I don't know if any of you are Project Feeder Watchers, but they have a fascinating section on their website where you can "Explore Data" from the counts. There is one really great feature called the "FeederWatch Map Room". You select a species, season, and region, and then it shows you the number of birds sighted on a map of the region. It is an animated map but you can stop it and step through if you want. Great fun to explore different species or even different parts of North America! Below is a link to the New England data for Bluebirds. I'm somewhere in that cluster of dots to the northwest of Boston! :) Here is a link that might be useful: Eastern Bluebird - Current Season - New England

That is just so awesome. Not just to have the same female return, but to absolutely know it is her because of her unique color. I'm certain I have a different pair this year because they are very shy around me and don't come to the mealworm feeder when I call them. They won't go near it for about half an hour after I fill it. Also, this is the first pair I've ever had that built their nest out of short pine needles. In the past they have always used the long pine needles or grass.

Chickadeemelrose, Gee, thanks! That was nice of you to say. I think many people lose sight of the bigger picture when they deal with most things, and nature in particular. They focus on what they immediately see, not realizing there is much there they don't see. (Kind of like the moon. People say "The moon is out," but really, the moon is always there, we just don't see it.) With bird feeding, people don't realize if and how they do or do not impact wildlife. Think about this: People complain about hawks killing "their" birds at "their" feeders. But most, if not all feeders actually overtly feed other bird predators and in my opinion, increase certain bird-predator populations. Like squirrels and raccoons, which routinely raid bird nests for eggs and chicks in spring and summer. That has way more impact on your backyard than a hawk or fox taking birds, because the squirrel destroys the entire brood. Same thing with Blue jays and Common grackles, who benefit from feeders and take eggs and chicks. The wrong predators destroy an entire brood, or kill the parents (like House sparrows do), and that, I think, affects natural selection. Puts prey survival down to luck instead of skill, smarts and health. I don't have any problem with any native predators doing what they have done for millenium; but to artificially increase their populations seems to me questionable. It is very rare that our species promotes the populations of the right species (Bald eagles, Peregrines, wolves). We usually screw it up and regret it later (House sparrows, kudzo). I am not a biologist. All the above is integrated into my basic understanding of how nature works, simplified as it is. I would like other nature lovers to think about it.

***I guess I am doing everything totally wrong. What? I don't have a clue A few years ago I only saw a bluebird once in a 'blue' moon. Now my back yard is full of them. I wonder what would happen if I did the right things to attract the bluebirds.*** SO how far apart are your four nestboxes that all have bluebirds, just curious, would be quite cool to be able to have four boxes in the backyard with all bluebirds but it just doesn't happen normally. Last year I had the opportunity to have my first nesting fledglings stay around while the adults went on to the second nesting and they all stayed around until they left to go south in October. Was so cool to have 10 bluebirds around. I am lucky enough to get one pair each year in my yard (should be able to get two with the distance between some of the nestboxes) but we have tons of Tree Swallows in all the boxes swooping around the yard. What do you mean you do everything wrong to get bluebirds? Putting up a nestbox is all you need to do to attract them. I hope your boxes are mounted properly so they stay safe from predators and the dreaded House Sparrows. Good luck! Donna