I think you need to get rid of the mailman first.

If there is an open area near the mail box that is safe, I would move the nest box there.
michelle

Get at least one more nestbox, i'd suggest a gilbertson box, I have 5 and they work well and sparrows dont show much interest in them. (they are said to be sparrow resistant because of the design) And they were for about 3 years then some HOSP showed interest and thats when I got my inbox trap and ground repeating trap.

When you purchase the box, go ahead and also purchase the gilbertson in-box trap for any HOSP that do decide they like the box. I suggest plugging up the hole of your paper tube with clothing or somthing and placing the nestbox nearby. What kind of box is your current box? Im assuming a wooden box or nabs box...ahh i wish everyone would get rid of their wooden boxes, HOSP are drawn to them like magnets, especially in thickly HOSP populated areas.

Definititely start trapping and disposing of HOSP in your area, sure it's tough to do in the beginning, but just remember what they have done to your EABL babies!

My mom hates how I use the repeating ground trap but I tell her I am protecting my native birds :) ( yea i live at home and I am 22 and have had EABL for 9 years, since 8th grade shop class I made my 1st bird house and soon as i put it up i had EABL and thats what got me hooked!)

Good Luck and keep us posted! Your EABL seem desperate for a cavity to nest in!

Tyler, 22, West Central OH

Please put a note on your paper tube and tell that BOZO he is breaking the law. Better yet cancel the paper till you know they are safley nesting somewhere else.

As long as you have hosps and do not control them you should not have a box of any kind. You are setting them up for death.

I did get online and print up the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and highlighted the illegal portion of moving an active nest. I also wrote a note and asked to have the newspaper thrown into the yard for a few weeks, or I can cancel it for a month or so! My mailbox/newspaper tube are quite a long distance from the house sparrows which are close to my house. I am in the country with lots of birds, so hard to control so many. The bluebirds have chosen this newspaper tube so I can only do what I can to give them a chance. I did set up the bluebird box out by the road near the mail/paper boxes but they wouldnt' go near it and spent several hours last night trying to get into the paper tube that I did block. It was hard watching them try for so long to get in there to rebuild their nest. I did remove the blockage and they are back this morning going in and out. I am putting that letter taped to the newspaper tube today for the paper carrier. I appreciate all the help everyone has offered. I hope he will leave their nest alone now, if not, I will call the newspaper and cancel my paper for a month. Thanks for all the support and I do appreciate it. They are pretty much out in the open and the house sparrows stay up near the home, so maybe they will have a chance.

ms, I noticed in your other thread that you've received some pretty good advice from several experienced bluebirders. As hard as it is for you to watch the blues try to get into the newspaper box, encouraging them to nest in an unsafe environment is not the right thing to do. This same thing happened to a neighbor of mine the last 2 years and raccoons got not only the eggs but the breeding female bluebird as well. If you cannot provide a safe nesting site for them, do not encourage the blues to nest. I would suggest re-blocking your newspaper box and re-establishing a safe nestbox nearby. Make certain it is at least 10 feet from your mail/paper boxes and that it is mounted on a slick metal pole equipped with a predator baffle. If the blues have already started building in the paper box, transfer the nest to the nestbox. If your bluebird pair accepts the nestbox and continues the nesting by laying eggs, get a sparrow spooker on the box as soon as the first egg appears. It is bad enough to lose eggs and nestlings, but losing a breeding female (whether to a climbing predator or to a house sparrow attack) is even worse.
Kathy

If you transfer the nest somewhere the birds might be confused and I think the best thing that you can do is put a box which can protect the eggs from falling. Maybe they sense that your mailbox is safer place.

The point I was trying to make is that just because the blues think it's an ideal nesting site, that doesn't necessarily make it so. We have the ability to understand that a newspaper box is vulnerable to predation not only by snakes, raccoons, cats, etc., but by humans (children playing, etc.) as well. Why put the bluebirds in harm's way when you seem to be able to provide them with safer housing? If it were me, I'd block off the paper box and relocate any new nest immediately. In my opinion, it is not worth risking the lives of your bluebirds simply to try and keep them from leaving.
Kathy