Bird House Plans For Bluebirds – What is the best Bluebird House location? Bird experts answer this question by helping birders attract nesting bluebirds.
“What is the best bluebird house placement to attract bluebirds to my backyard?” asks Lisa Penniston of Augusta, Kansas.
Bird House Plans For Bluebirds
Place nest boxes in the sunniest, most open area possible, away from your house or in deep shade. Bluebirds prefer a large area of short grass overlooking a field with a clear flight path. Try not to place the house near feeders. Make sure it is attached 5 to 10 feet off the ground. Bluebirds don’t tolerate shaking their nests, so secure the nest box to a smooth round pipe.
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“We had eggs and chicks in our bluebird house for years. There were four eggs to start a year, then three left, and a fourth opened. What happened,” asks Pauline Kelly of Homewood, Alabama.
It looks like a home run. Although small and cute, house wrens can be hostile during nesting season. If they set up home in your yard and nest in other chambers that are too close together for comfort, they will carry away the eggs of other species. So we must learn to love them despite their behavior. The best way to protect your bluebirds is to make sure the nest box house is far away from the dense cover that wrens prefer and to place another box some distance away from your existing box.
Each month, Birds and Blooms readers send their burning questions to bird experts, Ken and Kimberly Kaufman, the duo behind the Kaufman Field Guide series. They speak and lead birding trips around the world.
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Have a bird question for Ken and Kimberly? Submit your questions here! They may appear here or in a future issue of the magazine.
Ken and Kimberly are official Birds and Blooms bird experts. Kaufman is the duo behind the Field Guide series. They speak and lead birding trips around the world. When they are not traveling, they enjoy watching birds and other wildlife in their northwest Ohio backyard. In July of last year Mark had the bluebirds nest for the third time and was concerned that the bluebirds and eggs were overheating during the hottest days.
On a 98-degree day, he noticed the female panting with her head out of the box.
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One of the eggs from that clutch did not hatch, which Mark thinks may be due to heat stress. Any egg hatching is a miracle.
It has also been noted that heat-stressed eggs hatch with less developmental success, so anything we can do to reduce heat in the nest box will help increase the number of those hatchlings.
Mark has carpentry skills and designed a bluebird box with ventilation between the inner and outer walls.
Bluebird Bird House
Also, the plans include a black vent pipe that, when heated, will draw air from under the box into the air (see photo above). But first, all you “Roll-Tide” fans, brace yourselves.
Yes he did. They are auburn tiger colors. For those of you who don’t know, we’re talking about Auburn University football.
Mark says he’s never painted a box before, but put so much time and effort into this project that he wanted it to last. If you’re going to paint it, maybe paint it with the colors of your favorite team or, in Mark’s case, his wife’s favorite team.
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We have no doubt that this design will significantly reduce the temperature inside the nest box on very hot days, but will the boxes be too cold on those cold spring days?
In early spring, when a little extra heat is a good thing, perhaps plug the exhaust pipe to prevent convection currents.
Bluebirds eggs and nestlings can tolerate temperatures above 104°F for short periods of time, but temperatures above 107°F will kill them.
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Even if they do hatch, their ability to grow properly will be compromised and their survival may still be threatened.
This summer, we plan to compare some aspects of the boxes in direct sun to gauge the effects of some simple shading devices that can be used in an emergency.
We hope that Mr. Latorre will record the temperature readings inside his bluebird house to see how effective the ventilation system is.
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I recorded all summer long that year and found that my screened-in temperature on the shaded porch was about the same as the birdhouse located on the west side of the house in the afternoon sun. I made one of these for my sister and she sees a clutch every year. On the other hand, I haven’t had my luck and I think I placed it too close to the windows.
It’s amazing that his sister has had a successful clutch every year in the warm climate bluebird house design. Maybe the box of marks is too close to the windows or some other reason.
We had a bluebird house set up near our front porch. The Bluebirds used it for the first two years, then suddenly stopped.
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We saw them flying around the box but never started nesting. Our trees and shrubs around the front yard have grown so tall and dense that we think it has become an enclosed, open enough space.
The plans show enough detail that experienced builders can understand it. If you have any questions please use our contact page.
The photo shows the inner Lowen box inside the outer box with insulation, spacers and air space. Also note the pocket screws used to hold the sides to the bottom.
Nest Box Placement
Mark also sent more pictures of the construction of the vent pipe (heat tube) and cover (deflector cone or rain cap).
His sister’s casket will be mounted outdoors, so the casket will need a cover to prevent rain.
The deflector cone is made by cutting a slice from a flat circle of aluminum material and pinching the slice back to form the cone.
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A paper model is a good way to check the best size of circle and slice of material to cut for the desired angle.
Mark also placed a grating on top of the tube to prevent squirrels from stopping the tube with acorns and sticks.
As we mentioned above, Mark built a second bluebird house for his sister, with a rain cap over the vent pipe and a metal birdhouse holeguard over the entrance hole to keep squirrels from chewing on it.
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Follow the link above to check out how he installed the washer and donut cover over the access hole.
Recently, a visitor to our website submitted photos of a bluebird house built using these warm weather plans.
Bob first contacted us regarding the vent pipe. He couldn’t find black PVC pipe, so he spray painted it black as an alternative.
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Dark colored pipe will run hotter than white PVC, helping to move hot air out of the box.
Compliments of Bob Rau Below are additional photos and comments that may help you build this home.
“Hi, we finally made the airy bird house and it turned out great. In fact, we already have a pair of bluebirds checking it out. Here are a few pictures of the finished house and attached. We haven’t painted it. We love our natural wood houses.”
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“Since this morning we have been busy nesting in a pair of new boxes already!!! We are excited.” The next day… “Hi, we’re very excited to report that our pair of bluebirds have finished building their nest and laid two eggs today in the new ventilated nest we built for them last week. A picture above is the finished nest inside the new box.”
We recently took on another visitor, Ted McNabb, to build this warm weather designed bluebird house.
Before I begin I offer my disclaimer. I’m not an engineer or a real woodworker. I’m more of a “hold my beer, I want to try something” (after a fashion) kind of handyman.
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The online plans were awesome and I was intrigued to check it out since I live on the coast in low country South Carolina and…yes…hot.
It hasn’t been long since we started seeing birds in a squirrel-proof feeder (I’ll save the raccoon story for another time). Sitting on my screened porch in the morning drinking coffee and watching that rancher keep my binoculars and bird book handy, it all grew on me. I became partial to the bluebirds. So, that’s the backstory.
I have a shop, most of which I inherited from my father (he can design and make furniture) and a fair amount of
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