I've been reading this list for a while, but I've never posted anything.
Sometime in January my wife decided she wanted to hang a bluebird box
underneath our second story deck behind our townhouse. Early April
came and we noticed a male and female bluebird hanging around and
building a nest in the box. About a week later, we noticed a sparrow
getting real close to the box and trying to get in. The sparrow ended
up evicting the bluebirds from the box and we didn't see them for
about a month. A couple weeks ago we noticed the bluebirds were back
and were rebuilding the nest. Everytime a sparrow comes within 10-15
feet of the nest, the male bluebird will attack the sparrow (which is
amusing to watch) so we were thinking they must have some eggs in the
box or are close to laying some.
We have a feeder on top of the deck for the smaller birds and usually
keep one under the deck for the grackles, doves, cardinals, and other
larger birds can't fit through the wires of the smaller feeder
upstairs. We haven't filled the larger feeder for the past ten days
or so thinking if we do, it might attract more attention to the
bluebird nest and they might be kicked out again.
What would some of the more esperienced birders here do? Fill the
feeder and let nature take it's course or try to keep the bluebirds
out of the spotlight and hope some eggs will hatch? Is there anything
we can do to try and prevent the bluebirds from losing their home a
second time?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
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