5 Things To Do When Monitoring Your Nesting Houses

I am beginning to understand the importance of monitoring my nesting boxes and decorative birdhouses. Part of being a responsible bird house landlord is a willingness to look after your wild tenants. So I did a little research and found this valuable information. My sources were the North American Bluebird Society, North Carolina Bluebird Society, Birdwatchers Digest & AttractingWildBirds.com

• Monitoring of Birdhouses leads to early detection of problems and a greater chance of your songbirds survival
  
• Birdhouses should be easily accessible for monitoring and cleaning.
  
• Your should devote a separate notebook to your nest boxes, allowing several pages per nest box. Record what you see during your nest box inspections.

WHEN AND HOW TO CHECK YOUR NESTING BOXES?

Your should check your decorative birdhouses or nesting boxes once a week in the afternoon during nesting season. See nesting chart. Nest monitoring should only be done during calm, mild, and dry weather conditions

Watch the nest for 20-30 minutes. Then go over and tap on the side of the nest box before opening it. Do not stand in front of the entrance hole! The adult will usually leave and the young will huddle down in the nest

Open the box very slowly and carefully. Be prepared for predators and wasps. Complete the monitoring as quickly as possible to minimize disturbance

If the door is on the side or front the nestlings may jump out. If this happens, don’t panic. Just pick them up and put them back in the nest. Don’t worry that the adults will reject the nestlings if you handle them. That’s an urban legend.

SO WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

1)Information to record in your field journal.Is the box being used? By what species? Has courtship or nest building begun? If there is a nest in the box, what is it made of? If there are eggs, how many and what do they look like?

Songbirds have a very poor sense of smell and will not abandon the nest due to your handling the nest, eggs, or chicks

Knowing when the eggs were laid will help you determine if they are infertile, or when they should hatch and when the young would be expected to leave the nest.

Songbirds usually lay an egg once a day. This will be followed by an incubation period of 11-14 days. Then egg hatching period is every 24-48 hrs. Followed by Nestling period of 2- 3 weeks.. Once fledglings(birds getting ready to fly and leave nest) are 14 days old it is critical to stop checking on them because it may cause them to leave the nest prematurely. This reinforces importance of checking your boxes regularly so you know how old they are. See more detailed information on nest monitoring from Nestwatch at Cornell Lab of Ornithology

2)Insects such as fleas, mites, larvae, and lice are often found on the bottom panel. If you find them make sure you use insecticides known to be safe around birds: (1 percent rotenone powder or pyrethrin spray.) If wasps are a problem, coat the inside top of the box with bar soap

3)Unwanted creatures such as squirrels, mice, or snakes should be removed

4)Bully birds such as European Starlings and House Sparrows – remove their nests. If you have presence of European Starlings the entrance hole of your birdhouse or box is larger of 1.5 inches. See birdhouse dimension chart. You will need to get new house or box other wise you will continually fight the presence of starlings. In the case of House sparrows you need to have the ability to recognize the bird or their nest. See picture below. And once you determine it is house sparrow you must eliminate nest. House Sparrows & Starlings are non-native invasive birds and are legal to dispose of. See my posting about the dangers these birds pose for our songbirds.

5)Blowfly parasitism Real problem for bluebirds. If it is uncontrolled, the larvae of this species may weaken or possibly even kill the nestling bluebirds. If chicks are in the nest, look under the nest for signs of blowfly larvae. The chicks themselves should be examined for small scars, particularly under the wings which indicates blowfly parasitism. Sometimes you may observe the larvae attached to the chick. These are easily removed by hand. If you identify larvae in the nest, you should replace all the nest material with dried lawn clippings in a shape similar to that of the original nest. This will increase the chance that the chicks will survive. Many bluebird enthusiasts replace all nests holding chicks periodically even before the blowfly larvae are visible. You should also replace any nest with young birds that has been saturated following rainfall. This is especially important during cold periods.
When handling the chicks or removing them from the nest they should be placed in something that will protect them from the sun or wind while preventing their escape. Avoid disposing used nest material near the nest site or predators may be attracted to the site. Always be certain to close the box door securely before leaving. Record what you observed
(I have never seen this or want to see this larvae in my boxes but I thought it was important information for anyone who does have this problem.)

After any nesting effort has ended, either due to nest failure or successful fledging of the young, the nest should be removed from the box. If a songbird nest was successful, re-nesting in the same box will be encouraged if the first nest is removed. This should be done when all chicks have left the nest.

HOW TO IDENTIFY NESTS AND EGGS BY SPECIES

Bluebird: The 1-4 in. tall nest is built with fine grasses or pine needles with a fairly deep nest cup. Eggs (4-6) are powder blue or occasionally white.
Tree swallow: Their nest is also made of grasses but they may use somewhat coarser fibers than a bluebird. The nest generally has a flatter cup than the bluebird's and is usually lined with feathers or occasionally scraps of paper. Eggs (5-7) are white and smaller than those of a bluebird.
House wren: Wrens fill a nest box with sticks and line the deep nest cup with fine plant fibers or feathers. "Dummy nests" without the nest cup are often built in all other cavities within the male wren's territory to reduce competition for resources. The eggs (6-8) are tan, speckled with brown and quite small.
Black-capped chickadee: Chickadees build a nest of moss and plant down with the nest cup lined with hair. They lay 5-8 white eggs covered with brown speckles. Eggs are often covered with moss when the female leaves the box.
House sparrow: House sparrows build a tall nest of coarse grasses, often with pieces of scrap paper, cellophane, or other garbage. The nest forms a canopy with a tunnel-like entrance to the 5-7 cream-colored eggs with brown markings.

If you need a new nesting box , decorative birdhouse, or outdoor garden decor for your backyard visit my website YourGardenRetreat.com.

Other articles that may be of interest
Get rid of those Bully Birds.. do not feed them!!
Water will attract more Birds to your Backyard
Your Birdhouse ready for Nesting Season