This wildlife program highly successful

 One wildlife management plan that has been very successful for me here at our home in Nolalu has been the placing of nesting boxes for Eastern Bluebirds. In the 35 years that I have placed out boxes there have been at least one pair of nesting birds each year. This year I believe we had two nesting boxes occupied at the same time and at least one of those females also had two clutches. An unusual twist to the nesters this summer was that while there were two females, there seemed to be only one male.

I place out pairs of nesting boxes, about 15 yards apart. This system allows tree swallows to claim one of the boxes. They are normally the more aggressive species and nest earlier than the bluebirds. They are also territorial and will defend their nesting area against other tree swallows. This leaves the second box open for the docile bluebirds. 

Both species are wonderful birds to have around your house. The swallows gulp down large quantities of flying insects while the bluebirds concentrate on crawling bugs. Bluebirds hunt by sitting on a perch and watching for bugs and caterpillars on the ground. They prefer to hunt over bare ground such as you would find in a garden although they will also settle for the short grass in a lawn. Our bluebirds also do well in fields where the vegetation isn't more than about six inches.

Bluebirds are fairly common in many areas of eastern North America now thanks to nesting box programs. As recently as the '80s they were considered a threatened species. European starlings and house finches (another import) had pushed the little birds out of their nesting cavities. The nesting boxes are designed to fit the bluebird but not the starling. If placed in open areas away from buildings they will also not attract the house finch. 

When it comes to attracting bluebirds three things are paramount: location, location, location. The birds want the box to be far away from forest or buildings. The more exposed the location, the better. The birds know exactly what the boxes are meant for. The farther away they can spot a box, the more likely that box will be found. They do have a couple other preferences, such as a bush or small tree 10 yards in front of the box for the young to fly to as well as perches not too far away to hunt from. However, you can decoy-in bluebirds to your property simply by putting a house right in the middle of an expanse, then let them find your pairs of boxes in other areas that provide the other requirements.

We still have the last nest of fledgling bluebirds hunting bugs at our house. This despite three nights of frost. I would expect them to migrate any day now.