Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!bu.edu!wang!news From: MICHAEL.SOPER@OFFICE.WANG.COM (Michael Soper) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Bluebirds in N.E. Summary: Re: Bluebirds in N.E. Keywords: bluebirds, nest, feeding, birdhouse Message-ID: Date: 3 Apr 91 19:27:04 GMT Sender: news@wang.com Reply-To: Michael.Soper@office.wang.com Organization: Mail to News Gateway Lines: 35 Charles Foley (foley@iris03.niehs.nih.gov) writes: >By the way, can anyone give me the optimum dimensions for a bluebird >house? The one I built may be a little small: I don't think so. The general recommendation is a 4"x4" bottom. This would seem a bit crowded, but remember, the mother's brood patch is only so big! I personally recommend 5"x5" as a compromise. Spacious enough for larger broods (which is becoming more frequent) and still small enough for warmth. Zeleny's book has a whole chapter on this. >Box should be approx 6 feet off the ground >It should be located at or near the transition from woods to open land Mine are just high enough to discourage non-flying predators while still allowing me a comfortable view inside from the top; about 4 or 5 feet. You're right on with location. That allows for easy worm and bug hunting and gives fledglings a target perch when they are ready for the maiden flight. I once saw a fledgling leave the nest for the first time. It took several nights (4 or 5 if I recall) of watching it poke its head out the hole. Then one night a poke turned into a lunge, wings beating like a hummingbird, it flew to my roof, perhaps an abandoned attempt at a nearby branch. Quite exciting. Shortly after that, the whole family could be seen on the powerline to our house. The book: The Bluebird (How You Can Help Its Fight For Survival) by Lawrence Zeleny Indiana University Press, 1976 Bloomington (A volume in the Audubon Naturalist Library) Michael Soper Michael.Soper@office.wang.com Wang Labs Lowell, MA