You can move a nestbox with eggs but you have to be very very careful...it is much easier to move a nestbox before the eggs are laid. Conduit is the easiest thing to mount a nestbox on, 3/4" or 1" is the sturdiest. I usually just have a 10ft piece and pound 4 1/2 feet into the ground but 3 feet would be plenty to have in the ground too (some have only 2ft) so you could have it cut. Get a piece of 6 or 8" stovepipe (they come in 2ft lengths) and an end cap for the stovepipe. Drill a hole in the endcap the size of the conduit and place a emt clamp on the pole where the baffle will be (I have mine about 6" or so under the nestbox) set the endcap on the clamp to hold it in place and place the stovepipe around that, attaching it to the cap. Those are from instructions that make it pretty easy...I do mine just a bit differently as I am not up on power tools. ( I clip the top of the stovepipe and fold it over the top of the cap part and use a tin snips to cut the hole in the top/cap. Oh and it should be wobbly...that is what deters the coons the most is the wobble. I then use one hole straps to attach the nestbox to the conduit. Two hole straps aren't as sturdy and won't hold the box as tight as you need it to. Good luck..hopefully you can get things moved quickly before they start laying again. My first year with bluebirds I had them nesting in a nestbox on a wooden post. First nesting went fine..nestlings fledged. Second nesting the nestlings gotten eaten by raccoons when they were 12 days old. I was so sad! After that we put up a properly mounted nestbox and then added more and I also have a small trail at a park now too. Good luck..let us know if you need any more help, especially if you end up moving things when there are eggs. Oh and check out the sparrow spooker page on sialis.org in case you have House Sparrows in the area. Also wren gaurds in case of House wrens...they aren't always needed depending on where you box is located. At my place the boxes on the west side of the house normally need guards as they are closer to the woods, on the east side I never have a wren problem as a road and an open field are there. Donna

Wow sorry Linda, I hear your pain. We have HOWR here every summer and we did lose 1 egg (of four) in July 2007. But I don't think our wren situation is as difficult as yours seems to be. We see them nearby occasionally, and often hear them not too far away. But we chase them off if/when any come on our property. And our parent Blues (Missy & Mr.B) both discourage them ferociously if they ever come near Missy's box. This pair has successfully fledged 41 baby blues in the past 3 seasons (8 completed nests with a 9th underway), without a single loss of either egg or chick to the wrens. We've made our decision not to use a wren guard for reasons we are comfortable with. And frankly we've heard just too many accounts of HOWR destroying nests in boxes that had wren guards installed. We know that many bird lovers willingly allow and even encourage House Wrens to nest and breed, and this can lead to their forcing many other songbirds out of a habitat completely. (The same could be said of the House Sparrows). So, I'm not sure how to offer you specific advice or comfort. I fear it will be up to you and your Bluebirds to overcome your local HOWR problem. Best luck to you and your birds, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple's Bluebirds

Donna, I sure hope they come back for you. IMO, the mealworms are what keeps them in your yard and if you ran out maybe that is why they left. However it does sound normal from what everyone says. This is only my third year hosting Blues and only the first year did I get a first and a second nesting in my yard. That first year the Blues never left after the first or second fledging until it was time to leave for the Winter. Last year and this year my pair showed up late so I am assuming they both had a failed first nesting and my yard was their second nesting so there was no time for an additional one. Last years pair didn't leave my yard until it was time to migrate south either. At the park where I monitor five nestboxes, last year I got two nestings of Blues in one box. I didn't see any of the first fledglings but I did see the second ones. This year I had two nesting of Blues down at the park. Both have fledged, one pair has just laid its third egg of the second nesting and I did see three of the four fledglings this past weekend. The other pair I haven't seen nor heard from since fledging. I keep checking the box, Friday will be two weeks since they fledged. Today while checking (still nothing in the box) I did hear a baby Blue in the woods so I am thinking maybe (hoping) they are back around to start the second nesting. It is too far away from the other box to be a flegling from the other pair down there. Donna

I recommend cleaning out the box. It's normal for the male to keep coming back to the house after the nest has been abandoned by the female. The female (or any other female) will not reuse the nest. They will often start over once the nest is cleaned out (although not always right away). Even during the winter, bluebirds will use an empty bluebird house for shelter. So after the summer season, I always make sure my bluebird boxes are cleaned out. Typically, they will not use a box if there is still an old nest in it I have attached one of my favorite winter bluebird pictures to this post. I also just added a video of a bluebird waiting out a snowstorm in my backyard on my web page: BluebirdsPlus