Need advise on Bluebird box...ASAP please

14 years ago

About a month ago a Hosp made a nest on one of my boxes. I pulled the nest out and they did not come back until today. In the mean time the blues came along and now have a finished nest in that box. Today a male hops. was sitting on the box and then was hanging by the hole ready to go in. I ran outside and scared him off. This is what I have done. I can't get him because he has not claimed a box and the thought of him going in the blues box and killing the female while she is laying an egg is NOT an option....so I had to put the sparrow spooker on before the first egg is laid. I hope this works out.....what would you guys do???

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Comments (12)

LadyJemima
14 years ago
You say he has not claimed the box, but it sounds like he is trying. I say you did the right thing by putting the spooker up. Yes, it might deter the bluebirds, but I believe they may still use it, especially since they have built a nest. But better they abandon it than be attacked/killed by the HOSP. So...other people may disagree, but in my opinion you did the right thing. Also consider monofilament in the future which has a good reputation of deterring HOSP, and doesn't seem to bother blues and TRES at all.
dzyg
14 years ago
Yes, I think you did the right thing too. Let us know if the female blue accepts the spooker. Typically the spooker isn't put on until the first egg is laid to ensure that it will be accepted by the female. Howevet normally blues don't have any problems with spookers anyway so all should be fine. Good luck!

Donna
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Yes, Lornas, even though you trap the raccoons, other animals are also of concern including snakes. It would be a good idea to move the box now and it can be done if you're careful. All of my nestboxes are mounted on 3/4" electrical conduit with stovepipe baffles to protect from climbing predators. The pole should be located at least 10' away from fences, trees, etc., to prevent animals from jumping to the nestbox. I would remove the nest, carefully, from the nestbox and place it in a shoebox. Cover it with a lid and set it aside until the move is complete. Then remove the nestbox from the fence and mount it to the newly located pole (I have Home Depot or Lowe's cut the conduit at a 7' length and then I pound at least 12" of the pole into the ground). Once the nestbox is mounted, carefully replace the nest and then watch the box from a distance to be certain the parents accept the change. Many of us have learned the hard way that mounting nestboxes to fences and trees may work for a time but eventually the predators catch on. Once a box has been raided, the predator knows where to find an easy meal. It's bad enough to lose eggs or hatchlings to a predator, but a box mounted on fences and trees also puts the breeding pair of birds at risk. Take care and let us know if we can be of further help. Kathy
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Hi Pam and anyone else interested, After my last posting, we had a very high wind come up for about an hour. It blew some branches and clumps of leaves down all around our area, but no rain. It also blew down a large piece of wood that may have frightened the baby, but for whatever reason, the little bird went back under the fence to outside of our yard, and the parents seemed to keep him there this time. In fact, he quite moved on from being squenched up next to the fence, and I could not see him any more with a quick check, but I did hear him answering his mother, and the parents kept coming back and were in different trees to watch after him. They were actually in the trees they perched in to watch their original bluebird home, about 10 feet closer to the front of the house than they had been through this ordeal in our fenced back yard. This morning when I got up, the bluebird parents were not there nor was he. The parents did come back a couple of times when I was outside and did not seem distressed. They did not seem to be calling to him at all. I didn't hear them sing or call any at all. The trees they were sitting in as I mentioned before were closer to the front of my yard and I cannot see the birds from my back deck with binoculars like I could when they were looking after him in the shed. I didn't want to stay too close to see and frighten him into running again, so I missed seeing if they were going down and feeding him, if they had encouraged him to fly and if he did, or anything at all. All I know is that by about 10:00 a.m. when I went around to sit on my little concrete bench which is about 15 feet from the bluebird house, the mom and dad sat in the tree there where they always looked after their home like they were communing with me. Lol. I did hear what I know was some kind of baby bird high in the trees in my neighbor's yard right next to this area. Since I have not heard a baby bird calling from that area throughout this weekend, I'm just going to believe that it was him and that he was able to fly and get up there with his parents calling him at some time that I didn't see. He could almost fly the day before, so I'm hoping that they get him moved down the block to the little field where they moved and where his siblings are. I hope they bring all their babies back to see me some day the way another bluebird family did a couple of years ago. I'll try to let you know if I see all 5 of the babies some time, but there are lots of bluebirds around here, so it may be hard to tell. Last week, there was a whole family of about 7 bluebirds on my roof for about 30 minutes. Karen
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bluebirdbabe
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks guys!! my pair of blues have been coming back, they sit on top of the spooker. I have not seen the female go into the box but she may not be ready to lay eggs. (and I was gone all yesterday) The good thing is that they come back to the box everyday. Another thing...sparrow spookers do work!!! The hosp. wanted to fly to the box and as he got closer he did a quick "U" turn away from the box. Since the hosp. do not have a box, but are still around, I'm having my daughters friend come over with his pellet gun...I'm not taking any chances....the hosp. will be gone!
dzyg
14 years ago
That is great that you saw the spooker deter the HOSP and that the Blues are sitting on it. Hopefully you will get an egg very soon!

Good luck!
donna
Ninapearl
14 years ago
sounds like the blues will be fine with what you have done. even better than a pellet gun is a live trap. if you bait it with junk seed, you will very likely catch the hosp.

i have the live trap that has 3 compartments. once a hosp is trapped, it eventually goes into the middle compartment. i leave it there as "bait" for other hosps. i have caught as many as 8 or 9 in one day. i put the whole trap into a big trash bag and gas them with my car exhaust. it's very quick, only takes maybe 10 or 15 seconds before they are gone. ;)
LadyJemima
14 years ago
If you don't want to kill the HOSP sparrows (I have mixed feelings on this) just be sure you're aren't putting out millet or human food (i.e. bread crumbs), which will attract them like flies. Since I stopped feeding millet last year, I've only seen one pair of HOSP for a few minutes in my yard - the others have disappeared completely!
bluebirdbabe
Original Author
14 years ago
LadyJemima, I don't like killing the hops. but I do and I will continue to do so. They killed my TRES mom sitting on her 4 eggs about 6 years ago.(before I knew they were killers) I still to this day think about that poor little bird. I can't imagine if they had killed my bluebirds...I will never give them the opportunity!!

Nina, I have a ground trap (2 compartments) but I have never had any luck...they won't go near it. BTW...she went in the box this morning :)

Karen
dzyg
14 years ago
Karen, great news that she went into the nestbox! Shouldn't be long now! I agree with you on the HOSP, I too have had TRES killed by them. Once they built a nest right over the top of the dead TRES too. I don't usually give them the opportunity to do any damage to any of the birds.

Donna
sagrinin
14 years ago
I think I might have a wren around. I have four bluebird eggs in the box and I do believe the female has been sitting on them from time to time. Do I dare put a wren guard on now. I guess I am so afraid they won't come back. I already had one box abandoned with eggs and a wren got the eggs. They were not viable though.
dzyg
14 years ago
sagrinin...the best time to add a wren guard is during egg laying so you can be certain they accept it (you would know when the next egg is laid). Hard thing about adding it once incubation starts is that you don't want to interrupt incubation at all and harm the eggs. Maybe if you added one slowly with a short front at first that doesn't totally hide the hole it would work. Once you saw her go in you could later add more length to the front and then add some short sides just for stability. Good luck!

Donna
sagrinin
14 years ago
Thanks Donna, I appreciate the info. Keep your fingers crossed.
bluebirdbabe
Original Author
14 years ago
all is well in the bluebird box :) 4 eggs :) YAY!!! I think the hosp. killed the wren...this is kinda bitter sweet. I hate the fact that the damn hosp. is such a killer, but my blue's eggs will be safe.

Need advise on Bluebird box...ASAP please

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Need advise on Bluebird box...ASAP please

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