advice on bluebird and screech-owl nest box placement

[John Stith]

Hi all,

I know this isn't the usual use of this listserv, but I figured there might be some people on the list with this expertise. (Someday I'm going to write about the purpose of this listserv, and whether discussion of bird-focused conservation and public-education projects are good here or deserve another listserv?!)

We are working with the Prince George's County Parks Department to install nest boxes in county parkland where there is a tree line with blackberry, greenbriar, and non-native vines, all adjacent to a scrubby Pepco meadow right-of-way. This site overlooks Sligo Creek, where the creek leaves Takoma Park and flows into the Chillum / Hyattsville area, so we are a few miles inside the DC beltway. 

Lower Sligo Creek has had very few bluebird sightings, both on eBird and in my own experience. There are Eastern Bluebirds along the Northwest Branch a mile away (far side of another large neighborhood), including at least one nest I found last year.

So the question: Will putting up a bluebird box help attract them to our neighborhood's meadow? Or is this a waste of effort until we can actually confirm bluebirds ever come here?

The tougher case is the Eastern Screech-Owl. There's used to be several eBird reports of screech-owls each year in the Takoma Park area, but suddenly there have been none since early 2018. The nearest recent observations are in Rock Creek Park, three miles away. In the woods behind our potential nest-box site there's already a breeding pair of barred owls most years. Also we are definitely putting up a box for kestrels along this meadow/forest edge, as we've had nesting kestrels here in the past.

So again, this is a question of whether a box could help bring a species that is not currently observed in the location. Would you bother putting up a screech-owl box? In this case, we've already built the box, but we could give it away to someone in another location instead.

Thanks for any advice,

John Stith

[guine...@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/1/2021 9:29:15 AM Eastern Standard Time, john....@gmail.com writes:

 

So the question: Will putting up a bluebird box help attract them to our neighborhood's meadow? Or is this a waste of effort until we can actually confirm bluebirds ever come here?

 

My philosophy has always been, thanks to "Field of Dreams", if you build it they will come - that is if the box is placed well..

In possible, check for prevalence of predators in the area, such as snakes, house sparrows, cute little house wrens, racoons, opossums.

I've found them all destroying nests and killing bluebirds one way or another.

Also, a successful kestrel nesting can cause bluebird reduction.

I met a guy once who shot a Kestrel 'cause it ate "his" bluebird.

 

The tougher case is the Eastern Screech-Owl. There's used to be several eBird reports of screech-owls each year in the Takoma Park area, but suddenly there have been none since early 2018. The nearest recent observations are in Rock Creek Park, three miles away. In the woods behind our potential nest-box site there's already a breeding pair of barred owls most years. Also we are definitely putting up a box for kestrels along this meadow/forest edge, as we've had nesting kestrels here in the past.

 

The nesting barred owl may be one cause of the Screech owl's disappearance.

Hard to say.

Put up the box in the most agreeable location, stand back, see what happens.

 

So again, this is a question of whether a box could help bring a species that is not currently observed in the location. Would you bother putting up a screech-owl box? In this case, we've already built the box, but we could give it away to someone in another location instead.

 

If you give any boxes away be sure the folks know how to place & check it.

 

Always be prepared for both failure and success when dealing with Mother Nature and human manipulation.

 

Good luck & give it a try!

 

G Frantz

Reisterstown, Balto County

 

[Steve Long]

I think that birds will expand their ranges if they have both a food source and suitable nesting sites.  And remember that "suitable" means UNDISTURBED, as well as size, shape, height above ground, etc.  So, since you are planning to install these houses on park lands, you should probably consider the potential for disturbances by members of the public, especially for Bluebird houses, which are often set out in the open on posts at a convenient height for people to open them to clean them.

I have had luck with both species on my private properties, but those are in Anne Arundel and Talbot Counties, so no disturbances beyond my control.   I have had some competing species issues.  Gray Squirrels seem to like cavities suitable for Screech Owls, but the owls seem to eventually win.  And, their usual nesting places are high enough that they are unlikely to be disturbed by curious children or adults.  Screech Owls used a house about 9' up in a pine tree near our bedrooms for many years, even though I had designed it for Flickers and it had been chewed open and used by squirrels.  Bluebirds are more easily dissuaded.  Tree sparrows will compete for the same houses, but the two species will nest in close proximity, so pairs of  houses too close together for two nest of one species will get one of each in my Talbot County area.  A House Wrens is my current problem with my Bluebird houses.  One male House Wren will fill ALL of my Bluebird houses with stick to the point that no other birds use them, and that is so that the female will choose only ONE of those houses for an actual nest.  So, Bluebird houses do require some attention to make sure that they are AVAILABLE to the Blue Birds. Plus, they also need predator guards to keep snakes, etc. from raiding any nests that are built in them.

I think your best place to get good information is Cornell Labs https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/# . They were helpful in answering some questions for me, (incuding one about Screech Owls where the advice on this list ran counter to what I had read about raising their owlets).

Steve Long, Oxford

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[Steve Long]

Also see https://sciencing.com/direction-should-bluebird-house-face-5627646.html

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[John Stith]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! We decided to give our extra kestrel/screech-owl boxes to a local group with better locations. We're installing one box for kestrels and two for flickers, and if those go well maybe we'll add a bluebird box next year.

John