I don't believe my eyes!

12 years ago

Last spring I posted that I was putting up a nextbox on the very south tip of the bluebird range in Texas, hopeful, but not really expecting anything.

I went all season and nothing, a few months ago a house wren came to claim the box. Not nesting season, but he was staking his claim early and brought his mate to check it out. He shows up every few days and perches there. So, Ok, not bluebirds, let the wren have it.

Lo and behold today, a flock of blues came through my yard. Hubby said, you have bluebirds, I said, Yeah, right, bluejays or bluebirds? he was right, a whole flock and some were eyeing the box.

What now? I dealt with sparrows before, and had no problem sending them to their maker, but I can't do that to wrens. Do I put some more boxes up, (I have 40 acres) or will that still be a territory dispute? I don't have the ability to monitor a box 24/7 to protect the blues from wrens. What should I do?

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Comments (5)

kendra2003
12 years ago
You shouldn't have to worry about any of them nesting for a while. The House Wrens may still migrate further south, and you may end up with Bluebirds for the winter, which is loads of fun. Do you have anything to feed them like suet or mealworms? I guess what I'd do in the spring is put up more housing for the Bluebirds, and move the one the HOWR know the location of. You could also leave it up and if the HOWR come back to claim it, just keep removing the sticks to discourage them. Have you been to the sialis web site? If not, I'd strongly encourage you to do so. They have tons of information like how far apart to space the boxes, what kind of guards to use, etc. Good luck getting Bluebirds to nest there in the spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis site
cindiann
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, Kendra, yes I have been on the sialis site, I am not new to bluebirding, just living in a different area than before.

There is no chance of the HOWR moving out, they stay all year. It is a pair, and they are VERY adamant about that box already.

The blues seemed to have just passed through, no sign of them now, but maybe they will come back in January or February when scouting for a nest.

I'm hoping for someone with experience with HOWRs to advise me if it's worth the effort or just a losing battle.
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kendra2003
12 years ago
I had plenty of experience with HOWR this past season. I just kept them busy by removing the sticks on a daily basis. They're rather like HOSP in that they do not give up on a box once they've claimed it. They did not bother the Bluebirds or the Tree Swallows because they were too busy trying to fill up sticks in their own space. If you have time to remove the sticks every day, then I would say it is worth the effort.
joe101
12 years ago
I vote for putting up more houses, but then, I make my own, so it's not a problem.I live in Michigan and by putting up a heated birdbath, but no food, we had 10 blues at the watering trough at the same time last winter. As for wrens, you need several boxes for each pair, as they will nest in one and build dummy nests in several others. Our clients are in descending order: tree swallow, sparrow, bluebird, wren,chickadee, and nuthatch. I try to do biweekly nest checks, keeping notes on each box, so I can remove abandoned and dummy wren nests
cindiann
Original Author
12 years ago
Glory be, today I have one beautiful male BB flying around!

I will be ordering some mealworms and then raising them, and putting up a new box.

Even if I didn't have BB's I couldn't complain, a few days ago I saw my first ever white tailed hawk, what a big, beautiful bird. Nearly the size of an eagle. Today, a flock of wild turkey running across the yard, and now the BB. Lucky me.