Placing Bluebird Nest Boxes

On Saturday April 23rd a good friend of mine, Tom Scribner, and I went out on a trip to the hills above Pomeroy, WA to put up a number of Bluebird nest boxes and to check the condition of existing boxes that we might find there.

This map gives you an idea of the area we visited and put up boxes. Mountain Bluebirds tend to like higher elevation open grassland country and above Pomeroy there is some amount of ideal habitat.

This is a Mountain Bluebird, the target species for the boxes we are going to deal with. There might also be Western Bluebirds in the area, we shall find out.

This shows the vehicle with the boxes and tools arranged. We took 22 boxes along with us and have some additional boxes prepared for a second trip in early May. Tom used to go regularly with his father and put up Bluebird boxes in many locations throughout the Blue Mountains in Washington.

Here we will take a moment and show the boxes we are going to put out. On the Internet, there is an enormous selection of Bluebird house plans and information. The houses we built and used are of a fairly common design but there are many variations as we shall see.

The front of the house has a 1 ½ inch round opening and in this design the side hinges open for cleaning.

Looking at the side we see there is a slot of ventilation allowing air to get in. It can get rather warm in the houses out in the open and direct sunlight. You can also clearly see the sloped roof to allow rain to run off. Normally the houses are left unpainted due to maintenance though we do have some painted ones that will be shown and explain in later slides.

Here we show the back of the birdhouse and you see the wires that will be used to tie the birdhouse to a fence post. As we will see there are various methods to attach the house and lots of different places to affix them. This is just the time tested solution that Tom has used for years and it seems to work just fine. One wire at the top of the birdhouse and one wire towards the bottom.

This will give you a feeling for the country and habitat we are going to be working in. It is higher elevation, probably 4,500 - 5,000 feet, wide open with lots of wheat fields and native grasslands.

The previous week we were scheduled to do this trip but it was snowing and nasty weather in Walla Walla so we luckily decided to postpone for a week. Good decision as the weather on the 23rd was fine.

Here is Tom with one of the boxes installed on a fence post. The posts are called T posts and they are used for the barbed wire fence lines. There is a lot of information on the Internet about which direction to face the house but the bottom line is put it up in good habitat and the Bluebirds will use it regardless of which direction it faces.

Tom is attaching one of the houses to a T post. He positions the house against the post and wraps the wires around the post securing the box to the post. Pretty simple technique, just try to pick a fairly straight up and down post so the box is not hanging too crooked.

In addition to putting out new boxes we check the existing boxes and clean them out as appropriate. Tom is tapping on the box to ensure there is not a Bluebird sitting inside. We did not have much of that on this excursion as it was early in the season.

During previous trips Tom has tapped on the box with no apparent activity only to open the side and find a Bluebird sitting on several eggs not wanting to move.

Some of the boxes have not been checked in quite a few years and the nesting material just builds and builds. Here we see the grass being removed from one box, quite a bunch of nesting material.

This shows a bluebird box in need of repair. We are not the only people putting up boxes, which is great for the bluebirds. They have many nesting boxes available. This one appeared to have broken the top wire and the weather did some damage to the box. We brought about 12 back with us in varying states of disrepair. Some will be used for pieces and we will salvage what we can to make additional boxes.

This Bluebird box has succumbed to the weather. You can see in this image that it has come apart. The back remains on the fence while the rest of the box is lying on the ground. We shall see what if anything we can salvage.

Another view to show some of the scenery. This is looking north and it is a fairly clear day. The fence line along the right hand side of the picture is a great place to hang some houses. Tom tries to keep the birdhouses about 500 feet apart.

Here is a House Wren. A fairly common bird that can on occasion use the Bluebird nest boxes.

Often times when a male House Wren uses the nest box it is to show off its building prowess to the ladies. In this case it has filled the nest box with twigs. The bottom few inches are grasses or nesting material from previous nesting of bluebirds while the rest of the house is chock full of twigs. It certainly needs to be cleaned out for the spring season.

This was a different design of box that we saw along one of the roads. It does not appear to be designed for bluebirds as it is rather small.This also has a fancy little perch below the opening which is not needed for Bluebirds. Perhaps this box was meant for a house wren or another species.

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of people that put up bluebird houses out in the country. We have seens a wide variety of houses. In one fairly small area there were 7 blue bluebird houses like this one. A person built and painted them and put them up in various locations. Great for the Bluebirds.

Typically the houses Tom puts up are not painted. Here is a red one, one of eight that I built and we put up. The red paint came from the original boards. A person doing some work at our home had several boards in the back of his truck that he had acquired during demolition of a different project. I asked if I could have the boards and he said sure, they are just going to the dump. They were old beautiful boards with some holes and nails but certainly serviceable for bird houses. I wish he would have had several hundred of the boards but no such luck. Hence, we made some red houses.

Here is an example of an old box. Tom thought it may have been 12-15 years old. As you can see some folks attach them to a solid post. You will see them on telephone poles and all manner of vertical devices.

This image presents a couple of things. Bluebirds are not the only ones that use the houses. Tree Swallows will use them as well. At Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge in Montana they will but two boxes up either back to back or really close together believing that one will be used by tree swallows and the other by bluebirds. Whatever works, it is all good nesting sites.

The other thing of note in this image is the different box. It is hinged so that the bottom opens for cleaning and is painted a light green. You can also note the swallow hanging on the opening. No perch is necessary for these cavity nesters.

Here is another view of the scenery. There was some amount of snow at the higher elevations but not much to bother us where we were.

Here is an image of a female mountain bluebird. This was taken at a different time and location. As you can see they will use various cavities for nesting. Here they are using an old woodpecker nest site in a burnt tree.

This image, also taken at a different location, is of a Western Bluebird. Note the orange or rust colored markings. During this excursion we saw 47 Mountain Bluebirds and did not see one Western. Often there is a mixture of the two species. Whether it was the elevation or the timing we could not discern as to why only one species.

In chatting with Tom, who has been coming to this location for a long time, he stated that several years ago we would not have seen nearly this many Bluebirds. All the various nest boxes have provided sites for the Bluebirds to raise their young. It is great to see the Bluebirds and wonderful to note they are doing so well.

We hope you enjoyed this look at the Bluebird boxes, the scenery, and the wonderful birds. We sure had a great time building and putting the boxes out.
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best – Tom and George