I really like this bird house! While I had two successful nestings this season in a house I ordered from the Bluebird Nut Cafe ( I think!), this one from Duncraft has more features. Mine does not have the raised screen floor and that appears to be a real plus!

Maybe others will chime in, especially those who already have this very same box. I'm interested in their comments too. I am no expert, but it sure looks like the perfect nestbox!

Donna

That is a nice nest box and looks like the one I bought from Wild Bird Centers (their private label so maybe Duncraft actually made it). I did make one change by removing the screen on the nest box floor. The last several boxes I've bought have it but here in the South, blowfly are not usually a problem so I remove the screen.

Do you think I could have a problem with blowflys here in Massachusetts? The thought of them on the baby birds makes my skin crawl, so I'd like to do everything possible to prevent it from happening.

There's still the question on whether or not I'll even attract bluebirds to my backyard but I'm hoping for the best. There have been nestings above me in NH and also below me in RI, and there's also a bluebird trail up at the state forest in the next town over from me, so there's a good chance they could nest in my box. I'd love to think that I can actually contribute to the bluebird population.

I keep thinking of that line in the movie "Field of Dreams", "if you build it, they will come", so hopefully, if I put up the box, they will come.

Linda

Lindama, that is one nice box. I am in the market for a new one myself. The Duncraft site doesn't show the viewing window but that is really cool. I found the free shipping coupon too!

I live in SW NH and I just lost BB babies to blowflies. It was awful and I had the wrong type of box on top of endless rain. So I think you could definitely have them.

What is a stove pipe baffle? Can anyone post a pic of that?

Oh good, your in southern NH, might not be too far from me, I'm about 10-15 miles from Nashua NH, so hopefully they'll visit my yard next spring. So sorry to hear about your babies and the blowflies, how horrible that must have been for you.

A stove pipe baffel looks like an inverted V shapped cylinder that you place underneath the birdhouse on the pole, it prevents predators from getting up into the box. If I can find a photo, I will try to post one.

I just went to my local Agway and looked at BB Houses. The Stokes and Audubon were the only choices and they looked pretty nice, especially the Stokes but the price was about $5 less than the one at the Duncraft site so with free shipping it's a great deal. I just am so excited about the viewing side but I can't help wonder if that bothers the babies and parents at all.....I mean the light coming in.

Here is a webpage with a lot of information about baffles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Instructions for making a stovepipe baffle

Linda,

I have the same house and we had two little ones fledge 11 days ago. My wife found this one at K-Mart for $12. So if you have one in your area, check it out. The filament (clear fishing line) works well to keep the sparrows away.

I bought two of these same houses at Walmart last year. I did not have any birds build in them the first year. This year I removed the wire bottom and the two pegs on the back inside wall. I had bluebirds in one of the houses for three nestings and one nesting in the other.

Rxblue, do you think the wire bottom prevented the BB from nesting? Having lost two babies to blowfly infestation last week I am not going to take that chance again.

Timothy, I am a little unclear about how the filament is placed at the box and how it actually works.

Renee, thanks for the link to the baffle!

Hi Timothy, actually it was your box that led me to the one I ended up purchasing. I saw it in one of your previous posts and liked it a lot. I checked out K-Mart but they didn't have any. Do you find the mesh screen at the bottom to be an asset or a hindrance? I do suppose it all depends on where you live too! I am also interested in the clear fishing line you use to keep the HOSP away, can you point me to a site or let me know how it works and how you put it together?

Rxblue, do you think that removing the screen and the pegs is what attracted the bluebirds to the house? Where the pegs easy to remove? I'm not sure if my box has them or not but if it does, I'd probably like to remove them. Not too sure about the mesh screen though, we have blowflies in my area and that's the reason I wanted the screen in the first place. What state to you live in, are there blowflies in your area?

Many thanks!
Linda

For some reason, the designer of this box thought those interior pegs were a good idea. Not! They would only get in the way of the adults and wouldn't necessarily help the chicks. If I bought this box, I would definitely remove them.

As for the wire mesh, you can remove it until you get enough nesting material in there to cover it and then slide it underneath. It's best to do that before the nest is completed. However, if you wait for nest completion and then slide it in, you would need to be sure the nest is far enough away from the entrance hole. If the nest is then too high, you can safely remove some of the material from the bottom leaving the cup intact. You don't want to make it possible for an avian predator to reach the eggs or chicks.

The pegs might be intended for winter roosting. Are they easy to remove?
Otherwise, I would think they would get in the way, or even make it easier for a HOSP or HOWR to do dirty deeds. BlueBars

As far as those pegs go, I'll give a second to removing them.

I prefer a roof that swings up instead of the sides swinging up. I've built a few houses in the last couple of years, Never had a roof opening though, and looking at pictures on this forum I think I might like a roof one for taking pictures. Last year built a bunch of them that looks like a Church with a short side opening, the biggest flaw to them is you couldn't get high enough above them(the babies)to get a good picture. will try to modify the design next time around so the roof lefts off from the back on a hinge.
Keith

Ooh, I would like a church, I saw one on one of the sites, backyardbirds maybe, anyway, they called it a bluebird house but I didn't think it was a safe as the one I purchased. I would really be interested in a church house for the bluebirds though as long as it was NABS.

If my box has those pegs on it, I will remove them for sure.

The pegs are there for roosting so if you're in the North where bluebirds or other species might roost, leave them in and remove them just before nesting season. Our birds (at least mine) don't roost here so the one box I bought with the roosting peg, the peg was immediately removed.

As far as the screen at the bottom stopping blowfly infestation......I've read that it might help and it might not. It certainly is not a "for sure" thing. The first box that I bought with the screen (not realizing that blowfly are rare in my area) I left it in and the female bluebird did not hesitate to build right on top of it. I left it there for at least one season, a total of three nestings.

The best way to keep nestlings safe if there is a blowfly problem is to check them DAILY and if you see signs, remove the blowfly and possibly even do a complete nest change. I've read of having to do a nest change twice in one nesting due to blowfly infestation but it worked and the babies fledged safely.

Lindama:
Well I said it looks like a church I'll let you decide, the three arches are suppose to represent the trinity.

Keith

Linda,where are you in Mass?because I am also 15 miles from Nashua,in Groton,Mass.I'm sorry about your loss.It seems like we have all had something happen if we are really passionate about bluebirding,but it is so worth it.My second box of little ones fledged last Sunday and it seems strange not to see them around.I am not feeding mealies this time because there are lots of bugs,plus we are going to be away next week.They will be fine,I am sure.Good luck with your new box.Let us know in the Spring how it works out......Jane

Linda,
If you look at these picture you can see how I put eye screws in the top of the box. Then I tied a couple 3/4 inch washers on the end of the fish line for weight, that's so the line doesn't blow around and get tangled up. You don't want it hanging too close to the opening or there is a risk of the blues getting tangled in it. Then put it through the other eye screws and tie washers on the other end.

If you look closely at the second photo you can see where I filed a very narrow notch in the roof so the string hangs in the same place all the time. Just pull it down tight in the notch being carefull not to break it.

Also in the first picture you see the silver mylar ribbons hanging on the box. That is the curly gift wrapping ribbon type stuff that you put on Christmas or birthday gifts. It's waterproof and it blows around in the wind. For some reason I can't explain, the sparrows won't go near it. I learned that trick from another Bluebird web site. A woman researcher in CA. discovered that the sparrows don't like it.

As far as the screen inside, I left mine in so the nest is off the bottom of the box so it stays dry. There are vents that let the air circulate and that also helps it stay cooler since the box is out in the open sun.

I also left the pegs in because the blues will roost on them during cold weather. They didn't seem to be in the way when the adults were going completely inside the box to feed the little ones or to remove the fecal sacs.

In the pictures it looks like the box is close to the fence, but it's about eight feet away from it mounted on a pole with a baffle and grease on the pole below the baffle.

After the babies fledged I cleaned the box out the next day and the nesting material was free of any bugs and completely dry. Leaving the box just the way I bought it seemed to work just fine so I won't change it. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is my motto.

I hope this helps you, I had a successful nesting and now the parents are bringing the young ones to my feeder for the mealworms I put out every day.

My success is a combination of luck, research and all the help from members of this forum. I hope I get lucky and have another nesting but it's getting late in the season and the nights are already getting pretty cool here in the mountains of eastern WV.

The pegs are easy to remove. I took a pair of plyers and just loosened them. They are just glued in. After nesting season, you can just stick the pegs back in the holes for roosting season.

I live in southern middle Tennessee and have never had a problem with blowflies, so I did not think I needed the wire mesh floor. I did not mention this before, but I also removed the plexiglass in one of the houses, and that is the one I had 3 nestings in. The plexiglass, the wire mesh floor, and the pegs may have just seemed a little crowded to the blues. I don't know, but when I gave them a little more room, they took right to it.

I would remove the screen. A friend of mine found a dead tree swallow inside a box similar to this one--it's foot went through one of the squares in the screening and it couldn't get free. Definitely not worth the risk unless you make certain that the mesh is so small no bird's foot could possible get through it.
Also, I don't have a problem with the dowels inside the box--I think it would give the babies an interesting view of things when they start moving around. The problem with perches is on the outside of the box, as house sparrows are attracted to them.
Kathy

Kathy, what an interesting perspective! Imagine those little nestlings hopping up on a perch and getting a different view of the outside world, maybe even exercising their perching skills too LOL.
BlueBars

My box arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased, it's made very well and does not have any pegs/drowels inside. I have the option of using or removing the mesh screen on the bottom. I'm going to attempt to put it up this weekend, I first have to get the baffel and the mounting screws to secure the box to the pole. Then I need to decide where in my yard to put the box. I have a good size yard that's pretty much open with no trees in the middle, all the trees are on the sides, there's a small raised bed in the middle with a birdbath and some annuals and perennials surrounding it and a wall of Aborvitaes along the back. I was thinking of putting the box right in the middle, behind the birdbath and in front of a wall of Aborvitaes facing west. The birds can fly to their left or right to perch on trees or eat at the feedeers. Does this sound like a good spot? Where do other's have their boxes placed? I will try to post a photo of the area I'm thinking of, it doesn't look like this anymore, the photo was taken at the end of last summer a few weeks after we moved in. The flowers around the birdbath now are 4'Agastache and some Day Lilys but it's just to give you an idea.

Jane, I'm a little further west of you in Leominster, close to the Lunnenberg/Fitchburg line. We purchased this house a year ago July. Do you have many bluebirds? Oh, I so hope that they'll visit my yard this spring.

Timothy, thanks for the directions, I'm going to try to add one of those to my box but not sure when to put it on there, should I wait until I get birds nesting?

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:118823}}

Linda,

That sounds like a good spot to me, just make sure no cats, raccoons, etc can jump up on the birdbath and get to the house.

Keith

Luckily I don't have a cat and there are none in my area, however, I do have a chocolate Lab but he's fine with the birds, just lays there and listens to them sing. All he cares about is someone throwing the ball for him and he never jumps up on the bird bath, he doesn't even step in the area surrounding it because of my flowers. He's a good boy!

Linda, how tall are your Aborvitaes and how far away will the birdhouse be from them? The nestbox should be at least 10-15 ft from any trees/fence etc to prevent cats or squirrel from jumping to it. Not sure if a racoon can climb an arborvitae, they are the smaller pine like shrubs, right??. Oh and cats, just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there! Roaming cats are everywhere as are racoons/squirrels. Also read up on sparrow spookers, the best way to deter HOSP, however rememeber they are put up only after the first egg is laid and taken down immediately after fledging to prevent sparrows from becoming use to them. I will attach a link to the spookers. Good luck!!

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: sparrow spookers

Linda,we are really close.I will check in with you after Labor Day as we are leaving now for a week in NH.Good to have someone close who loves the blues......Jane

Donna, the Aborvitaes are pretty tall, probably around 8-9 feet or so, actualy you can see them in the photograph of my backyard. It doesn't give a very good depth of the area between them and the birdbath though but the birdhouse would be closer to the birdbath with the front facing foward. I think that's the best place to put it, I have trees on both sides of the yard so I don't want to put it there.

Your correct, Aborvitaes are the smaller pine shrubs and really aren't sturdy enough to hold a cat or a racoon, maybe a squirel but I doubt it, he'd have a hard time. Also, I have a dog so if there was a cat in the area, he/she'd be suicidal to step one paw in my yard, Cocoa doesn't like cats at all!

I will make sure that there is enough space between the Aborvitaes and the house so that no predators can jump from them and do plan on adding a sparrow spooker, I like the one Timothy has on his house and may try to create one like that for my house.

Many thanks to all of you for your advice/help and friendship, I really appreciate it, this is a wonderful site where I hope to find a lot of help and guidance with the future or any birds that choose to nest in my yard.....that does not include HOSP.

Linda