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Hanging Nestboxes (Suspended from Trees/Cables)From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Bears have been reported playing havoc on various trails during the past few years. In response to this problem, I have often recommended that monitors try duplicating what we do here in So. Calif. by hanging nestboxes about 15 to 20 feet high (see pgs. 66-68 of the Bluebird Monitors Guide). Has anyone tried this system to thwart bear problems? If not, why? I know, I know, Gary Springer has done a job on bashing hanging boxes whenever the topic comes up. He claims everything from opossums to snakes will destroy a hanging box trail. Well, my counter the snake problem would be to try putting a snake guard around the tree trunk same as you would a post. As to the theory of flying squirrels taking hanging boxes . . . someone needs to verify whether it would actually be a problem and, if so, to what proportion.. A few hanging boxes taken by flying squirrels or snakes (or whatever) would be small potatoes in comparison to losing 65 active post-mounted boxes to bears. And, as Evelyn alluded, bears that learn to raid one trail may soon become a growing problem. From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] What kind of a guard could you put around a tree? If anyone has ever tried it, I would love to know. I will see this man at our September 4th meeting and would pass this on to him. Without a guard on a tree where we live, it would be a sure death to the birds as snakes and everything else that could climb the tree would get them. Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: Mary Beth Roen [mailto:mbroen"at"hotmail.com] Hi, In my area, if I hung boxes in trees, all I would get would be House Wrens. I have been working hard at reducing the number of HOWRs on my trail and did see some success this year. I have moved my boxes as far as I can from trees. Linda, do you pair boxes in trees? Perhaps this might keep a few open for BLuebirds. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] I did some research and found a diagram of a sheet metal guard that can be used on trees larger than 6" in diameter. A bear can easily climb a tree and could tear it off. If the bear can smell them, I am sure there would be no stopping him. This man told me that every nestbox they tore down had either eggs or babies in the nests. They did not bother the ones that had only nests. My husband was sitting on a deer stand this fall near Newellton, LA and a Black Bear walked within 4 feet of him. He said he told the bear to "get moving" and the bear ran off and climbed a tree. That would probably end my deer hunting! Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Bears and people can ruin a bluebird trail and in this case I would try hanging nestboxes above their reach. For snakes climbing trees: The Harry Krueger mesh snake trap works great when it is made larger and wrapped around the tree trunk. This trap was used more than 20 years ago to protect the last of the nesting colonies of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers nesting in Arkansas from the rat snake species. Remember that this is a deadly trap for snakes and NOT a guard. By trapping out the snakes climbing the nest trees they allowed these rare woodpeckers to multiply. Thinking back to my early days of bluebirding when I "hung up" bird house gourds for the bluebirds in trees you just had to be selective in the trees that you used! IF you select a solitary tree way out in a cultivated or mowed field or one that is over grazed by livestock then few predators will be going out into the middle of the field. Flying squirrels need a continuous belt of trees connecting woods or a small woodlot of 10>20 acres of mature trees to live year around. Snakes, coons, opossums and even house cats prefer to hunt the edges of woods or fence lines for prey. A hanging nestbox in a tree is probably not anymore dangerous than the "natural" cavities that the birds find and use in trees. We all need to experiment a little with different mounting methods so that when we have problems we can shift the boxes to something different and hopefully safer. Late this summer I stretched an 800 foot long stainless steel cable I bought at the scrap yard across one of our daffodil bulb fields and stretched it tight with the tractor and now I have a cable to hang nestboxes from that climbing predators cannot get to. I'll have to wait till next year to see what species use this "hanging box" set up. In 1927 a large black bear came up out of Hart Creek east of Mt. Pleasant and entered Dellwood park where it terrorized people soaking in the "Mineral Springs" in the park. THE BEAR was chased about 1/2 mile due north and was "treed" in a large hackberry tree on Choctaw street where it was shot. They hung the bear from this tree until neighbors got tired of the odor and then dragged the rotten skinned carcass out of town. This was the last bear reported in Titus county. In 2003 11 out of the 13 bluebird boxes in Dellwood park (36 acres) were successful raising bluebirds. There were nine pairs of bluebirds at one time nesting. Last week a teenager road racing around the park lost control of his car, jumped the curb went airborne up a steep bank and smashed one of the nestboxes mounted on a power pole. They replaced the broken power pole yesterday afternoon. KK From: Phil Berry [mailto:mrtony8"at"mchsi.com] From: Phil Berry [mailto:mrtony8"at"mchsi.com] Red Cockaded Woodpecker nests in my area, but they do have their own brand of snake repellent. Tree sap around the nest entrance hole provides a slippery slope that most snakes could not negotiate. Our birds are on Federal property and as such are monitored regularly by employees using long ladders. To my knowledge we have not lost any birds due to rat snakes. Even though some of these nests are 40 feet above ground, in theory a snake could get them. The sap seems to work. Phil Berry Gulf Breeze, Florida From: KCBSP"at"aol.com [mailto:KCBSP"at"aol.com] From: KCBSP"at"aol.com [mailto:KCBSP"at"aol.com] No Mary, I thought that too but it really doesn't work that way. I didn't have wrens in the hanging ones.. dont suppose go see and try it.. I got chickadees, bluebirds, tree swallows, titmice (unusual for me) and sure lots of HOSP at odd places Go see try it. . Hanging boxes well you would be suprised.. I put them in the city of Harrisburg and got NO TAKERS no even a house sparrow. Experiment.. Kathy From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] There is no way you are going to get me to put a nestbox in a tree in the part of the country I live in. I looked out last nesting season and a HUGE black snake was on the top of a HUGE azalea bush getting into the baby Cardinal nest in that bush. Do you all remember Emily from NC that saw a snake out on the limb over her nestbox and her husband shot it as it was about to leap on the nestbox? Of course, she got blessed out, but did learn not to put the nestbox under the tree. Now if we have that kind of trouble just putting them under the tree, what do you think would happen here in the trees? I just don't think many of you grasp how many we have to deal with even though we keep saying it over and over! Just come visit me and be sure you watch every step you take when I take you outside! Evelyn Cooper,President Delhi, LA From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] P.S. I forgot to mention that in my research about guards around trees, that it said in some of that they were not very effective. I think Mr.Dean would tell you the big long snakes he deals with can get around anything. Evelyn From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] ...These wrens stuff every nestbox in their territory with sticks. Purple Martin houses are normally 12 to 14 feet off the ground and you never hear of wrens being a problem filling up the compartments in a martin house. We get reports all the time about wrens now moving hundreds of yards out into open fields to attack or fill up low mounted nestboxes. Martin houses are nearly always placed in someone's yard where they can watch them. If House Wrens are not a problem in these then it might be because the wrens do not fly that high in search of nests. Wrens begin nesting well before the martins do and there are millions of abandoned martin houses. Hanging nestboxes in trees way out on the ends of limbs 12>20 feet in the air will raise the box to where scent from the baby birds will be above the bears ability to smell it. Why do hunters sit up in trees or tall stands to hunt deer? They get their scent above the deer! Bears are opportunistic, if they can swat a bird feeder down or push over a box mounted at eye level they will do it but few will climb a tree twenty feet and then risk falling out of the tree when the limb breaks for a tiny number of eggs. Nestboxes mounted to the tree trunk would be a no-no. The bent paint roller frame shown in the Bluebird Monitor's Guide makes an easy nestbox lifter. They now make some heavy duty telescoping fiberglass painting poles that easily reach to 25 feet with a light nestbox made from PVC pipe. KK From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] I have had to move four of my nestboxes on my trail because they were too close to the trees. There were no takers. I moved them about 10 more feet from the tree and they went to them immediately. I am wondering how I can expect them to take them in the tree if they would not take them close to the tree? Could they be mounted on the heavy duty telescoping pole and the bear not be able to knock it down? I thought they were like a bad tornado. I am going to pass all this information on to this man, (he is not too old to learn) and I am sure he would give anything a try once. So far, I have not had a need to do it myself, but we have had Black Bear citings in down town Delhi more than once and I am not too far from there. Evelyn From: Kerry Sweet [mailto:ksweet3450"at"yahoo.com] I've read where Kieth says saturate the area with boxes the birds will decide. Kathy also said Experiment ... try it!! Sounds like good advise to me. From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] Kerry, Good, logical conclusion! For my particular area, the more nestboxes that I put out, the more birds we have! I'm not sure when we will hit the "glass ceiling" of available insects, but haven't so far. I have wondered if the widespread BT usage will decrease the caterpillar population enough to create problems. Certainly have seen fewer Monarchs. I had more wrens this year, than in the last several years combined. And they co-existed with the blues, but not the TRES. I think unpredictable behavior occurs in INDIVIDUALS for each season, as well as from year to year! If one year is especially wet & cold, the behavior is slightly modified from the summers that are extremely hot & dry. Or if one species has a population boom, I think that changes the behavior of the individuals within that species. Many more well-documented studies need to be done. Dottie Roseboom From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] I gave two Wildlife/Backyard habitat programs to a Wild Turkey Federation, Women in the Outdoors event yesterday at Camp Langston in Mt. Pleasant. In Texas, teachers are required to take continuing education courses and many of the Women in the Outdoors programs qualify for their education credits so I expose a lot of teachers to helping cavity nesters with plants, nestboxes and managing their property for the birds. Three years ago Linda Violet sent me one of her "old" style hanging nestboxes and I used it to show the classes how easy it was to "hang up" a nestbox in a large tree. After a full day of classes I forgot the nestbox when I gathered up and went home. The next year when I arrived it contained three old nests that showed evidence that bluebirds had fledged that summer. They moved the event to a different location last year and the nestbox was up two whole nesting seasons. Part of the "education" was taking down the nestbox and dissecting the old nests to see what had been in the nestbox. Opening up the box you could see three distinct bluebird nests. The bottom nest showed evidence of birds having flown. The nest was flattened, the top of the nest had droppings packed in it and lots of feather chaff. The second nest had been abandoned. Good nestcup with two bluebird eggs and two cowbird eggs! The third nest built over the second had also been abandoned and it had four bluebird eggs and one cowbird egg in it! There were also two wasp nests under the roof of the nestbox, one small one and one almost filling the space between the roof and the five bad eggs! Since all of the eggs are completely dried out I would guess that bluebirds built three nests in 2003 and wasps used the nestbox in 2004. This would be typical of a "natural cavity" being filled up and abandoned when birds could no longer find enough room in the cavity to build their nests or a competing species took control of the cavity. It was great finding the Brown Headed Cowbird eggs in the nestbox at this "Dude" ranch. This is the only ranch in our county that still has a small herd of bison. The cowbirds evolved over millions of years following the vast herds of bison from Texas to Canada. The cowbirds laying their eggs in other birds nests along the route. On this one ranch Cowbirds can still be photographed following the bison as they meander across their pasture. KK -----Original Message----- From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 8:28 AM To: txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net; 'BLUEBIRD-L' Subject: RE: cleaning boxes once a year Keith, this is what is stated on page 113 of "The Bluebird Monitor's Guide": Historically nestboxes were hung from tree limbs. And they weren't nestboxes exactly: they were hollow gourds. Compared to pole-mounted boxes, hanging boxes are much more difficult to monitor and CANNOT BE PROTECTED FROM PREDATORS. That's enough to discourage most bluebird monitors from using them, but Dick Purvis in southern California has hung nestboxes in trees very successfully and has inspired many others to do the same." It goes on to say that being so thickly populated in the area mentioned, they don't have the climbing predators we have. I am wondering why we would encourage people to hang these nestboxes in trees in our part of the country knowing we have so many terrible climbing predators. People are so hard to teach that very thing and it seems like we are sending two Messages here. If it confuses a person that has been at it for several years, I am sure it confuses the newbie. I can sit on my couch in the den and watch a squirrel climb out to the end of a limb to the bird feeder and get what he wants. Snakes do the same thing. In another place in the book it discourages wrapping trees with protectors as it harms their growth. I think it is not very productive to hang them in trees in the south especially where we have many climbing predators to deal with. Subject: RE: cleaning boxes once a year P.S. My husband was the one that put the feeder on the tree limb but removed it and put it on an electrical wire coming into the house. That is the only place so far the squirrel cannot get it. It was hanging from a clothes line and they climbed the pole and walked the clothes line out to the feeder. Evelyn, Louisiana From: DottyRogers"at"netscape.net [mailto:DottyRogers"at"netscape.net] How interesting to come upon evidence suggesting that (at least some) blubirds will abandon a nest parasitised by brown-headed cowbirds. (We've never come upon a cowbird egg -- though some adult birds loiter around nestboxes in breeding season.) Dot From: Haleya Priest [mailto:mablue"at"gis.net] Is that absolute proof?? :-) H From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Abandoned nests with cowbird eggs: Haleya is right on this topic because without checking about once a week we cannot be sure if the female abandoned the nest or all of the eggs were sterile (you would think at least one of the cowbird eggs would have hatched). While installing data loggers (silver colored flat eggs) in Eastern Bluebird nests Sandy and I have had a couple of females abandon the nest and a couple have covered up these "different" eggs and laid a new clutch in a new nest covering the shiny egg. Bluebirds have even removed some of the data loggers and wire holding the data loggers in the nestboxes of other volunteers for Cornell. OK the reason we suggested or showed hanging this nestbox from a tree in the first place is this is a "Dude" ranch for children (or adults). This location is in front of one of the meeting houses built right on/over the lake front and you can fish about 8 people right out of the back of the building since it does not have a back wall. We were showing that even in high people traffic areas you could still install a nestbox. I never meant to leave this nestbox in a "rural" setting. Besides the Bison that are kept in a special area they have free roaming Long Horned cattle when the camp is without visitors. They can feed and seat more than two hundred people at a time in the cafeteria just a stones throw from this building and nestbox location. The owners of the Camp Langston also raise Fallow deer and there are really large buck deer walking around that might knock over nestbox poles while in rut. Fire ants are a big problem at the ranch but you cannot grease nestbox poles with a lot of city kids walking around all day and evidently no one has time to even clean out the nestboxes. Nestboxes mounted to tree trunks are a disaster waiting to happen in my area. This nestbox has been up for three years and no squirrel damage. It looks like eggs went unmolested for months in the box even though the box was filled level full to the entrance hole. Hanging a nestbox well away from the trunk of a large tree way out near the ends of the limbs will attract less attention than a nestbox with guards mounted where children can reach the poles. Bob Walshaw in Oklahoma is having good success with switching some of his nestboxes to "hanging nestboxes". He is using a 36" or longer heavy hanging wire to drop the nestboxes well down below the leaves of the support limb. I will be in Oklahoma for their fall meeting in a couple of weeks and will get more details. What I am finding is that fire ants do not climb very far on smooth metal even if it is not greased. In parks and on gold courses where men ride lawn mowers as if every pole and tree were something placed there to bounce off of then hanging boxes are a viable option. KK From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Thanks, Keith for the clarification. I do know that when you are dealing with novice bluebirders, you really have to spell it out to them and even then sometimes you have to do it more than once. It seems like most people (especially new to the experience of bluebirding) think automatically that every area and situation is the same. The first year I had a nestbox, it was under a tree and no predator guard. The Bluebird and Carolina Wren duked it out and the Bluebird won. I saw them fighting and feathers on the ground. I had no snake problems (at least I thought I didn't) and no ants. The next year though it was a different song and a sad one. I think that unprotected nestboxes are just a risk that they will eventually be found. You should have seen the 5 ft. snake that climbed up the side of my garage door (the metal part where that the door slides down on), got hung in the chain mechanism up at the top as I drove up and raised the door. He was dangling there and mad as the dickens. A Carolina Wren had built a nest back behind the part where the box with the electrical works are and had just fledged 4 babies a few days before that. So, regardless of how busy a place is if there are these kinds of predators around, they will surely be present. Seeing that snake climb the metal part of the door lets me know they can climb any kind of pole regardless and especially a tree. Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: lemerich [mailto:lemerich"at"epix.net] Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 8:56 PM Subject: Hanging Boxes Several years ago I had downloaded a plan by Dick Purvus (sp) for a hanging type house and a pole assembly for hanging and checking the house. I have lost the plans and the one picture I did find on one of the boards was not really good. The pole assembly was a pivoting type box that allowed the birdhouse to be raised and lowed without tipping it. Does anyone have these plans available or know where I can find them? Lynn From: birdwatcherfc"at"netscape.net [mailto:birdwatcherfc"at"netscape.net] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 7:35 AM Subject: RE: Hanging Boxes Good morning Lynn, I have seen those elaborate pivoting devices. They are way too much trouble! I have a pole with a hook that reaches the hanger above the box. Just heach up, hook it and bring it down. Simple, easy and no tipping. Fred (Southern PA) From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 8:50 AM Subject: Re:Hanging boxes Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Bob Walshaw in Oklahoma is having good success with a "reverse hook" he pulls down the tree limbs with a heavy pole & hook and his hanging nestboxes have a longer wire to hang his nestboxes than what Dick Purvis and Linda Violett are using. He tries to hang the nestbox at least 24 inches below the leaves of a limb so his wires are up to 36" long from the top of the box to the bend in the wire. Bob can reach up and hang these nestboxes so that the entrance hole is 8 feet off the ground without the use of a ladder or pole most times. With the long hanging wire he can actually install the Harry Krueger mesh snake traps above the nestbox to protect against tree climbing snakes. If House Sparrows become a problem & trapping does not thin them out it is simple to move the nestbox down the road. I am not sure how long you can go with the wire before wind blowing the nestbox and swinging it will become a problem for the birds carrying food to the young. For those with House Sparrows in their yard would it not be fun to rig up a hanging nestbox in your yard and then hook up a fishing pole line to the nestbox. Every time the House Sparrow goes to land on the box you could set the "hook" pulling the line and swinging the nestbox....KK From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 9:18 AM Subject: RE: Hanging boxes In my yard and on my trail, most of the trees have long limbs and touch each other. I can sit on my couch and watch squirrels jump from one tree to another and get to anything they so a mind to. We would have to have a free standing tree and then hope the snakes and all climbing predators would not get past anything. Also, if you look at the trees that Linda is hanging the boxes on, their limbs do not protrude out long and touch each other as ours do. At least that is the way it looks in the book. Evelyn Cooper From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net]
Linda Violett - Yorba Linda and Big Bear, Calif. Evelyn, remember that I've got a mountain forest trail in addition to urban trails using hanging boxes. The forest trail has trees touching each other and has the presence of squirrels. The urban trail (as you noted) is sparsely treed. On the forest trail, grey squirrels do get into the larger boxes (2.5"+ holes) intended for flickers but they haven't been using the "Bluebird" boxes. A few flying squirrels have nested in the "Bluebird" boxes on the forest trail. It has repeatedly been stated on this forum that flying squirrels will take over hanging boxes. Perhaps; but so far, that has not happened. It is too soon to make any predictions because the forest trail is still fairly new and flying squirrels have only been using the boxes for two nesting seasons. From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com]
Like I said, I see them jump from tree to tree beyond my back yard. These are not flying squirrels. They are the big red squirrels. I watch their activities daily from my den. I have seen a squirrel come down the limb and knock the feed completely off the limb. The only place we could put the feeder that he would not get to it was on an electrical wire coming into the house. He even climbed the clothes line wire to get to it. It is a very light one hung with a wire. We wanted it in this certain place to be able to see it from the den and did not want to install it on a pole with a guard there. I am sure if it was a box, he could reach into it and get exactly what he wanted. A box would have to be hung on a limb steady and strong enough to hold it and a squirrel could manage to get to it secured like that. My concern is they can reach in the nestboxes. If a person wants to try hanging them in trees, that is fine. However, seeing what I do on a daily basis, I would not go to the trouble of it. I am sure mine are safer on a pole with a guard. Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com [mailto:RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com] Hi We've had many many postings about what kinds of poles to use; how to put them in and how to cool down houses in the sun. there seems to be widespread agreement that houses in trees are too dangerous or require too much added protection. I have been intrigued by Linda Violett's concept of hanging birdhouses. Unfortunately, on this computer I don't have her web site, but she or I will post on another email. The concept is simple. You make a birdhouse with a large roof overhang and put a hook on it. You then hang it on a tree branch. Linda claims it works well. I like the idea. I love trees and birds seem to also. Trees provide shade and shelter from heavy rain. A hanging box is tough on predators. Can't imagine a Racoon coming down a thin cable. Squirrels and maybe snakes can , but a large roof overhang should stop them. Linda monitors with a bucket on a pole. A ladder could also be used or maybe a pulley system to lower. These houses can be taken off for cleaning at home and returned. On the downside, the houses could fall if not properly hooked and they would sway in the wind. Linda says the birds don't mind the swaying. OK guys let's go to it. Is this a viable alternative? Ron From: Tina [mailto:ccbluebirder"at"tds.net] Tena Taylor, Calhoun County, Mississippi Once 5 years ago I 'won' a hanging bluebird box, and tried it for 2 years. The bluebirds in Mississippi didn't care anything for it! We finally put it on a pole. From: KCBSP"at"aol.com [mailto:KCBSP"at"aol.com] I have used them for 5 years at least with success. I won mine from Linda Violett and had a dozen made. You can find drawings on them on this site under nest box drawings, http://audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/. Here is Linda's site too, http://home.earthlink.net/~lviolett/
I hope that if Ron decides to do this in the snake infested south, he will monitor closely and give us reports. It was on the second year, that the snakes found mine and I had to do something. You might not have it so bad the first year, but they will eventually find them. I am speaking of any cavity nester that uses this box. We want to protect all of them. My question is this. Even if the female is sitting on the babies or eggs and escapes out the second hole, what protection do the nestlings and eggs have? Seeing the terrible low fledging rate in nests made in bushes, in small trees and on the ground around me, I just don't want to add more food for the snakes. They need to thin the rats out at my barn. Remember, they like an easy meal and they remember where it is. Ask Phil Berry! Evelyn Cooper From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2005 10:11 PM To: 'Maynard Sumner' Subject: RE: Hanging birdhouses Hmmm, Maynard, this is so good, I am copying the List. Maynard, I have a picture somewhere of a huge snake that crawled up the metal side of my garage door going up to where the little Carolina Wren had made her nest on top behind the box with the electrical stuff. He got hung in the chain as the door was opening and was dangling. He was really mad. I am not into putting traps around the trees and don't want sheet metal around them. Some of you might be, but I'll pass on that. Thanks for your info. Evelyn From: Maynard Sumner [mailto:m-r-sumner"at"juno.com] Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2005 8:36 PM Subject: RE: Hanging birdhouses Evelyn, We in Michigan do have some snakes get in the two-hole hanging boxes Maynard Sumner From: Phil Kenny [mailto:philkenny1"at"cox.net] Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 9:44 AM Subject: RFI hanging boxes on Golf Courses I recently saw an article in NABS Bluebird newsletter on hanging nest boxes at golf courses. However, now I can't find it. Can anyone send me info on what to use for the hanger, and any other useful info? Thanks. Phil Kenny From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 10:27 AM Subject: RE: RFI hanging boxes on Golf Courses The back issues are on-line at the NABS site. The Spring issue that is on when you click on, have the articles listed. It probably is with the others too and would be easy to find. You just have to give your login info and it takes you right to it. I remember the article and it was very positive about putting nestboxes on golf courses. I just have not located that issue around here. Evelyn From: EHDerry"at"aol.com [mailto:EHDerry"at"aol.com] The "Bluebid Trails & Tales" Newsletter of the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania, summer 2005 issue, has a great article on hanging nestboxes. Let me know, Phil, if you do not receive that newsletter and I will scan it and email it to you. Just noticed that the information came from Linda Violett's Website: http://home.earthlink.net/-lviolett/construction.html Judy Derry, Lockport, NY From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 8:43 AM Subject: Western Bluebirds & hanging nestboxes Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas One of the things we need to do at NABS is getting the different affiliates to share their success and failures with fund raisers and how they get and keep new members. It takes LOTS of material to build bluebird trails but the hard part is getting and keeping monitors inspired to continue to maintain trails. If each group would contribute highlights of their various programs each quarter this would be 30 or 40 articles in each issue of the Bluebird. Hanging nestboxes: From 1965>1972 MOST of my bluebird nestboxes were birdhouse gourds wired to tree limbs scattered across a large part of our county. I believe in 1972 I cleaned out the barn and hung up 270 plus new gourds that winter. These were placed in fields and pastures and no record keeping at all but I don't recall ever having house sparrows except in yards or near barns. In the 1960's there were vast areas of rural East Texas with no House Sparrows. I found that wood nestboxes mounted to tree trunks were feeding snakes and other predators. Boxes with eggs way out on the ends of tree limbs were safer from predators but more likely to perish in high winds. Even gourds often out lived the tree limb it was attached to dropping to the ground when the limb died and rotted. Paper wasps prefer using gourds to my normal wood nestboxes. Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers prefer to roost during winter in these gourds. I am experimenting with different wire hooks to hang boxes higher but high winds also blow these wood boxes down. Bob Walshaw in Oklahoma is having good luck hanging up nestboxes in trees in urban areas where his only predator is House Sparrows. He uses a long wire to keep the box hanging about 24" below the limb. He is just north of the Red Imported Fire Ant range and can add grease to the wire to stop these ants when they arrive on his trail. I found that the problem with hanging boxes in trees is that they seldom grow where I want to check the nestbox or they have too thick of foliage for the bluebirds to accept. In the 1920's hanging/swinging nestboxes were being promoted as "Sparrow Proof". KK From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 11:46 AM Subject: Re: Western Bluebirds & hanging nestboxes Keith, If hanging boxes are falling out of trees due to wind, simply make an elongated oval shape in the rod hook (instead of the common round hoop If trees are too thick, prune out some branches. You can use a telescoping pruner. It is less cumbersome on my trail to retrofit a hand saw pruner onto a piece of PVC that fits into the swimming pool pole used to hang the boxes. Linda Violett From: David Gwin [mailto:David.Gwin"at"cityofcarrollton.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 11:10 AM Subject: Hanging Bluebird Boxes? Howdy ya'll: Has anyone done any experimenting with hanging bluebird boxes from trees in fence rows? If so, can you tell me what you have used and if you have had any luck with it. Last Summer, I ran across an article from a fellow bluebirder in Kansas that was doing it. The article didn't have specific contact information for him ... so I was unable to follow-up with him. He reported that he had virtually no predator problems, livestock couldn't get to them and that his blues didn't seem to mind the movement of the boxes by the wind. I currently manage over 120 boxes in the D/FW area and, in the future, I would really like to migrate to this kind of system because of its overall location flexibility. Any information in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:15 AM To: David.Gwin"at"cityofcarrollton.com; BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu Subject: Re: Hanging Bluebird Boxes? Here's the link on how I build my hanging boxes (with 2 holes). But you can build your favorite box and rig it with a hanger. Linda Violett From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] As Evelyn states, each monitor must assess their own particular trail/backyard conditions for nestbox setups. For congested urban trails in my area, hanging boxes have been the only viable option. And hanging boxes are working beautifully on the mountain forest trail, as well. From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 9:05 AM Subject: Using the Harry Krueger snake trap on trees Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas I was using a snake trap made from Ross's Garden Netting that was 24" wide by 72" long to go around 8"> 12" diameter wood power poles. You fold over the netting and sew the open edge together with light gauge wire to make a trap that is 12" wide doubled and 72" long bunched up somewhat on about 48" Anyway the Arkansas boys used this method and made snake traps for all of the active nests they could find and they caught 12 snakes at the 18 locations climbing up the pine trees that had nests above them! They were amazed at the number of potential nest saves this trap produced the first summer. The larger the tree you use to hang nestboxes and the more limbs there are and the further away from the trunk you hang the nestbox the less likely you are to have predators find the nestbox. In my area using large solitary trees in open livestock pastures removes many if not most of ground based predators. Most predators work the edges of forest woodlands and fence rows. Linda is not saying to convert ALL of your nestboxes to hanging boxes but look in your area and select a tree in ideal habitat and then look to see if it has good limb structure to support a nestbox. Gourds and PVC nestboxes are lighter in weight and make Ideal hanging boxes. Jack Finch is making nestboxes out of Paulownia wood that are 1/2 the weight of his yellow pine nestboxes and these Paulownia are made from lumber he cuts from the trees he planted when he turned 79 years old! You can install the Krueger snake trap so that it will catch ONLY the snakes that crawl down the limb the box is hanging from IF the limb structure keeps snakes from reaching the box from above or below. Bob Walshaw in Oklahoma hangs his nestboxes below the tree limbs and leaves about 24" or so between the limb and the box with heavy wire attached to the middle of the box roof. Instead of using the box lifter like Linda, he carries a pole with a hook and pulls the limb down to where he can unhook the box from the limb by hand. You can apply ant repellant to the wire holding up the nestbox. Some people dip a pipe cleaner in insecticide or insect repellent and wrap the pipe cleaner around the hanging wire to repel ants. We had 11 horses on 42 acres and they would knock down ANY type pole I could afford. To check the nestboxes on our farm, I fired up the tractor and bush hogged a strip around the farm. By standing on the fender of our tractor I could look into nestboxes mounted 9 feet off the ground. I could reach limbs You can use metal hole guards to protect the nestbox from chewing rodents. From: David Gwin [mailto:David.Gwin"at"cityofcarrollton.com] Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 10:48 AM Subject: RE: two holes and predators Morning, Evelyn: From: KCBSP"at"aol.com Linda's hanging boxes work fine for me. They have been very successful and I've never had a snake in any of them. I have snakes take eggs, once or twice young in standard boxes off and on even with snake guards. I have used hanging mansions like Linda's with two holes for about 7 years. Just one is a one holer. Other species like them as well same as on my standard trail. If I have trouble at times with a house sparrow I just move the box a few times. Often enough that seems to be enough. They definitely are cooler. I would notice the chicks are not panting in the hot sun. I wouldn't rule out a trial of these boxes especially in parks. Surprisingly one might think wrens would be abundant in them, but that's not really so either. All activity seems equal across the board. From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Kathy, your comprehensive post was so refreshingly balance, it left me smiling. From: Nancy Hanna [mailto:nancy.hanna2"at"sbcglobal.net] Hi, Herb : A monitor who manages a local trail read Bluebird-L and asked if From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Thanks, Nancy. The hanging box system you are recommending for Herb was, indeed, designed by Dick Purvis and is what I also recommended to Herb yesterday along with a link to my web page showing how the box is lifted into branches http://home.earthlink.net/~lviolett/construction.html. From: Nancy Hanna [mailto:nancy.hanna2"at"sbcglobal.net] Hi Evelyn and all: *** Evelyn Cooper <emcooper"at"bayou.com> wrote: From: Herb Kelley [mailto:herbsho"at"centurytel.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 1:36 PM Subject: Re: The invaded 36 nestboxes ... Sorry all for not posting my location. Evelyn, you have expressed one of my concerns with the "tree houses". FYI we had heavy winds last weekend and they are projecting a worst From: Evelyn Cooper Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 10:20 AM Subject: Re: Bluebird Puzzle/Heat I am going to get my husband to hang one in a tree and put a thermometer in it and see if it is any different from any I have covered with solar screen. From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Evelyn, some monitors using hanging boxes in snake territories are making extra long hangers and putting Krueger traps on the rod above the box. If it were me, I'd also choose an isolated tree (not connected to other tree canopies) and put a Krueger trap around the tree trunk same as you would a post-mounted box. Try a wide range of options before narrowing down the to the best method. From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Linda, have you ever used a Kruger trap and handled a snake????? I am here to tell you that I am NOT going to handle a snake. And, that is one job my husband is not going to do for me either. From: David Gwin [mailto:David.Gwin"at"cityofcarrollton.com] Howdy, Evelyn: From: DonnaM550"at"aol.com [mailto:DonnaM550"at"aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 9:52 PM Subject: Re: bluebird-l digest: February 28, 2007 I read an interesting article in the NABS newsletter about suspending nest boxes from tree limbs using wire. Has anyone had success with this method? Relocating nest boxes that have been installed on poles buried deep into the ground is both time and labor intensive.
From: Bruce Burdett [mailto:blueburd"at"verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 7:37 AM Subject: Re: bluebird-l digest: February 28, 2007 Donna M,
Two things:
1:) Linda Violett, in California, has been using hanging boxes on her spreads for years with great success. My impression is that *all* of her boxes are hung on wire hooks. (Correct me, Linda, if I'm wrong.)
2:) It is helpful to let us know where you live. Your location is *extremely* important when folks try to answer your Bluebird questions.
Bruce Burdett SW NH
From: Tree Greenwood [mailto:doctree"at"crosslink.net] On Thu 01 Mar 2007 at 21:51, DonnaM550"at"aol.com wrote: No, Donna, but it's interesting. I may attract some other species. I suspect my local Bluebirds have imprinted on boxes on metal poles in the open. > ... Relocating nest boxes that have been installed on poles buried In my experience, 1/2 inch inside diameter EMT over 1/2 inch outside diameter rebar works even for my Peterson boxes. I use a fence-tightener for leverage when I pull the rebar out. I pull a box in sixty seconds. It depends on how hard and dry the ground is when I drive in the rebar at the new spot but generally only takes a few minutes. I pull most of my boxes and store them in the barn over the winter. More and more stay out as I get older and the number of cavities increases. If the weather clears up this afternoon, I'll get most of the houses back out. Take care, R J 'Tree' Greenwood From: Sheryl Bassi [mailto:sbassie"at"bellsouth.net] Hi, Donna You wrote: I read an interesting article in the NABS newsletter Some have had great success with hanging nestboxes, others have not. In an urban area, with few climbing predators, i.e., snakes, they seem to do well. In a more rural setting where climbing predators can be a major problem, they don't seem to do as well. When considering what type of box to use, first consider your area and what type of predation can occur. Let that be your guide. I'm located in the Deep South, where snakes in the yard, the bushes, and the trees can be a very common occurrence. A hanging box, a box mounted on a tree or fence post, or even a box on a pole with no predator guard makes raising cavity nesters a veritable "smorgasbord" for Mr. Snake. Take the time to learn about your location, and find out if snakes, raccoons, etc, can be a problem, and let that guide your choice of "Bluebird Housing". Happy Birding, From: Carol Killebrew [mailto:bluebirds"at"ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 12:35 PM Subject: Hanging Nestbox Hello Fellow Bluebirders!
Out west, in Western Bluebird territory, we don't have a lot of problems with climbing predators (snakes, opossum, raccoons or cats). That's because we still have large predators (mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats) which eat opossum, raccoons and cats. Nor do we have climbing rat snakes, which are so prevalent in the south. So mounting a nestbox on a tree is not the "invitation to disaster" that it is in other parts of the country. Nestboxes that have been mounted on trees for years here, might only face problems with earwigs or ants.
Besides our barn owl box, my husband and I have 5 bluebird nestboxes up on our 3 acre property in rural inland San Diego County. One is mounted on a pole; two are mounted on trees; and two are hanging boxes suspended from tree branches. The biggest problem we face is ants, which we prevent by banding with tanglefoot.
In the more urban areas of San Diego, where there might be more cats about, a hanging nestbox works very well when hung 6' high and out on a narrow tree branch.
For those who might be interested in seeing a picture of a hanging nestbox, I have just added a picture at: http://home.netcom.com/~bluebirds/nestboxes.htm
And if you might be interested in trying one of these hanging boxes, you can find nestbox plans or purchase one for $15 (plus shipping) from the Southern California Bluebird Club at: http://www.socalbluebirds.org/index_files/Page394.htm
Carol Killebrew
San Diego County Coordinator
California Bluebird Recovery Program From: Bob Walshaw [mailto:walshaw1"at"cox.net] David - why do you have to lift your hanging boxes to get them down? Do you have a problem with people tampering with them? Hanging them eye high just as if they were on poles works well here in NE OK. Re: two hole boxes, extra ventilation, etc. etc., any extra box openings in this area significantly increases paper wasp problems. Bluebird Bob. From: David [mailto:okienaturalist"at"yahoo.com] Bob: I only lift those boxes that are in areas prone to vandalism or tampering. The majority are hung at eye level. David |
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