8 Common Bluebird Predators and How to Protect Them (Nest Box Predators)

[@nesthollow5159]

Check out the Hosting Bluebirds Guide and Coloring Book! Katharine spent a year working on the illustrations (most based on her own photography) and the information inside this book. It's a deeply informational coloring book, excellent for adults and kids (note the content warnings in case - nature gets brutal). It's available on Amazon, and if you scroll the page, you'll find all the topics it covers including predators, types of housing, types of feeders, live vs. dry mealworms, identifying house sparrows, examples of native sparrows, native competition and so so so much more. Check it out here: shorturl.at/bdwK7

[@DanielHHurt]

She missed the worst Blue Bird predator of all.....the English Sparrow. Between 2006 and 2016 I owned a small farm (about 30 acres, mostly open pastures with 7 acres being large oaks, maples, beech, etc.), in West Tennessee. It was perfect habitat for Blue birds. I starting monitoring 2 of the bird houses as soon as young hatched out. One day coming home driving down my 1500 foot driveway I noticed a male English Sparrow fly out of one of the Blue bird houses. Short time afterwards I went out to check on the young Blue birds only to discover the Sparrow had pecked the eyes out of all 4 baby Blue birds which killed them. There eyes weren't even open yet, and the sparrows had already starting building their nest right over top of the dead baby blue birds. I removed both nests and all dead birds. I returned with my 12 gauge Beretta shotgun and eliminated the Sparrows. English Sparrows are a highly invasive species from Europe, improperly introduced into the United States in the late 1800's. Far too many birders, and their respective sites refuse to blame another song bird. Hawks, owls and other raptors certainly sometimes, but not another backyard song bird. True story. Daniel

[@nesthollow5159]

We have a lot of content on house sparrows, because youre right about the danger and the heartbreak. But I'm not sure if they would be officially considered a predator exactly since they're not eating them. Most call them an imvasive competitor species. So that's why we didn't put it in there. Also the video would get long. But the related article definitely notes the realities of invasive species and brings them up. And we have a growing playlist about managing house sparrows. But, maybe we will make a few more videos dedicated to what a threat the house sparrow is to help raise awareness.

[@katsiggy1]

I lost my male bluebird today to a house sparrow. I took my nesting box down. Female is sitting on the pole so sad. I noticed the struggle but the bluebirds I thought they were winning. Not sure if I should move the pole and try next year again. They had a very early clutch they fledged this year this is their 3rd year on the box. 😢

[@nesthollow5159]

​@@katsiggy1 I'm so so sorry. It's awful to lose an adult bird too. Does your female have eggs in the box? If not, the best thing to try is to trap the house sparrow and euthanize it. I know that can be hard to do, but I imagine you might have a little more strength after what has happened. There are videos on this channel that show how you can euthanize - and they demonstrate on stuffed animals so you don't have to watch it be done to a live bird. If there is a nest in the box and no eggs, take the box down and replace with a decoy box. You can make one out of cardboard (we also have a tutorial on that in this channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aofcaaOFj5etgLs Or you can get one at the hardware store. The reason it's good to take down the existing box if there is a nest in it is because it is very difficult to get a van ert trap working when there is a full nest in the nest box. By replacing it, the house sparrow may come back to the location after that spot and try to go in. I have tried to use a decoy nest box on a nearby pole - but once they're interested in a spot, that's it. That's all they want. The house sparrow will need dealt with because they rarely give up. Once it's dealt with, your bluebird may find another male and try to nest again. I lost my male in a storm one year, and my female came back to her eggs not looking very good. But she made it through and within a week, she had another male and he helped take care of the eggs. If this nest does have eggs, then you're going to have to try to get a decoy box going very nearby so that you can trap the house sparrow. Sometimes it helps to put some bread in the box and even some leaves and grass sticking out of the entry hole to tempt a house sparrow. In addition to that, please add a sparrow spooker and a wren guard if there are eggs in the box. Combining tactics like that can really help minimize intrusions. This playlist is all of our sparrow management tips so far - we try to continue to add to this. Hopefully some of those videos are useful to you. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYSxm2hnpKmEpK8&pp=gAQB Again, I am so so sorry about this. It is absolutely heartbreaking. I am glad to hear that you have had these birds for 3 years and have done will to protect them. Don't lose heart.

[@katsiggy1]

Thank you for all the valuable advise I will trap the house sparrows. All 3 of the bluebird babies babies fledged.

[@nesthollow5159]

@@katsiggy1 I am so glad they fledged! It's sad when they leave but also such a victory and then you can have a bit of a sigh of relief.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

I set up a bluebird trail along our horse corral and had two successful seasons in the Bay Area, California. I mounted them on the fence poles and no predators got to them. Nature's a numbers game. You can only do so much. Nest boxes offer excellent protection just by their very nature. Don't stress out too much about predators. A Steller's jay built their nest on top of one of my stepladders and I was lucky enough to see the baby Steller's jays a day before a red tailed hawk ate all five of them with the frantic parents squawking up a storm, powerless to stop him. Birds who build nests are at a distinctly evolutionary disadvantage and yet most still breed successfully. The hours of pleasure watching bluebirds at my water bath made the entire effort in building and monitoring them worthwhile. But for my boxes I'd be lucky to see a bluebird at all. Not only did they find the box they roost inside it over the winter. They don't leave. It's their home. The abandoned BB box from last year was taken over by a oak titmouse family this Summer. Bluebirds prefer a new house each breeding season if given that option, is my observation.

[@jeanettecastle7916]

Wonderful information. Thank you. I sure love my bluebirds and want to protect them.

[@IowaKim]

I have had a nest box for over 20 years while I worked. Now I'm retired I am devoting more time to the birds, and learning. The old nest box is on a 8x8 fencepost, the worst possible place from what I am learning. Meanwhile, I have put up 7 new boxes, on 10 foot conduit poles. There is currently a pair with 5 eggs in the old box (nested here every year) and when they are done with it, it too will be put on a pole. I am trying to figure out what to do in the interim, and your video is helpful. Since a stovepipe baffle won't fit on this setup (post is too big & box is 5 feet off the ground) I am thinking of wrapping metal all around the pole, like the guards put on telephone poles in our area. I might add the Noel guard too. I would space the timing of these 2 to prevent stress to the parents while nesting. It is all I can think of until they are done with this box. Incidentally, yesterday, while the female was taking a break, the couple flew over to 2 of the new nest boxes and seemed pretty excited about them. Perhaps they will move to a new box for their second clutch? That would be nice.

[@nesthollow5159]

Its greag to hear youre taking care of the bluebirds. For protection - the metal around the pole in the meantime may help. And pairing it with a noel guard should really add protection until you can remount it. Usually pairing predator guards affords more significant protection. The downside with the metal is that it won't wobble, which is what makes the stovepipe baffle more effective. But again, paired protection will help over all. With the noel guard, you'll want to be very careful that installation doesn't jostle the box since the eggs could break. So take your time and be very careful. Hopefully no snakes bother with the box. Unfortunately neither of these methods will be effective against them. But it will minimize mammalian intrusion. Good luck. Feel free to update me. I'd love to hear how fledging goes.

[@briroc26]

I have a few SMALL screws popping out of the top and sides nothing crazy, just enough to make a squirrel or raccoon think twice about jumping on the house again

[@phammond8155]

Wow, so many predators. And I suppose each animal has it's own predator too. Tough world.

[@nesthollow5159]

Ahh yes. You are ao right. The food web at its finest. Apex predators are the exception, I supposed. They are the ones that don't have a natural predator. They're top of the food chain. But it's really easy to protect bluebird nest boxes from most of these predators. The stovepipe baffle is the big protection. What's tougher is the open nesting birds. It's amazing they make it!

[@alan30189]

People need to take responsibility and keep their cats indoors. Cats do not belong outdoors in the US, period! States should pass laws against roaming cats, and feral cats need to be gathered up and put up for adoption, or put down. I read that 33 species of song birds have gone extinct, primarily because of roaming and feral cats. 2.4 billion bird deaths per year, due to cat predation in the United States alone, is incredible!

[@nesthollow5159]

You're right about laws and regulations. I think it will happen eventually. There is a lot of awareness about the situation. So it's a matter of time maybe. I will say, I pardon accidents. Sometimes an indoor cat gets out..... cat gets loose during transit to the vet, or a window screen was unknowingly not secure. It happens. That's different though since the owner is intentionally keeping the cat inside. And in that case, the owner is also probably looking very hard for their loose cat. It would be cool though to see that bird fatality statistic go down as more and more people start to keep their cats indoors. A positive thing is that when people ask about this on Reddit, the cat community is almost unanimous in advising people to keep cats indoors.

[@loridaniels9452]

I live on some good acreage and do my part to permanently remove invasive predators for more than 25 years. We now have more small game birds and many more wrens , nuthatches , finches & so on. Even more rabbits . The world is a better place because of me.

[@Miguel195211]

I have all the predators except the bear.

[@randyscheller3304]

noel guar will not keep snakes away, only raccons, The best preator guard is a round 8"x60" duct below the box that swivels

[@billszymborski584]

Very nice video, thank you for taking the time to make it! We have the 6" x 24" stovepipe baffle. Our local BB club uses that size. Is the 8" superior to the 6" stovepipes?

[@nesthollow5159]

I've had a 6x24 for a long time because that's been a longtime recommendation, even on the sialis site. Then the recommendation was 8x24. Now a lot of people are going with 8x60 (you have to make those. They aren't commercially available that I've seen). Look up the ranges of rat snakes, if you have them in your range, a bigger baffle is better. But I also say, any stovepipe baffle is better than nothing. So maybe ride out this season with what you have, and think about an upgrade next season. If you feel there might be a bigger threat, you could upgrade this season.

[@robertcornelius3514]

Thanks for the info.

[@StayPositive47]

Thanks first year on being a box landlord

[@randyreal5871]

Nice video 👍

[@gpsimms]

Hi! I've unfortunately got myself into a situation. I have a bluebird house without the proper protection. Some nested last year and got eaten by a predator since I had no baffle. This year, I took the house off the post intending to get proper equipment and then just neglected to do it or check on the house. The house was just set on a picnic table and now I find there are bluebirds nesting in it. Can I relocate the house to the post (with the proper baffles added)? Or will that disturb the nest too much? On top of that, there is a single wasp nesting in the box at the ceiling above the eggs. Can that cause a problem as well? Yikes, what a mess I feel terrible.

[@nesthollow5159]

Ooof, you are in a situation. Soo, I think if you can get the box close to the table (but not so close a predator could use it to jump to the box, the bluebirds will figure it out. Put it on a pole with a baffle, and intently watch. As to wasp nest removal - this is something I've never done before, but I've been instructed many times on the procedure. Go out at dusk when it's dark but not so dark you can't see. Use a flashlight with a red light. They have some cheap ones at stores. Use the red light to disorient the wasp. Then with a putty knife or some similar tool, scrape it out into a bag. Some will spray it with a hose and dump, some just dump. If there is an egg or nestlings in the box - this is going to be incredibly challenging. And in that situation, before attempting, I'd get on a bluebird Facebook group and ask for advice because you want to be sooo delicate about it. If no eggs yet, this won't be so bad. Going forward, you can rub scent-free dial soap to the ceiling and top sides about 1-2 inches down in the box to prevent wasps from forming another nest. It's not a 100% prevention method, but it works pretty good. There is a video in this channel about how to do that. I usually reapply, rubbing the dry bar soap after each brood leaves the nest. Good luck. I hope it goes well.

[@gpsimms]

@@nesthollow5159 thank you so much! I've moved the nest and added a duct baffle. The wasp wasn't home when I did it, so I knocked the small nest out. I'm sure he'll be back though so I'll be watching it. The eggs looked safe after the move! Let's hope mama isn't made I moved them.

[@debbieroach8313]

What about house sparrows?

[@nesthollow5159]

House sparrows are not technically bluebird predators. They are competitors. But in the article that pairs with this, which is posted in the description, it talks about competition species. If bluebirds were the "resource" for the house sparrow, as in food, then it would be a predator-prey relationship. Instead, they compete for the same resource, with the house sparrow killing for it, and that makes it ecologically a competitive relationship.

[@rickyflair4516]

I have a BB gun and shoot sparrows and starlings to protect them

[@billmitchell5805]

Thanks nice video, our bluebird house is mounted on a 14" diameter oak tree. I would guess some kind of baffle or maybe barded wire around the tree might work? What do you think? Maybe peppermint oil sprayed around the tree might also work? Thanks, Bill

[@nesthollow5159]

The best thing is to mount the box to a pole with a baffle. You can try flashing around the tree, but anything from above can come down and get it. Barbed wire won't stop the small mammals and nor will it stop snakes. A noel guard will prevent raccoons and maybe squirrels, but it won't stop snakes and chipmunks or mice.

[@conniedavison1936]

Wow thank

[@chargerman100]

I appreciate all that, but I can’t believe she never mentioned putting those little plate steel one and a half inch opening guards in front so the birds or animals can’t peck away at the hole

[@nesthollow5159]

Do you mean a metal hole guard? That's definitely important, but this was more focused on the more immediate protection devices. Woodpeckers can definitely enlarge a hole and so can squirrels if you dont have a proper baffle on the pole. So eventually hole guards may be needed if that happens. So the hole guard is a great tip for down the road. Thanks.

[@timberskid]

For the past 2 weeks a scrub jay has been harrassing and bullying our Western bluebird pair. It caused so much distress to the pair it was hard to watch. It began sitting on top of the nestbox so I knew I had to take action to get rid of it because I'm sure it would kill the babies once they began to fledge. They are so smart and aggressive. I found an agriculture article where farmers use snap rat traps to control them. It worked. Tip: I had to learn how to set the bait by taping the peanut onto the cup otherwise the jay could easily steel the bait. We are fortunate to not have any sparrows around. At least I've never seen one here in SoCal..

[@nesthollow5159]

I'm so sorry about the bluebird situation. That must have been really hard to watch. I would have been so upset. I want to mention that while it's federally legal to unalive nonnative sparrows and starlings, especially because they are invasive, unaliving native North American birds (can't say the K word on social media anymore) is illegal. And I don't condone this on native birds because they play important roles in their local ecosystems. I say the same for any native animal unless conservation departments are initiating a managed cull (sanctioned hunts). Are they overpopulated in your state to where the state issued permitted hunts? If not, please do not unalive native animals in the future. A Noel guard on the nest box, might be a better option. And if you feed seed, it helps to refrain from putting seed out during the nesting season, and hopefully the scrub jays and other corvids will be motivated to go elsewhere.

[@timberskid]

@@nesthollow5159 Thankyou. I understand. I have to say that the pair seem so happy to be together again peacefully like little lovebirds.

[@j.wat.3437]

I install two wires around the pole to an electric fence transformer. And it stops anything. So far.

[@SusanKSmith-tc5oe]

Wrens have been a predator of boxes in my mom’s yard. Watched them enter a box with a chickadee nest and come back out with an egg speared on their bill!!!

[@nesthollow5159]

I'm so sorry. It is such a tragic thing when that happens. You get so excited, and bam - its all over.Went through the same thing last year. The chickadees were even tag-teaming to prevent invasion. But one day momma left for too long and a wren got in. We had a wren guard on too, but the house wren had investigated the box just before eggs were laid, and once that happens, the guards are not as effective. The reason the house wren wasn't on this video is because they technically are Not a predator. They're a competitor, which is a different ecological relationship. I did a video on that, but more toward house sparrows (another competitor and much more ruthless). But it talks about the defining differences between the 2 relationships as well as other relationships like parasitism and commensalism. We do have a video about managing peace between house wrens and bluebirds (or chickadees), but with wildlife, it's never perfect, and things happen...as they did with the Chickadees for us last year 😞. But the video still highlights some tips to better safeguard the birds.

[@crzrck]

I always have problems with sharp Shins and Cooper's Hawks. There is absolutely nothing you can do about them. The owls are not a problem as long as the birds don't flush. As far as snakes go the only snake you got to worry about is a rat snake and areas in the north do not have rat snakes. The only other squirrel I know that is a real issue is the red squirrel it's a small squirrel

[@billwallace1334]

Wouldn't a motion activated light deter raccoons? They sell cheap solar-powered versions.

[@nesthollow5159]

It might determine raccoons and other mammals. Not sure about snakes. And I've not known many birders to use that, so I am not sure how effective it is. Also, it would have to be dim enough not to scare mamma off thr nest at night. If a cavity bird leaves thr nest at night, they have a very hard time finding their way into the entry hole when it's dark.

[@billwallace1334]

@nesthollow5159 I understand what you saying. My thought was to point the light at the base of the BB house pole. It would come on when the racoon approached and go off again in 30 seconds. No affect on a snake though but it might startle an owl.

[@carvinieri5217]

cats .. 🤔 ☺

[@rjh6380]

Biggest predator I have are wrens. I know, protected, good insect controllers but bullies to bluebirds. this year alone they've killed two nesting boxes full of bluebird eggs. Usually I watch carefully after the eggs are laid and put up the wren guards but due to a health issue I was unable to check every other day. Once a wren takes a box there's no chance the bluebirds will come back, no matter how many times you pull their nest out. Not a wren fan.

[@nesthollow5159]

I'm so sorry. Losing a bluebird to a house wren is really sad. I've gone through this a few times and it really stinks. As I write this, I hear the resident house wren singing too. I do want to clarify that a house wren is not technically a bluebird "predator." Predation describes a natural relationship in which one species is traditionally the resource (usually food resource) of another. The relationship between a house wren and bluebird is technically a "competitive" relationship in which 2 different species (or the same in cases of intraspecific competition) are going after the SAME resource. In this case, the resource is the nesting location. Other natural relationships include parasitism, commensalism and symbiosis. And the network of these relationships is very fascinating. BACK TO WRENS THOUGH 😉 There are ways to manage them, but it does seem like once a location becomes overrun, the bluebirds and chickadees leave for good. And this is very hard for us birders to deal with. Maybe down the road conservationists will change some guidelines. For now, we can only do what we can and abide by the rules. I am sorry though. Maybe one day a shift will happen... ecological studies have shown that to occur within native habitats. It's certainly a hope at least.

[@rjh6380]

@@nesthollow5159 Thank you for your reply. Of course I realize they are not predators but as competitors the wrens will kill and as far as I know bluebirds will not to overtake a nest. I could be wrong there but have never heard of it. Anyway , after much diligence watching, checking the box and removing any nesting materials from the box, My bluebirds are back! They never left the area and are rebuilding as I write. I see them daily and built a wren box to which the wrens decided it was better. (or they had no choice .) Now the task of keeping the bluebirds in there and happy. So I also have house sparrows around. Weird because I have 100 + acres of mostly woodlands and at least 75 species of birds that I have recorded around the house and barn Thought they didn't really care for the wooded areas. They haven't tried to nest in the boxes ,yet, but I definitely want to get rid of them before they start any trouble. My question is will the wren guard work on a house sparrow, or will the sparrow spooker be enough and should I wait til the first egg is laid or just go ahead and put it up now?? Also I just built a mealworm feeder and have live ones coming. my hope is the bluebirds will love this box but also I'm afraid of other species taking over and stealing them. Other than my Orioles, which I have luck keeping here most of the year. Being in northern Wisconsin They used to not stick around in the summer until I supplemented their jelly and oranges with dried mealworms.

[@nesthollow5159]

This is so great to hear. As to the question about the wren guard and house sparrows - from what I've heard and read, a wren guard is not enough to deter a sparrow. And sometimes a sparrow spooker is not enough. My personal standard approach is to have both on a box once the first egg is laid. In addition to that, I always keep a decoy box out. This box is meant to be more accessible and attractive to potential invaders. The hope is that a house sparrow would see the more accessible decoy box, and between that and the obstacle-filled bluebird box, he will choose the easy decoy box. Then the decoy box becomes a trap box. This method seemed to have saved me while on vacation too. While I was away, I saw from my camera that a house sparrow came around and was going in and out of the decoy box. Fortunately the active BB box had the sparrow spooker and wren guard up. And while I couldn’t trap the house sparrow while I was away, he seemed content with the decoy boxand left the Blues alone. None of this is ever 100%, but it's the best we got in this wild world. 😀

[@bobhoodjer8121]

No one ever mentions ants.

[@nesthollow5159]

That's a good point, and are more of a threat to the nestlings for sure. Thanks for pointing that one out.

[@JamesWilliams-cc1ow]

The three invasives that are the most destructive to song birds and are not a part of the natural ecosystem are: 1. Cats 2. HOSPs 3. Fire Ants.

[@nesthollow5159]

Yes. Fire ants are insane! And sadly, an accidental introduction from what I recall. I'd add European starlings to this list, though them and house sparrows aren't technically predators (they're competitors), they have caused so so so much damage - and it was not long after their introduction that things started going bad. And then cats :(. I love cats, but I'm an indoor advocate - also because it's safer for them. Going back to fire ants though - it is sad about the accidental introduction and how much havoc an accidental species causes when it does become officially invasive. The brown snake in Guam was an accidental introduction that led to the near extinction of the Guam rail. It's also an example I lean on when talking to people about the consequences of invasive species.

[@stardust-rv7mr]

61/2ft tpost work best for me.

[@pauletteispassingiton943]

Im so sad found mom and babies dead this morning…have no idea what happened

[@nesthollow5159]

I'm so so sorry. This is such sad news. Are they wounded? If they were wounded, it was a house sparrow attack. If no wound but they were still in the box, it may have been a sting. A predator would not have left them in the box. They would have eaten them.

[@BobbyFinger-vz2uo]

Crows

[@blueberrypitbull87]

Certain predators need meat including cats. It is a necessary action at times even if a bird dies to be food. Birds are prey. But also, this works in favor of invasive bird control too. Barn cats love to eat sparrows

[@nesthollow5159]

Definitely. This is why I mention cats with a but of hesitation. They can play a huge role. There is a balance. Sometimes they can be problematic - any species can be if left unchecked. That's also why the balance in the ecosystem is so important and pretty fascinating.

[@morganlefay96]

Too bad cats cannot distinguish invasive HOSPS and starlings from our native birds right? Did you see that in the USA 2.5 BILLION birds die to cats each year??? Domestic cats are not native and should be kept indoors since they are "domesticated"....

[@brettharter143]

Cats are fed at home.