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SHOULD BLUEBIRD NESTING BOXES BE CLEANED AFTER EACH NESTING ATTEMPT?
In Georgia, the eastern bluebird’s nesting season extends from late February and early March to July and early August. During this time, how often should bluebird nesting boxes be cleaned?
The North American Bluebird Society suggests that boxes be cleaned after each nesting attempt regardless of whether or not it was successful. The cleaning procedure should take place after the birds have fledged and should include removing the old nest, eggs that did not hatch, and any young that did not fledge. This procedure removes parasites and encourages re-nesting.
WHAT ARE THE BEST TIMES TO MONITOR BLUEBIRD BOXES?
Many of the homeowners that provide eastern bluebirds with nesting sites like to monitor the boxes to determine the nesting success of the beautiful birds nesting in them. Here are some recommendations offered by the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) to help ensure that nesting attempts are successful.
If you are certain the birds nesting in your nest boxes are bluebirds, once a nest has been completed, the female will typically lay one egg per day until her clutch of 4-6 eggs has been completed. Female bluebird usually 4-6 eggs.
After the clutch is complete, incubation begins. This process will last anywhere from 12-14 days. After the hatchlings emerge, they remain in their nest from 17-20 or more days. With that in mind, the NABS recommends that after 12-23 days, boxes should only be monitored from a distance. The reason for this is during this critical time in their lives the young bluebirds might prematurely jump or fly from their safe haven.
Box checks should only be done when the weather is calm, mild and dry. Open a box cautiously and make your visit is as short as possible as this prevents the chilling of eggs or nestlings.
WHY NOT PROVIDE A NEST SITE FOR BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES?
The vast majority of nesting boxes in the state of Georgia are erected to help alleviate the shortage of bluebird nesting sites. While it goes without question that bluebirds need places to nest, all of the other cavity-nesting birds that nest in the Peach State also have a difficult time finding places to nest. With that in mind, why not put up a box designed for brown-headed nuthatches?
While it is true that brown-headed nuthatches will nest in bluebird boxes, the reason more do not do so is often bluebird boxes are placed in wide-open yards, along the edges of fields and the like. Such sites are great for bluebirds but not nuthatches. These tiny birds prefer to nest in more wooded areas.
In backyard settings, boxes should be placed in yards with open mixed or pine trees. Erect only one box per six acres. While the birds will nest within a minimum of five feet of the ground, boxes placed higher are sometimes more successful. Although brown-headed nuthatches will enter boxes equipped with 1.5-inch holes, the hole size recommend for Georgia’s smallest cavity nesting bird is only 1,”
It has been reported that placing a couple of inches of sawdust in the box will help entice a pair of brown-headed nuthatches to your box. If you do so and later find that it is damp, remove it.
For a set of brown-headed nuthatch nesting box plans, contact Melissa Hayes at melissa.hayes@dnr.ga.gov
If you would like to earn certification for your efforts to provide nest boxes for cavity-nesting birds, request an application for Community Wildlife Project’s Nesting/Roosting Box certification component. Certification is earned by those individuals that provide nesting boxes for Georgia wildlife.
The Community Wildlife Project is sponsored by the Garden Club of Georgia, The Georgia Wildlife Conservation Section and The Environmental Resources Network (TERN).
PROVIDING BIRDS WITH NESTING MATERIAL
Although some birds are already nesting it is not too late to provide the birds that nest in your backyard with nesting material. While birds typically have no difficulty finding all the nesting material they need, you can make their job a little easier by providing them a wide assortment of items.
In a former blog, I discussed the fact that an increasing number of folks are providing nesting hummingbirds with cotton in something called hummingbird nesting balls. The balls are fashioned from vines and contain loose cotton. Hummingbirds will pluck cotton fibers from the balls and use it to create their nests. If you type Providing Hummers with Nesting Material in the search bubble found on the right-hand side of the blog page, the blog will appear, and you can read all about them.
Even though other birds will take advantage of this source of soft nesting material, there are other ways that you can supply titmice, chickadees and other birds with nesting material. One of the easiest ways to do so is to put nesting material in a suet cage. If you do so, make sure the cage is not greasy. Hang cages where they can be easily seen by birds. You can also make small piles of nesting material on the ground. It can also be placed in small baskets that are often used to display blueberries and other small fruits and berries. The baskets can then be hung from the limb of a tree or Shepherd’s hook.
Some of the various items that can be offered to the birds include short pieces of yarn, feathers (tree swallows like white feathers), slender strips of bark, pet and human hair, moss, and dry grass.
Materials that should be avoided are dryer lint, cellophane, plastic, aluminum foil, wire, and tinsel.
Who knows? You just might find the birds ignore your offerings. Then again, if they do, you will experience the thrill of watching them carry fly off with something you offered them. Even if you are not lucky enough to see birds collecting nesting materials, after the nesting season is over you might find some of your items woven into a nest—that’s great too.
DO EASTERN BLUEBIRDS USE THE SAME BOX FOR MORE THAN ONE YEAR?
If you erect bluebird boxes, more than likely you have wondered if bluebirds return to nest in the same nest box they used the year before.
As it turns out, banding studies demonstrate anywhere from 26-44% of the bluebirds that nested in box last year will return to nest there this year.
One factor that determines if bluebirds use the same box from year to year is whether their nesting efforts the previous year were successful. As you might imagine, they are more likely to use the same box if they successfully raised young in that box the previous breeding season.
BEST TIME TO CLEAN BARN OWL BOXES
If you erect and maintain nesting boxes for birds in your yard, you realize the need to annually repair and clean them during a time when birds are not nesting. This is easy to do because the nesting dates of most birds that nest in our backyards are well known. However, if you have a barn owl nest box on your property, you have a problem. It seems that biologists know surprisingly little about when barn owls nest in Georgia.
Such is not the case in California. Researchers at the University of California, Davis combed through almost 100 years of banding and other records to determine when barn owls nest in California.
The biologists found that the median egg laying date in California is February 20. Consequently, the lead author of the study Ryan Bourbour says, “We want to reduce disturbances to breeding pairs prior to egg laying.” Based on the findings the researchers recommend boxes need to be erected, repaired, and cleaned in the fall.
Unfortunately, the only nesting records for Peach State barn owls are largely anecdotal. Only a dozen barn owl breeding records surfaced during The Breeding Bird Atlas of Georgia Project. Although most records came from central Georgia, breeding was corroborated from the mountains to the coast. Undoubtedly, barn owl nesting is more common and widespread in all parts of the state.
In Thomas Burleigh’s book Georgia Birds, the author noted that nests have been located from March to December. However, biologists do not have enough data to develop a median egg laying date for Georgia.
Since we know there is a need to provide more nesting sites for barn owls in Georgia, we all need to check our barn owl boxes during each season of the year. When we conduct a check, if no nesting is currently going on, we need to repair and clean it. If nesting has or is taking place since the last check, record it too. Over time, we should be able to determine when nesting takes occurs in our part of the state.
If you don’t have any barn owl nesting boxes on your property, consider erecting one. Once you have one in place, follow the procedure outlined above.
It would be great if landowners knew when it is the best time to conduct an annual barn owl nest box check.
Let me know what you find. I will forward your information on to the Wildlife Conservation Section biologists trying to restore nongame wildlife throughout Georgia. Hopefully, your information will enable them to establish a median egg laying date for Georgia and recommend the best time to check barn owl nesting boxes.
REDUCE COMPETITION FOR NEST BOXES BETWEEN CAROLINA CHICKADEES AND BLUEBIRDS
Since there is a paucity of natural bird nesting cavities throughout Georgia, Carolina chickadees often have to compete with eastern bluebirds for the same nesting boxes. When this occurs Carolina chickadees usually end up looking for another place to nest. There are, however, ways in which you can provide a nesting site of Carolina chickadees.
One approach is to equip a nesting box with an 1 1/8-inch
entrance hole instead of the 1½-inch hole featured on standard bluebird boxes—bluebirds simply cannot squeeze through a 1 1/8 –hole.
However, Carolina chickadees can enter nesting boxes 1 1/8 inches or larger in diameter. Consequently, even if a pair of Carolina chickadees begins nesting in a standard bluebird box, the pair is not guaranteed their nesting attempt will be successful.
One reason for this is bluebirds will actually run off chickadees even after they have begun nesting. It has also been documented that bluebirds will deposit their own nesting material over Carolina chickadee hatchlings.
With that in mind, consider dedicating one or more nesting boxes for Carolina chickadees. If Carolina chickadee nesting boxes are not readily available in your area, and you don’t have the means to build your own box, all you have to do is install a metal hole guard featuring a 1 1/8-inch hole over the 1½ hole cut in the box. Problem solved.
IT IS TIME TO REMOVE VINES AND TALL PLANTS GROWING NEAR NESTING BOXES
Before we know it, spring will be here, and birds will be nesting in the nesting boxes we have erected for them. Among the chores we all need to tackle in preparation for this year’s nesting season is trim back the vines, saplings and shrubs growing close to each of our nesting boxes.
One of the main reasons why this should be done is it helps protect the birds nesting in our boxes from arboreal snakes (those that climb trees). Snakes such as the rat snake are capable raiding nesting boxes erected on poles. For that reason, it is always best to mount nesting boxes on poles equipped with predator guards. However, even the best predator guards cannot protect a nest if vines encircle the pole or tall vegetation is growing nearby. Such plants create a veritable superhighway for snakes trying to raid a nesting box. Even if vegetation is not actually touching a box or pole, a snake can circumvent a predator guard and gain access to adults, eggs and/or young birds by simply climbing up nearby vegetation and then extending their body the distance between their head and the box.
For this reason, we need to make every effort to cut back tall vegetation in a wide circle around each nest. While we are creating this protection zone, any branches growing close to the top of the box should also be trimmed away. Snakes are also capable of using a canopy of branches to gain access to a nesting box.
Taking a little time to perform this simple task can give the birds nesting in our boxes a better chance of being successful.
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE FOR BUMBLEBEES TO SPEND A COOL FALL NIGHT
The Confederate rose brings spectacular beauty to yards across Georgia. However, my wife, Donna, and I have found that its showy blossoms are also used as places for bumblebees to escape the cold on chilly autumn nights.
This large multi-stemmed shrub or small tree was brought to North America in the 1600s. Since then it has been widely planted throughout the Southeast. It popularity stems from the fact that, from late summer until frost, it bears scores of white blossoms that measure up to six inches in diameter. These flowers eventually turn light pink before finally becoming rose-colored.
While my wife and I thoroughly enjoy the beauty the flowers bring to our yard, our discovery that these stunning blooms provide bumblebees with warm refuges on chilly fall nights has heightened our appreciation for the plant.
