Monitoring bluebirds

It is very important to monitor Bluebird nestboxes to detect and fix problems that could be preventing bluebirds from nesting on your Bluebird house. By monitoring your Bluebird house, you can prevent other competitive birds such as House Sparrows or European Starlings from nesting, and report if any native species, such as Bluebirds or others, nest in your birdhouse. It is also a great idea to keep a record of the species you find during monitoring and periodically send it to Cornell's NestWatch Program or your local BLuebird society.

Monitoring nestbox

Monitor (check) bluebird houses once or twice a week during nesting season (March through August).

Nest monitoring should only be done during calm, mild and dry weather to avoid disturbing chicks and eggs.

You can carefully open the bluebird box to check your Bluebirds, but avoid touching them or the eggs. Take a quick peek inside and then close the box.

House Sparrows are the main competitor of bluebirds. Monitoring nestboxes will allow us to prevent House Sparrows from nesting in bluebird boxes.

House Sparrows nests and eggs may be destroyed and adults may be humanely euthanized under federal laws as they are considered an invasive species.

Some passive control options for House Sparrow control are: box location control, plugging the entrance hole, use of smallers bluebird houses, eliminating feeding areas and use of sparrow spookers.

Active control options for House Sparrow control are: regular monitoring of nestboxes and use of traps.

Remember that in addition to bluebirds, other native bird species such as Tree Swallow, titmice, chickadees, wrens and nuthatches may nest in bluebird boxes. It is illegal to remove active nests of any native cavity nesting bird.

Bluebird eggs

Bluebird eggs are powder blue or occasionally white. Typically, 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest. Incubation lasts approximately 12-14 days. Chicks will remain in the nest for about 17-21 days. After the 12-13th day, monitor bluebird boxes from a distance to avoid disturbance of the chicks.

House sparrows

House sparrows are the main invasive competitor for bluebirds. It is important to know how to identify them and to prevent them from competing with Bluebirds for the Bluebird houses.

Native bird species eggs

It is important to be able to identify some common cavity nester eggs to differentiate between native species and invasive species eggs. These are some of the most common native bird eggs that can appear inside your Bluebird box.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse