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- RESEARCH -
MAINTAINING BLUEBIRD NESTBOXES

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Male Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis

• Be sure to erect bluebird nestboxes that can be cleaned out easily. These should have some sort of hinge and latch to allow humans--but not predators--to open the box for inspection.
  
• Given a choice, face the bluebird nestbox toward the east so the morning sun warms the box and dries out the dew. (Face it west and you run the risk of prevailing winds blowing rain into the opening.) However, if the nestbox is on the edge of a field, ignore the compass direction and face the opening toward the field.
  
• At the end of the breeding season (about 1 September for most cavity-nesting species), many bluebird fanciers clean out all nestboxes with a wire brush. You can use a mild solution of bleach to sanitize the box. (See note below about cleaning out after fledging.)
  
• Do NOT take down nestboxes during the winter. They often are used as out-of-the-weather roosting boxes by bluebirds, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and other bird species.
  
• Not later than 14 February (HINT: Valentine's Day), check nestboxes and re-clean them if necessary. Bluebirds may spend all winter peeking into boxes and preparing for the spring mating season. Established breeding pairs may be on eggs by early April.
  
• Bluebirds typically use straw, grass, and/or pine needles to build a nest that, when completed, will have an unlined depression or "cup" in which the eggs will be laid. Other bird species use different materials, such as: mosses, animal fur, and plant down (chickadees and nuthatches); leaves and sticks (wrens); pine-seed husks, bark strips, and cotton (nuthatches); and wood chips (woodpeckers).
  
• ALL cavity-nesting birds in the United States are protected by law, except for House Sparrows and European Starlings.
  
• Remember that suitable nesting cavities are scarce in nature. Thus, one should welcome ANY protected bird that nests in one of your boxes. It's hard to rationalize why one should remove wrens or chickadees just because one would RATHER have bluebirds.
  
• Cavity nesters lay one egg a day until the clutch is complete. Bluebirds usually lay 3-6 sky blue eggs (rarely white or pale blue). Incubation usually does not begin until the last egg in the clutch is laid; this allows for a synchronous hatch so that all chicks are the same age.
  
• Bluebird eggs, which are pale blue--rarely pure white--take about 13-15 days to hatch.
  
• Try not to disturb an incubating bluebird female during the first 3-4 days of incubation; the chances are higher she will desert during this period.
  
• Baby songbirds, including bluebirds, are born naked, blind, and helpless. They are unable to thermoregulate (maintain their own body temperatures) for several days after hatch. Thus, try not to disturb a brooding female for a week after hatch date. NEVER check a nestbox on days that are cold, windy, and/or rainy, and NEVER check a box after mid-afternoon.
  
• If a clutch of bluebird eggs doesn't hatch after three weeks, remove the nest and eggs to stimulate re-nesting. Likewise, if chicks die in a nest, discard everything and sanitize the box with a mild solution of bleach.
  
• Nestling bluebirds leave the nest about two weeks after hatch date.
  
• Once baby bluebirds have successfully fledged, folks often remove the nest and brush out the box, but there is disagreement about whether this is a good practice. Some researchers report that nest removal may stimulate re-nesting; if nothing else, they say it gets rid of accumulated nest parasites (mites, blowflies, lice, etc.) that might adversely affect later broods. Other investigators report that bluebirds prefer nest boxes in which a nest from the previous season remains in the box, and that leaving the nest does not cause an increase in parasites the following year. In fact, some speculate that the old nest may harbor beneficial wasps that parasitize blowfly larvae that can kill nestlings.
  
• Many folks like to encourage bluebirds by putting out feeding trays with mealworms, which are available from pet shops and mail-order sources.
  
  HAPPY BLUEBIRD WATCHING!

You may wish to purchase a commercially available bluebird nestbox from Duncraft, an established manufacturer and distributor of bird products. If you click on their logo below and purchase products online, 10% of the sale goes to support research and education at Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History:

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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this website--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.