You will find helpful information at the web site linked below. Click on Nestboxes, then Placement. This provides a listing of the preferences of all the cavity nesters. You can use this info as it applies to the habitat you have available for your nestboxes. For example, chickadees might prefer more of a tree canopy, and bluebirds might prefer a more open location. I say "might" because they also like to keep us guessing LOL. There may also be other things they consider when choosing a home which we humans know nothing about, such as a preference for the same type of habitat or nestbox in which they were raised. IN ADDITION! You might want to carefully add a hole reducer for the chickadees to prevent harassment by larger birds (even the bluebirds), or even protect them from house sparrows. Nestbox specifications on that same web site will give you the recommended size, and there is even an entire page on hole restrictors under "Problems and Solutions" which mentions WHEN and HOW a hole restrictor should be added to avoid scaring the chickadees off. There are also some hints on the link for "Nestbox Pairing." The direction your nestbox entrance faces might not be as important as the location, as the birds will often perch on top or nearby to monitor their territory or enter to feed their young. Lots of considerations such as prevailing winds, amount of cover, visibility, etc. You will also find IMPORTANT information to prevent climbing predators - refer to the page on Predator Baffles. Bet has provided us this wonderful resource, collecting input from everywhere and everyone. Thanks Bet! BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

Hi Lisa, good to see YOU, too. You're right, it was Phoenix, tough little bird. I didn't have HW problems last year because Daddly Blue (new last year, back now) was vigalent..he was amazing! He & Mama had 3 broods & I was expecting a 4th but I think that the female died after the 3rd. The home front is quite different than last season. My Mom's had Alz. for a number of years & she and Dad lived in PA for 60+ years in the house I grew up in. In August, Dad got a diagnosis of lung cancer that had spread & he was dead the next week. Mom then had to go to the hospital, then to a nursing home in PA. Because it's only my brother & me, we decided to move her to GA where she's in a nursing home close to me. She came here on Oct 1st & she was still talking & cheerful. She's declined to the point where she doesn't talk much, sometimes doesn't know me. Basically, she is in the last stage. I visit her most days, maybe a little less than at first. There's not much I can do for her but she's in a great facility & they are taking care of her. I NEED bluebird therapy this year, that's for sure. I've lost both parents in less than a year and it's hard. Thanks for asking & it IS good to see you & some of the others. Blessings, Linda.

I love Chickadees, their cute chubby bodies, their song, and the way they take one seed from the feeder and carry it off it eat, less seed 'litter'! I get black-capped and mountain, but I swear I have seen Carolinas. Being new to birding, I am not sure Carolinas show up here in CO in the winter! I need to practice taking bird pictures so I can post them here.

Sounds like a great place for wildlife! Off-topic, but since you mentioned jaguars, I stand on my theory that someone in eastern Kentucky breeds black jaguars and his customers turn the cubs loose when they get too rowdy. I.e., I was called in to sub teach at Rodburn elementary yesterday and in the lunch room one of the teachers was complaining about a "huge" "black panther" with a five foot tail in her backyard that leaped up onto a bank about 25 feet away before vanishing into woods. She said she called the fish and wildlife number but they told her that black panthers "don't exist in Kentucky" so they wouldn't come. I laughed and said that anytime I tell people in other states about the jaguar they react as though it's just a "hillbilly urban legend." I reassured her that I'd checked online and read they are harmless to humans and usually to livestock-just don't let her dog out of the house when one is around, and told her what happened to my neighbor's dog. That dog had to have $300 worth of stitches this fall, but Jeff said all the panther did was give the attacking dog one casual slap, then walked off without looking back. He also commented that it was black and had a "five-foot tail." Locals call them "black cougars" but also often see regular cougars, unaware that they are separate species. Meanwhile, DuBois told me a customer in West Liberty said he'd seen black panthers many times while hunting and taking care of his cattle. Wish I could see one. All I have are photos of the tracks-which are unique to the animal and a different size and shape from a cougar's track