How to Monitor Bluebird Boxes
- 1). Learn to identify bluebirds, their nests and eggs. The bluebird is a small thrush with a plump body and alert posture, colored a vivid deep blue on the top half of its body and a rusty brick red on the breast and throat. A bluebird lays four or five light-blue to white eggs and their cup-shaped nests take up about half of the depth of the nesting box.
- 2). Monitor the box at least once a week, but only during calm, dry, mild weather so the chicks and eggs aren't chilled. Once the nestlings have hatched, it is important to check for blowfly parasitism, which can kill nestlings if left unchecked. Look for scars under the chicks' wings or attached larvae. Remove any attached larvae.
- 3). Replace nesting material. If blowfly larvae are detected, change the nesting material immediately. Carefully open the box and gently relocate nestlings to a warm secure place. Replace the nesting material with dried lawn clippings (free of herbicides and pesticides) in a similar shape to that of the original nest. Replace a nest that has been soaked by rain, especially in cold conditions.
- 4). Remove house sparrow nests as soon as they are discovered. Never allow sparrows to nest in the bluebird boxes, as this will reduce the bluebird population. The Woodstock Conservation Commission advises that house sparrow eggs and nests should be destroyed and the birds themselves humanely destroyed. They are a real threat to the bluebird.
- 5). Monitor, record and report to a bluebird society which species are using the box. While sparrows and starlings should not be permitted to nest, other cavity-nesting songbirds should be allowed to use the box. These species include tree swallows, house wrens, and chickadees. Examine the nests and eggs to determine which species are using the box.
- 6). Record the number of eggs and try to keep track of when they were laid. Bluebirds lay one egg each day until the clutch is complete, and incubation lasts 13 to 14 days. Chicks remain in the nest for 17 to 18 days and you must view the nest from a distance after day 13, otherwise the chicks may leave the nest too soon.
- 7). Remove nesting material from the box when the bluebird's nesting effort has ended. If the effort was successful, a clean nesting box will encourage bluebirds to re-nest.
Source...