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Re: Bluebird houses



>Carolinabirders,
>
>I need some advice from the Eastern Bluebird lovers out there.  Tabernacle
>Baptist Church of Raleigh has recently moved into a new building in Northwest
>Raleigh near the I 540 loop.  We have an approximately 32 acre tract which is
>wooded except for the area which was cleared for construction of the building
>and parking lots.  During construction I noticed a number of bluebirds on our
>property and several members are interested in putting up bluebird houses. 
>We have acquired a number of houses, but I assume from my reading of John K.
>Terres' instructions on erecting bluebird trails that we should wait until
>after the first of the year to put them up.  I would appreciate your advice
>on when to erect the houses, how close together we can put them, and whether
>mounting them on "trees of small to medium size" (Terres) around the border
>of our wooded area would be adequate or should we use metal posts with a
>predator baffle. 
>
>Thanks for your advice.  You may reply directly to me rather than through the
>listserv.
>
>Clyde Smith
>Raleigh, NC
>Smith82534@aol.com



CLYDE . . .

You can put up your boxes at any time. Bluebirds--and other cavity 
nesters--will roost in them during winter.

You can mount the boxes on trees facing open areas. Rule of thumb 
says at least 100 yards apart, but sometimes a male will have two 
females in boxes much closer than that. Besides, what the bluebirds 
don't use may be occupied by nuthatches, titmice, wrens, chickadees, 
etc.

You can also try poles with predator guards, but that's additional 
expense. I suggest you use them in parking lots where there aren't 
any trees. There are no completely predator-proof set-ups; if a bird 
can get to the box, for example, so can a flying squirrel.

More hints are at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ResearchNestboxMain.html .

Save as many trees and as much habitat as you can!  :-)


Best wishes,

BILL

-- 

BILL HILTON JR., "The Piedmont Naturalist"
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845

Please visit our web sites at http://www.hiltonpond.org and
http://www.rubythroat.org

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to
watch the sunset."					BHjr.