How safe are bird house from predators

15 years ago

Most of the bird house I see are basically hanging on a tree or standing on a pole. How likely is something going to go after it. Would a raccoon chew through the house to get at the nest?

Paul

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Comments (4)

dzyg
15 years ago
Birdhouses should be mounted on a slick metal pole (conduit) with a predator baffle. A raccoon doesn't need to chew through a nestbox and probably wouldn't, all they have to do is reach their arm inside and pull the babies/eggs and or incubating adult out of the box, they have a pretty long reach too. Raccoons can and will climb up a conduit pole also which is why they should be baffled. Boxes mounted on trees or woodens posts of fence lines all make an easy target for raccoons snakes and other predators. If I see a box on a tree/post or fenceline either in pics online or irl and I have an opportunity to say something I will so hopefully people will change their setups to ensure a safe nesting for the birds they are hosting.

Donna
lisa11310
15 years ago
Go here to learn about cavity nesting birds and how to keep them safe. www.sialis.org
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corp5835_gmail_com
15 years ago
Something chewed the hole in my bluebird house to twice its
size and took the bluebird eggs...does anyone know what that could have been? This is the first year I have had
this issue and my bluebirds come back every year for the last 20 years. Not sure if they are the same birds, but
I have a baffle on the pole.
dzyg
15 years ago
Chris, are you sure it is chewed and not pecked larger by a woodpecker? Woodpeckers are notorious for enlarging holes on birdhouses but usually during the Winter months when they are roosting. Not sure what would chew on the hole really. Is your nestbox located at least 15 feet away from fence/posts or trees so nothing could jump to the box? Do you have any House Wrens in the area, they could have taken the eggs.

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How safe are bird house from predators

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dzyg

lisa11310

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dzyg

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