Hey gang,

I posted the following message on a forum for purple martin landlords the other day....I'm getting some unforseen behavior from my BB's.

"....just wondering how common this bluebird behavior is?

I have BB boxes on opposite sides of my martin housing. The two boxes are separated by about 30 yards.

Bluebird family is currently between clutches...in the meantime they have been investigating the box with 5 TS eggs on the other side of the housing. I check on the TS family yesterday while mowing, and to my surprise discovered that the BB's had built a nest over top of the TS eggs. I removed the nest hoping the blues will go back to their original box. I would have thought the TS's would have been more vigilant in protecting their clutch??".

That was a few days ago...there are now 4 BB eggs in the aforementioned box.

Tonight I thought I'd check on a family of TS's on the other side of my house. They are nesting in a plastic gourd designed for both species, a gourd nearly 125 yards away from the first box. The gourd 'had' six TS eggs in it 2 days ago....tonight the TS eggs were gone and a single bluebird egg was in the gourd. The BB's even used the same little nest bowl. There was absolutely no trace of the TS eggs...yes the pole has a baffle.

I never expected such dominant behavior from my blues. The tree swallows got an unusually late start nesting here this year for some reason.

Finally, I was wondering how successful anyone has been at pairing boxes for these two species. I know that the general rule of thumb is 100 yards apart, but purple martin landlords often find themselves having to provide alternate housing for these two species in close proximity to their martin housing. My colony has grown to the point where I don't think the martins would allow themselves to be run off, but I enjoy seeing all three species.

..has anyone tried the box designed for Swallows made by Duncraft? It has a slotted entrance, and I was wondering if bluebirds are somewhat deterred? I'm thinking of pairing this style with my more traditional boxes.

http://www.duncraft.com/Swallow-Bird-House-P672C217.aspx.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.