Gr. Crested Flycatcher nest box

[Ward Linda <tankapoet@yahoo.com>]

Hello,

good news--I found the printout that has the
dimensions of the nest box in which we've had gr.
crested flycatchers nest the past 3 yrs. I think it
came with some birdseed or gardening supplies we
ordered from a catalog. At the bottom of the page, to
give credit, was "The Dawes Arboretum Newsletter,
1995."

This was a "special feature" for nesting box
preferences for bluebirds. We didn't build this box,
and I can't recall where we bought it, but it matches
excactly the one the article refers to as a "Kentucky
slot". If you missed my last posting, we did have
bluebirds nest in it the first year, then the
flycatchers took over the next 3 yrs. No one has
claimed it yet this yr. The slot is rectangular and at
the very top of the front-opening door. Here are the
dimensions for the "Kentucky slot box":

Width: 3 and 3/4 inches
Depth:  4 and 1/2 inches
Height 4 and 1/2 inches
entrance: 1 1/8 inch slot.

Additionally, ours has a wooden block (1 inch thick)
nailed to the top of the door, just below the
rectangular slot.

Our box is in a field, but the field is on the edge of
mature woods--about 75 to 100 yards away from the
woods. The immediate area around the box is kept
mowed, but about 20 ft. away are blueberry bushes
(caged to keep  birds out) and fig bushes (kept
available for the birds). Also nearby, on the opposite
side from the mature woods , is a small stand of about
75 long-leaf pines we planted to help re-establish
this endangered tree. The tallest ones are about 25
ft. tall now and the flycatches perch on top of them
regularly to hawk insects.

If anyone would like to see the article (it has
pictures of this box and others), I'll be glad to send
you a coppy if you send me a SASE. I have a copy
machine at home, so it would be no problem.

Heard a pine warbler this a.m., but no sightings.
Looking forward to going birding on Tues. to Merchants
Millpond. If you haven't been there--it's great.

=====
--Linda Jeannette Ward
--P.O. Box 231
--Coinjock, N.C. 27923
--U.S.A.
--tankapoet@yahoo.com

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