Male Bluebird Thinks House Infested By Rivals

[Alfred Maley]

A mate to the female Bluebird that is incubating in a box in our back yard believes that our house is infested with rivals, and that he must repel every one of them, all day long. He is assisted by many bushes live and dead trees arranged around the house as perches for flycatchers in summer and feeder birds in winter. They allow him to rest briefly between strikes on 14 windows on the house.

Mrs. Blue was heard to comment “Where did I find this jerk?”. But soon all that energy can be directed to catching bugs on our “No Mow May” lawn, unless he actually beats his brain out first.

Locally, a Sandhill cCane was photographed on May 3 in the Atkinson portion of the nearby Sawmill Swamp, a long-expected event.

Al Maley
Hampstead, NH

[Sallie Barker]

Hi Al, 

With a similar problem last year, we have taped long silver Mylar strips(wrapping paper ribbon) at our very window-y house for a bit. So far so good: no hammering and no window strikes. I wanted to avoid so many polka dots from window Alert’s UV Liquid. 

Having this problem is well worth it for the rest of us- I always love your story-writing skills!

Sallie

Sent from my iPhone

On May 6, 2026, at 7:25 AM, Alfred Maley <alfre...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Corinne in Bedford, NH]

I have the same situation in Bedford!  First time with a bluebird though. 

Last year it was a Robin who was larger and even more agressive.

They really mess up the windows and poop on the railings and decks!