Donna, Not to worry, I am only now trying to use things like YouTube. Here's one way to get to the videos: www.youtube.com Search box: 2bluwings This should list 3 videos I have posted. Here's another way that I should have posted originally (sorry): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TZI2xw5l00 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeV5VgVdPTU&feature=channel_page Those are the 2 ones re. the bluebirds. Here's one about how I found a downy woodpecker roosting in the bluebird box. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgo8mVkfhyc&feature=channe I hope these work for you. I found that as I was entering my videos, a lot of bird videos came up, too. Some of them are quite remarkable. Kathy, I have been glued to the video feed from the nest box since 2005 so this will be my 5th year. My husband is already lamenting the fact that we'll have only one channel: BirdTV. I told him that I'm going to try this year to bring the video into the computer so he can have his TV :) Bluebird blessings, Linda...

I just did this too! They will abandon the nest if you don't take care of it, ASAP!! tonight if you can!. You need to do a nest change. There is good info on the sialis site about nest changes and how to do it. I got as much dried grass as I could and put it in an empty butter container. I tried to line it with pine needles, but I don't know where my female got hers?!! It took a few days, but then the second egg arrived along with a third! She was incubating a few days until a wren, I think, got two of them. Now they built another nest in my other box.. after all that work!! then you have to take care of the ants. They say grease the pole.. I put the liquid ant killer at the base on a plastic lid covered with a larger lid.. I hoped it would distract them from the nest, but I can't tell for sure if it worked since they moved.. but I didn't see any more ants in there. Good luck and keep us posted!

I make my own using 8 inch plastic pipe about 12 inches long. I cut out a bottom from 1 inch thick pine, drill holes in the wood as a drain, then staple a wire basket to the wood bottom out of 1/4 inch hardware cloth. The top can be tricky to attach, and I am still experimenting with different ways of doing this. Sometimes I use roofing shingles and sometimes I cut up soft drink cans to make my own shingles. I make the opening oval shaped (seems to be most effective) I have been using these boxes for almost 20 years and have had great success with them.

I crossed out mammals because the squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, voles, possums and raccoons are comical to watch when they try to climb the same type pole and baffle for the bird feeders.