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I got some feedback from local birders and one wished to comment. I've disabled comments on the blog because it just fills up with ads for fake Rollex watches and other spam.

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Esa

Swallows settling in and claiming many boxes

Where Do Bluebirds Nest?

We have set up some 30 boxes with the intent of providing bluebirds a nest box. They will  not nest in them all, as they are a bit fussy. So if a pair settles into a box, another bluebird pair will want to be about 100 yards away. If the boxes are not suitable, they will nest in any hole, but not in buildings usually. A woodpecker hole is fine, up to 50 feet in a tree. The bluebirds have to compete for those holes. Starlings like to use them as well, but starlings will not nest in a box that is only 4-6 feet from the ground.

I think there are some four pairs at this time using boxes or looking for nest boxes in the South end, where there are 14 boxes. I found a well made grass nest in the middle about a week ago. It still had no eggs, and it may be because there were some bullodozers doing land maintenance there sometime the past week. The box is indicated by the arrow. Click the picture for a bigger view.

The nest inside is fine. I inspected it and put it back. There are plenty of empty boxes but I am not sure if others are much better as far as the construction disturbance goes. There are sticks and markers all along the Ben V trail.

Bluebirds nest in trails people have set up. Some have a small property and may have just 2-3 boxes. By moving them aroung year to year, they can have success in all three boxes. In Lancaster county, 459 nest boxes were used and monitored in 2013. I think I found the line for our boxes. It looks like there were 7 nests that season, which includes the same birds nesting more than once in the same house. One champion ”bluebirder” monitored 230 boxes and had success in at least a fourth of the boxes. Over 500 birds fledged from the 230 boxes in that year. The list includes other nearby states that somehow are recorded in our NE records.

Not So Fussy Swallows

The tree swallows around have started to build nests. They have not laid eggs yet, but do sit on the box and go inside. This probably means that any remaining bluebirds will not look at those boxes claimed by the swallows. The boxes are in pairs, so the swallows prefer to pick one box of a pair at this time. Of 17 boxes on the North side, at least seven are now claimed by swallows.

On the South side, one pair of swallows is guarding two boxes with a nice bush in between to land on. Another pair of swallows has claimed a nest box next to one that has bluebird eggs and nest. 

Three Nests With Eggs!

First, I went to the Bluebird conference in Unadilla. These folks will set you up with bluebird nest boxes if you have semirural property or even on the edge of town facing farm fields. The website has instructions to order. http://www.bbne.org/

Now, the excitement is that we have three nests. I took this picture of a partial clutch, which was not being guarded by the parents. The female will begin to incubate with five eggs, usually.

This nest is on the North side near the Nature Center. if you see bluebirds on the way to the goose pond from the Nature Center, they may be the parents. They sit up on the fence usually.

On the South side there are two nests with eggs. You won't be able to see this activity because the bridge is now closed for construction. Down there, I found three nests, but one was just grass, and the swalows were sitting on those two boxes. No sign of bluebirds. They may have given up there.

Near the center of the Ben V trail, there are two occupied nests. One has five blue bluebird eggs and the other has a tree swallow nests with no eggs:

The one up front is the swallow nests and the bluebirds picked a similar box but lower down in elevation, in back, There was a flurry of bluebird and swallow activity on these, at least six swallows.

At the very far end the male is still guarding an empty box, my Box 14, while the female is on eggs at Box 13. She has a full clutch, as she refused to leave the nest so I could see how many eggs there are. You can see her tail sticking out to the left.

While it's good to keep track of nests and nestlings and do what we can to keep predators out, I won't be opening all the boxes once there is nesting going on. Some of them are a bit shaky and the door and nail are hard to work loose with birds inside. So we will take pictures from outside and also one or two of nestlings inside, but with minimal intrusion. Estimates of successful nests can be made without counting every egg and nestling.

House Sparrows

Although house sparrows, the kind you see in most yards and at the Pioneers park feeders, do not have nests and do not lay eggs at this time, they are active. As hole nesters they like to claim the blue bird houses. They put nesting materials in every hole around their territory. They like to hang around human activity and buildings. We do not find them further out in the prairie.

The two nest boxes closest to the Nature Centere and one by the parking lot are ones they claim. One nest box had a swallow nest from last year. I tossed the contents in the field. They are feathers and grass. The sparrows retrieved them and built a nest. TWICE!

This time I just left it. The tree swallows and the sparrows can fight over it. The other box (dark spot in front of the car) is seen behind the car in the parking lot:

Several Nests Built, Territorial Activity With Swallows

There are seven pairs of boxes in the South end of the park, over on the other side of the bridge. The first pair can be seen soon after the bridge in an open area. Following trails to the West end (near Coyote Point), two pairs of boxes have Bluebird nest building activity. It looks like the Bluebirds have put grass in both boxes but one box is a complete nest. With no eggs. The pairs are defending both boxes, but will nest only in one. Tree Swallows are flying around the same area, some occasionally landing at a box. One even stuck it's head in. This pair immediately came to the box:

The male took turns sitting on the box or watching from a tree. They are vigilant but since they have no eggs in the box, there is time to feed and fly around.

The second pair has chosen boxes near the middle of Ben Verley Trail, in the same prairie. It was a bit comical with the Bluebirds both defending a box against the swallows in the area. The male is on top, the female on the bottom.

The male moved from one box to the other and the female flew off. Then the male defended against the tree swallow (flying bird): 

(CLICK THE PICTURE TO GET A BIGGER VIEW)

The tree swallows were chasing each other and catching food. They know these are the next boxes, but have not built nests or claimed boxes yet. I presume once the female Bluebird lays eggs the swallows will claim the box next door.

There is still lots of time and most of the nest boxes are unclaimed. My guess is the Bluebirds choose the box based more on the location than the condition.