Today as I was thinking about different things I needed to get done to be ready for the bird mating season, I started to think about the Bluebirds and that I normally clean out the nesting boxes in late January, early February. According to the Michigan Bluebird Society Bluebirds will start looking for nesting prospects as early as late January and start building their nests in March as the weather starts to warm. Females will begin laying eggs in early April and amazingly, it only takes 12-14 days for the eggs to hatch!
With all of this new information I learned from the Michigan Bluebird Society, I decided I should probably go out and get a head start on prepping for spring. I’ve got five nesting boxes along my garden fence, which I’ve learned I have them way too close to each other and will need to space them out a little more. I knew last year that I had a House Wren using one of the boxes but to my surprise, I had wren nests in two of the boxes. Once I removed the old nesting material, I brushed out the boxes and used a solution of bleach water to disinfect the inside. I’ll leave the boxes open for a couple of days so that they can dry out and then I’ll close them back up. Here are a few pictures of what I encountered today.
Wren nest built with twigs
Bluebird nest built with grass and chicken feathers
While I was gone yesterday Mr. Bird Nerd brushed out our German Shepherd and upon returning home, he told me that he had a present for me. I was presented this box of Rex hair and I was happy he remembered to save it for me!
You may find this rather odd but dog hair is the perfect nest lining material for birds. Whenever the dog gets brushed out, we leave his fur in the yard for the birds to use. I have an extra suet cage feeder that I put the fur in and hang it out for the birds to use. You should hang the nesting material in a different location than the feeders and I’d wait to put it out until sometime in early/middle March.
The handsome dude that provided all of the fur
Cage feeder full of dog hair
If you’re interested in building Bluebird Nesting Boxes you can find several plans from the Michigan Bluebird Society here. I encourage you to do your part with Bluebird conservation.
