbox.

Yesterday and today the parents started feeding them suet. Before this the parents took suet for themselves but not for the little ones. Now I guess they are big enought to eat suet.

The wrens have their box in the front yard and are doing their own thing. Not bothering anyone, just raising their own family.

Congrats Rita enjoy it while it lasts cause soon you'll have tons of wrens to give you trouble. As they multiply so will the troubles you'll have.
Cathy

I worry more about the HOWRs than HOSP-they are NOT allowed to nest here. Have three boxes with dees, one has 8, one 7 and one box only has a single, almost ready to fledge chick. Am still hyperprotective after losing 5 TUTIs to a HOSP.

Wrens seem to prefer the same box placement as the dees, on the fringe near trees and vegetation. So they are a real threat to my dees.

You can use a bar of Ivory soap to stop wasps. Just scrapped it on the inside of the roof and about an inch down the sides. That will stop any wasps from building their nests on the roof. I do that every spring and never have had a wasp nest in the boxes.

Rita:

Could you give an overall description of the layout of your area. I've posted about the dees and HOWRs here but I have little experience with them both nesting.

The HOWRs here have many acres of woods but I have heard only one male.

PS: A CAWR is working on a nest in one of my "robin shelves." I'm not sure she will finish it though since I am out there quite a bit.

I live in a suburban type neighborhood but with houses on only one side of the street. Accross the street from me is a big (16 acre) open park and directly next to the park is another heavily wooded area which is a county nature preserve. My neighbors have the typical no garden landscape but here I have planted heavily in fruiting shrubs like viburnum, serviceberry, shrub dogwoods, Winterberry, blueberries, and many others that attract backyard songbirds.

I have no bluebirds and no tree sparrows have ever come to my nestboxes although I do see them flying overhead.

Although I have had the male wren building fake nests for 4 years, last year was the first year he found a mate and they fledged two broods. That year the chicadees were nesting less than 20 feet away from the wrens. They never bothered each other.

This year the wren is nesting in the front yard in a slotbox house that is very near my blackberries. The chicadees are in the backyard in a box very near my old cherry tree. The nestboxes are not in sight of each other but really they are not that far from each other either as I do not have a huge yard.

House wrens apprear to be rare here. It was years of me planting shrubs to make the yard more attractive to sonbirds before I ever saw a wren here.

I know that this is not a polular opinion here on the bluebird forum but I really like the house wrens.

Perhaps the male HOWRs in our area are docile because they do not face competition for nesting spots.

The female was due to lay eggs this week. The last few times I saw the male HOWR, he goes into the nest opening, looks in, and goes to the top of the house where he sings and flaps his wings. This is the first time he has been flapping--other than when the pair were doing their mating ritual. It almost seems as if the male knows there are eggs and he is flapping because he is a proud father. Right now, he is loafing and singing but he will be working hard when the chicks are hatched.

On what side of your HOWR house, does the male HOWR sit? Is it the right side, center, or left side?

I'm going to limit this pair to one nesting. Last year they had 3 chicks.

The little chicadees were so cute today sticking their little heads up and looking out the entrance hole of the nest box. Mom and dad continued to feed suet along with lots of bugs.
As far as the House wren, I do not see him sitting on the box too much. He usually sits on the arch thing I have planted some vines on which is too the left of his nestbox.

Wow, the chicadees fledged today and wonder of wonders I got to see the whole thing. Four adorable puff balls are now out in the big new world. It must be a scary thing and the world must look so big to those baby birds.

The first one thought about it and kept sticking its head out and then just poped out like that. Second two followed easily. The last was the scardey cat and took its time but out it went too. Now the parents are feeding them were they sit in various trees and shrubs around the property.

I know they get alot of aphids as my roses are covered in aphids and I have been watching the chicadees get aphids for days now. Yesterday and today I had a small batch of young resently left the nest House Sparrows feasting on the aphids all day long. Must be like an all you can eat buffet.

I do not spray my roses with any insecticides (only a fungicide) so the aphids are safe for the birds to eat.

Meanwhile the wrens are feeding their nestlings in the house in the front yard.