I have wind chimes hung between my feeders on the eaves on the back of our house and they sit on top of them to guard their feeders. The noise doesn't bother them at all!! (They make enough noise themselves when they start chattering that they probably don't even hear the chimes!) We live far enough from the road that I don't know about traffic and how they feel about it. I would guess if it bothers them, they just won't feed in that area and would stick with places they feel comfortable.

I came to this forum in search of this very same topic. I have not fed hummers in the past, I was really just working on getting my gardens established. Last fall I had a hummer come through my yard and I didn't even have a feeder out (I remember seeing him at one of my perennials but I don't recall which one.) Anyway, this year I've added more hummer-friendly flowers even though none are blooming right now I did set my feeder out 3 days ago just in case. My neighbor told me she had a Hummer at her feeder last week so I'm guessing I might've missed my window. I've noticed that the robins (most numerous bird in my yard) are constantly flying around the HB feeder and landing on the shepards hook that the feeder is on. The feeder is Very close to a small lilac shrub (didn't bloom this year - too new I think) and a very mature cherry tree. All the birds in my yard LOVE the cherry tree. I haven't even had to set out a bird feeder this year, I just toss stale bread out once every few weeks and they have a field day between that, the cherries and the worms/grubs/insects in my yard. I just wonder if it's too much bird activity for hummers?

Welcome! First, nestboxes should never be mounted on fences, wooden posts, trees or anything else a predator can easily climb up. They should be mounted on slick metal poles (conduit) with predator baffles (wobbling stovepipe) and put up at least 15 feet away from any fence/tree or anything a predator can jump from. Your raccoon you relocated could be back anytime and or another raccoon could come by and see its happy meal sitting waiting on the fence for it. Please visit sialis.org for helpful information on properly mounting nestboxes and info on sparrow spookers/wren guards etc. If you see birds sitting with the Blues and not being chased away they are not wrens or HOSP. They are most likey House Finches which like to hang with Blues for some reason. However being you are on a farm with other farms around you probably most likely have HOSP around. A sparrow spooker will not scare the Blues away from their nesting and I would put one up asap, right after you move that box off that fence and to a safer spot about 15 feet away from the fence. Yes you can move an active nesting like this, the Blues won't abandon it because of moving it. As far as the TRES you can do the same with that box but you will need to be much more careful if there are eggs. It is really hard to see in their nests because of all the feathers but usually when it is loaded with feathers that means there are eggs in there. I just did a nestbox switch on an active Blues nesting because the momma blue laid seven eggs (which all hatched)in a smaller Gilwood style box, it has a 3 1/2" x 4 1/4" floor. I switched the nest to a larger box mounted on the same pole and had no problems with the adults accepting it. The nestlings were five days old. Good luck! Donna

Please visit the Sialis website for complete information on hosting Bluebirds. You definitely don't want snakes or other critters getting into your Bluebird house. The box should be mounted on a pole with a predator guard. Great instructions can be found in the link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis baffle page