itrom.......Last year when chickadees took over our fave BB box after so many year of having only BBs in the box there were reclaim fights but the BBs did not win and we never saw any all summer and that was sad. That particular box is the one we can see easily and we love to watch them and take photos. There are two other boxes nearby so I kept asking myself why can't the cute chickadees just use those...lol. BBs have moved into the fave box and I hope there is peace! Good luck and enjoy whatever nests ...or...put up another box and if you do make sure you follow instructions as to how far from the fist one.

Blumz, Your story about switching the houses made me smile and I thought I'd share my recent experience. This year for the first time I put up a box with a slotted opening. To be honest, I was hoping to get pictures of several nestlings peeking out at the same time on fledge day. When I made the box I also made an interchangable panel with the regular 1 1/2 inch round hole. I put the box up, using the slotted opening and the birds seemed to like it. A few days later the female began building a nest. On the day before she would lay her first egg, I saw a female cowbird land on the box, duck down and go in via the lotted opening. From out of nowhere Papa came charging like a linebacker. He arrived just as the cowbird was exiting the box and she apparently flew up into his path. In any case there was an audable thud as he crashed into her. I have heard that cowbirds remember and sometimes punish birds that remove a cowbird egg from their nest. The following morning Mama laid her first egg. Just 2 hours later a female cowbird removed the egg and dropped it to the grass, breaking it. The bluebirds were visably upset, as was I. I wondered if this was the same cowbird retaliating for what Papa had done. I worried all day and into the night. Finally, at 1:30 a.m., I went out, removed the slotted panel and installed the one with the round hole. I also attached the sparrow spooker. I was up early to see how the blues would react to the new look. When Mama arrived she was very cautious. Half an hour later she tried to get in through a tiny half-inch gap I had left at the top of the front panel. Finally she seemed to notice the round hole and soon thereafter went inside. She laid a second egg that morning and since then has laid two more eggs. This afternoon I saw a female cowbird at the nest box. She flew around and pecked away at the tiny slot in much the same way Mama had done. She stuck her head into the hole but made no real effort to squeeze in.

I just did this too! They will abandon the nest if you don't take care of it, ASAP!! tonight if you can!. You need to do a nest change. There is good info on the sialis site about nest changes and how to do it. I got as much dried grass as I could and put it in an empty butter container. I tried to line it with pine needles, but I don't know where my female got hers?!! It took a few days, but then the second egg arrived along with a third! She was incubating a few days until a wren, I think, got two of them. Now they built another nest in my other box.. after all that work!! then you have to take care of the ants. They say grease the pole.. I put the liquid ant killer at the base on a plastic lid covered with a larger lid.. I hoped it would distract them from the nest, but I can't tell for sure if it worked since they moved.. but I didn't see any more ants in there. Good luck and keep us posted!

Are you certain that the bird building the new nest is the female bluebird and not a usurping English house sparrow? Typically HOSPs use straw as a nesting material while bluebirds favor fine grasses.