Recent Articles from BRMC Newsletters

Not Too Late

It's not too late to clean out and/or put up new birdhouses. March is the month when our resident cavity nesting species look for a new home to raise their young. Putting up birdhouses helps to offset a possible shortage of nesting sites, plus gives us the enjoyment of watching the young fledge. By cleaning out the old nests we are reducing or eliminating parasites such as lice and feather mites that overwintered in egg form.

The commonly used, standard-size bluebird box, with its one-and-a-half-inch opening (to keep out starlings) is also readily accepted by several other species. While you may not get bluebirds in many suburban areas, tufted titmice and Carolina chickadees would be likely tenants in their absence.

The introduced house sparrow (not really a sparrow) can become a problem for our native species in some areas because it competes for nest sites. Removing their nest material on a regular basis might discourage them and cause them to move elsewhere. If your birdhouse is still up for grabs by the middle of April, you still have a chance to get a native species with a melodious song-the house wren.

Nesting boxes should be placed five to six feet above the ground. I use a seven-foot metal fence stake, which may deter predators such as black rat snakes. If your birdhouse is mounted on a post or tree trunk, a predator guard would also help to keep out other critters that eat the eggs or young, such as raccoons, squirrels, and mice.

Besides bluebirds, titmice, chickadees, and house wrens, tree swallows also readily adapt to bluebird nest boxes. In addition, downy woodpeckers will sometimes roost in them in the winter months, and possibly white-breasted nuthatches; however, both species seem to prefer natural cavities over man-made boxes. And then there is the nonconventional Carolina wren. Lay the nest box sideways on a ledge or shelf inside your open shed and they may just call it home!