Bluebirds

[ProfessorM]

Saw my first bluebird this morning on my way to church. Get your houses ready as they are searching them out now. Most don't realize they come up so early. Make sure you keep the sparrows out of the boxes if you want to attract them. I sometimes have to clean the box out daily. Nothing better to get to watch this one time common bird right in your own yard.

http://www.bluebirdsforever.com/index.html



http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/blu...luebird_houses

[EarnedStripes44]

I saw one outside my window.

[Raven]

of bluebirds at my feeder station
on December 29th during a blizzard..i was amazed

they will only eat the suet pieces that other birds drop
when pecking at it through the screen mesh hangers.


or you can take a suet cake....(i just bought seven this afternoon
to reload all my feeders) and chop one up to throw (spread) around
and the robins will gorge on it too...

[basswipe]

Peepers.Heard my 1st one today!

[ProfessorM]

Heard some last nite myself. I am sure they were out earlier but I missed them. peeper's that is.
Got 2 bluebird boxes ready to go. Now I just have to hope they show again. I had them about 4 years ago. Then nothing for a couple years. They came around last year but they were not interested in the boxes. The male checked it out for a few hours but decided to go else where. There were also sparrows trying to get in too and that is probably the reason.

[stripersnipr]

I've never seen a Bluebird in my life, despite having six feeders and four bird houses in my yard.

[ProfessorM]

They are beautiful to see. They were once very common but loss of habitat and the pressure form introduction of species such as sparrows and starlings took over their nesting holes. They don't come to feeders very often as they eat insects mostly. If you put up a box they prefer 6 foot high on a post without any trees or shrubs around or and an unrestricted area in front of the box. Water in area also helps. A cranberry bog or pond or a field are all good sites but I got them into my yard and I have only a open front yard area. I have a video I took several years ago of a whole flock of them that were on my roof drinking snow as it melted and stripping a overwintered berry bush. They must have been starving and coming up from the south and stopped by as they were gone a few hours later. Must have been 50 of them. I have to take some photos off that video some day. Really neat shots. They have a really distinctive sound that once you hear it you say I've heard that before just never realized it was a bluebird. Ok enough of the useless info I have in my trivial head.

[justplugit]

They are one beautiful bird. Just to add, if your putting up boxes facing the opening to the E to NE is best.