Sporting a beautiful blue plumage, the bluebird is a wonderful addition to your backyard. This cavity-nesting bird spends a lot of its time carefully selecting their nesting spaces. Not typically an aggressive territorial bird, the bluebird can easily be chased away from other competing birds for their new-found nesting area.
Here are a few tips you can use to make sure your nesting box is properly sized and placed to help you attract and keep this beautiful tenant close by for your bird watching pleasure.
Entrance Hole
This is a top priority for attracting and keeping bluebirds in your newly places nesting boxes. Typically speaking the hole should measure at about 1 ½ inches in diameter for most bluebird species; you might want to go a little bigger for the mountain variety of bluebirds. The entrance hole should be located anywhere from 6 inches t0 10 inches above the floor of the house. The reasoning behind this is strictly protective, newborns will not be able to accidentally fall out, and potential predators will not have an easy time reaching hatch-lings or brooding adults inside.
Size
Sizes may vary for your selection of birdhouses for the bluebird. Effectively, the house should measure no bigger than 12 inches in height and should be at least 8 inches at the smallest size, with the back of the house usually measuring a little taller than the front. The size of your house should be of careful consideration as a house that measures too tall would not easily allow for young birds to safely leave when their time came to leave the nest.
As for width, or floor space, it will be tied closely to the size you select in height. Typically most houses sized 5”x5” are completely suitable for the bluebird and their 3-8 member broods.
Placement
Bluebirds like access to fairly open spaces, allowing them to easily and readily forage for food. They should be mounted on a pole or post, ideally in or near open spaces like open woodlands, parks, pastures, and farmlands.
If you are looking to place your bluebird house in your backyard, again, ensure you have ample open space, and a number of suitable perches they are able to use. In the event you are posting up multiple houses for bluebirds, ensure they are at least 100 yards apart, allowing sufficient space, letting your bluebirds feel secure.
In the end, it will take some work, and possible experimentation to finally attract bluebirds to your newly placed nesting box. Keep the above considerations in mind, and continue to experiment with placement locations, and you will soon find a vividly colored family inhabiting close by.