How To Build A Bluebird

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Bluebirds are extremely picky when it comes to deciding where they choose the location of their nesting area and the type of nest to live in. At first, this seems to be a very odd trait, but it turns out to be a thoughtful and helpful one. Bluebirds like their nests facing a certain direction for a variety of complicated and interconnected reasons. They will pick the cardinal direction of the opening of their nest depending on the area and the surrounding environment. This unique decision making process involves the direction of the blue bird’s house, the landscape surrounding the bird house, and the food and resources available around the blue bird‘s possible habitat. According to “A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America” …show more content…

Husman wrote in her article for Sciencing.com, “Bluebirds prefer a box with a small round opening closer to the top, with the body of the box available for a protected nest. Leave about 6 inches of box beneath the oval opening, with the front of the box about 9 inches tall and the back about 13 inches tall, creating a slanted roof or flat roof as desired. The opening size depends on the type of bluebird in your area, for example, Eastern Bluebirds require about a 1 1/2-inch diameter opening, while mountain and Western Bluebirds need an opening of about 1 9/16 inches in diameter. The entire nesting box can be constructed from a one-by-six inch board roughly 5-feet long. Set the nesting box height based on the bluebird breed from 3 to 6 feet above the ground”. None of this matters though if the house is not in a comfortable and safe …show more content…

If someone is trying to attract Bluebirds, it is important to know that the more food that is surrounding the bird house the more likely the Bluebird will choose to live in that house. One trick is to place a tiny bit of food and fresh, clean water in the blue bird’s house to attract them to visit the bird house you build. A Bluebird’s favorite meal is usually meal worms, but are also appealed to other items you can put out such as suet, sunflower hearts, soften fruits, cornmeal muffins, and some insects. Bluebirds are also attracted to other foods that may be around the bird house area such as, “fruits of elderberry, hackberry, serviceberry, sumac, flowering dogwood, holly, red cedar, fox grape, and Virginia creeper” according to Husman. Bluebirds will eat different things for the season they are in, but the meal worms are eaten year around. The availability of food in important in attracting and enticing the Bluebirds to the area, but the other factors of the home must also be met for the Bluebird to choose a house to live

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