I'm on two acres in semi-rural central Massachusetts, bordering conservation land (wetlands). This is the first time I've thought about itemizing what I've seen in my four years, here. It's a long list, and I'm sure it's just a fraction! We have a pond, and keep half the property meadow. (Maybe, by some standards, the whole thing is a meadow....) I've been putting up birdhouses, lately. We see (in rough order of how interesting...) great blue herons, red tail hawks, egrets, a large flock of cedar waxwings, redwing blackbirds, barn sparrows (how do they know it's a barn?), downy/hairy/piliated/red-breasted woodpeckers, orioles, juncos, nuthatches, and the usual finches, bluejays, cardinals, yadda yadda yadda. A wood duck down the road, and I wish he'd visit. Spring peepers (I can't wait for them to come back!), leopard frogs, other various frogs and toads, garter/ribbon/maybe milk snakes, 4-toed salamanders. Turtles nearby, but not at my pond. In the pond, various snails, leeches, more frogs, infinite insects (especially mosquitoes). In the orchard, every pest an apple tree has ever known. Mice, groundhogs, rabbits, grey squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks. Coyotes, foxes, deer. Neighbors have seen a bear and reportedly minks, but not me. Beavers have us surrounded, but they are not my own yard. Some lovely spiders, and some plain ones too. Lots of paper wasps and various bees. More mosquitoes. In fact, mostly, we have mosquitoes. And worms. --Jonathan

Ive done the xmas bird count for years in SW Oh, here are three plants ive witnessed bb's eating berries in winter: 1) honeysuckle; invasive, don't recommend. 2) sumac (Rhus typhinia; they grow fast and sucker, maybe other varieties would be more controllable) 3) red cedar (juniperus virginiana) Common tree but alot to offer wildlife. You need several as there are male and female trees. My brother has about 4 or 5 bluebirds coming to eat dried mealworms; im not having the same luck, but the dried mealworms are becoming more available in stores.

I don't know the answer to your question but maybe you can find it here. Great reference source. http://www.sialis.org

Austin. I know you are trying to help but I'm afraid it will not work out the way you hope it will. In my experience rehabbers won't even take babies unless they can feed themselves. After they hatch the babies don't even eat the first day or so. The parents feed the babies soft insects the next few days and many other foods as Bluebirds have a varied diet. It is my understanding that the mother bird needs to inoculate the babies gut with some sort of bacteria which you or even a rehabber does not have. It is very time consuming and difficult to raise them on your own not to mention illegal. Even if you were successful raising them you can't simply release them because they will not be able to hunt on their own and they will starve to death. The parents teach them this and how to avoid climbing predators like snakes, squirrels, coons and cats. Boxes should never be put on fences or trees for this reason. They should be on a slick metal pole with a baffle on it. I feel terrible for you. I have lost Blues in the past to house sparrows. We all find things out the hard way. Please visit our favorite website to learn how to protect your birds the next time. www.sialis.org has every thing you'll ever need to know about Bluebirds. Good luck and let us know what happens. Cathy