Trees and plants for bluebirds, advice about bluebird house placement
Eastern bluebird - United States Geological Survey photoIf you want to attract bluebirds year after year, consider planting some of the fruit-bearing trees and other plants that they like. Fruits are an important part of their diet, though they eat insects, snails, and spiders as well. Here are some of their favorites:
| Fruit-bearing trees for bluebirds: Dogwood Redcedar Wild cherry Serviceberry Sumac Bayberry Holly Hackberry | Other fruit-bearing plants for bluebirds: Pokeweed Virginia creeper Poison ivy Mistletoe Wild grape Blackberry Elderberry Bittersweet Blueberry |
Where to place a bluebird nestbox:
In unspoiled nature, bluebirds nest in holes or cavities in dead trees. Obviously, dead trees don't have much foliage around the nest area -- just vines, at most. Bluebirds prefer their man-made houses to be placed in similarly open areas. They don't like a birdhouse that is hidden within a bushy clump of leaves and branches.
A steel fencepost in the longest size that you can find (7 ft. is generally available) makes a good, inexpensive pole for mounting a bluebird house. The steel post is difficult for animal predators to climb and if the box is mounted at the top of it, it is at an adequate height to satisfy bluebirds.
Bluebirds (and many other birds) prefer to nest near a source of water. If you don't have a stream or pond, provide a birdbath and be sure to tend to it.
Bluebirds are territorial. They are require at least a 100-yard circle of "private property". If you live in a neighborhood of closely-spaced houses and your next-door neighbor has a bluebird nest in his birdhouse you probably won't get a nesting pair in your yard. However, you'll still be able to enjoy the birds as they come to your yard to feed on the fruit you've provided for them!
Related post: Eastern redcedar: A tree that birds love
"The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers."
1 comments -- please add yours:
I have several hackberry trees on my property and would have to agree with the "warty" bark description. Very distinctive and easily recognizable, aside from the green, pea-sized "berries".
I've also cut up some hackberry wood from storm damage. Splits easily but takes forever to dry down. Tried buring some that I thought was ready in our fire pit only to watch the water bubble and ooze out of the end grain. I live in central Illinois (Heyworth).
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