These three bluebird houses are similar in style to others I hadmade in what is referred to as Peterson style, named after the originator. Unlike other Peterson style houses I've made, these were made from Western Red Cedar. The wood came from 6/4 x 12/4 pieces that were rough sawn, and so, they needed to be processed, and joined into panels before construction could begin. I made them identical and similar to other Peterson style houses I'd posted, to include, for instance a predator guard around the opening hole (here, they're made out of hammered copper). I also made pedestal/mounting bases that attach to a pole or tree, and allow the birdhouses to be set onto them for ease of installation, and also for ease of removal for winter storage or cleaning. The outsides of these houses are finished in a water-based spar urethane to retain the beauty of the grain, while the insides were unfinished.
Thanks, Pottz! I had seen a few prospective bluebirds checking them out, but, no takers yet. My next move will be to make and install a mealworm feeder, which, for bluebirds, is like offering free beer!
Do you find these just draw Bluebirds, or do they get a lot of whatever birds? I already feed a bunch of Grackles, don't want to provide them with housing too......
Re GeorgeWest's question, a friend of mine who I built one of these for, says that she's had a sparrow. The others I've built like this haven't yet had occupants. On these (and I put two in my backyard), I've seen several bluebirds checking them out, but no takers so far.
Those are beautiful nest boxes. I think it would be better to leave the cedar unfinished so it can naturalize to a gray color which I find is more attractive to the birds.....unless you are trying to make them more attractive to humans.....to sell them.
I noticed the one you had set up was backed by a wooded area. Bluebirds generally prefer open field or meadow areas where the catch flying insects and can't be attacked by hawks lurking in trees. They are very vulnerable to aggressive house sparrows who will actually kill them to take over the nest box and I have seen them kill tree swallows and bluebirds in the nest and then build their own nest over the body.
LesB, yes, I could have left them unfinished, and yes, the reason I finished the exterior was for my aesthetics. Also, the boxes are on the edge of a wooded area (facing a grassy area), which I needed to do to in order to abide by my condo rules. And I've seen many bluebirds on the edge of this wooded/grassy area, and a few have checked out my boxes. So, I'm hopeful that they'll nest there eventually.
Ross this is info I found, wondering the same thing.
Eastern Bluebird Box With Hole Guard
A female Eastern Bluebird feeds her youngster through an extended nest hole entrance. Not all extenders are made of wood; some designs are made of metal or plastic. These keep predators from easily reaching into the box.
Article it was in also goes on to say this was a hypothesis of the inventor that the spaced entry would allow distance to keep, let's say a Racoon from sticking an arm in and swiping out a young bird, cheeeping for Momma. Where a flush hole would allow it's arm to enter at least an inch more. The metal was evidently to keep predators who would chew into the wood, and open it larger, with a metal insert chewing would be stopped.
On all of these "nesting" type boxes there are as many naysayers as proponents, so it's a mixed bag, on who is right. I'd say if it sounds like a good idea, if it's easily doable, do it, until you see where a real study shows it doesn't help. On both of these it seems like it makes sense to me. Now if a naysayer has the distance guard, and frequently see's a coon sweeping out baby birds, is the design actually flawed, or maybe just not deep enough? So if I did one, I'd make the entryway a few pieces of glued up 3/4" wood to make a little more tunnel, before it opened to where the babies were. In fact most of the plastic formed "extenders" I have seen are much longer, and I would assume for this reason, many are also curved, I surmise, to make line of sight difficult.
From what I have observed, Other species going into the nest, and breaking holes into unhatched eggs frequently happens. We see Grackles often going into our Bluebird boxes to eat, or at least kill off Bluebird eggs. I think from what I have seen it's their #1 predation. They could go into just about the same hole size as a Bluebird, so stopping that with any of the items I have seen would also keep Mamma away from her young.
