Anna,

I'm no expert on these matters but I visited a home near the head of
Discovery Bay sw of Pt. Townsend where several pairs of Western Bluebirds
are nesting in boxes put up by the owner, who, by the way, is the
proprietor of the Bird Shoppe or whatever it is called at the junction of
US 101 & SR 20 there. He has found that horizontal rectangular holes
discourage swallows but are readily accepted by the bluebirds. I forget
the man's name now, I regret to say.

Gene Hunn (hunn at u.washington.edu)


On Thu, 15 Sep 1994, Anna Coles wrote:

> Anna Coles here again, still about bluebirds. *Now* my husband says that
> the suggestion to trap/transfer bluebirds to the Kitsap Peninsula was
> given in jest. However, we were wondering how likely it would be for
> bluebirds to find boxes put up for them many miles (across a large body
> of water) from where they usually occur.
> Is there anything else we could do to attract them to our area?
>
> Also, is there a way to tip the balance for use of the boxes by bluebirds
> instead of English sparrows or starlings? I guess height is
> one--bluebirds will nest in boxes not too far off the ground, while the
> others prefer higher nests? We noticed some strange-shaped boxes on
> fences this summer: tapered till the bottom front met the bottom back.
> Were those for bluebirds? I didn't see how *any* birds could make a nest
> in those boxes! Any Tweeters have experiences with or know of those boxes?
> Thanks again! --Anna Coles, Seattle/Kitsap County acoles at u.washington.edu
>
>