This message is from: Lori Albrough <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Bonnie wrote:
This message is from: Bonnie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This year I put bluebird houses up all around our property. The
neighbors have many bluebirds and I was looking forward to having some.
It looks like quite a few houses are now inhabited by barn swallows. I
am surprised by this because they like their mud nests and I would not
think they would use a box. While I love swallows, I am bummed because
you know what they are like - once they nest somewhere they always come
back.
Tree swallows will nest in our bluebird boxes. You can open the box in
fall and tell what nested by the appearance of the nest, but tree
swallows don't do mud nests, like barn swallows.
Tree swallows are fairly aggressive about defending their nest box from
other birds. They will definitely defend their box from other tree
swallows, but we have found they will allow bluebirds to nest "nearby".
We have had success with putting pairs of boxes 30 or so feet apart.
Tree swallows will take the first box and defend it from all comers, but
will allow bluebirds into the second box, and the tree swallows will
defend THAT box from other tree swallows also. Before we did that it was
hard to get bluebirds to use our boxes.
Both tree swallows and bluebirds are beautiful and eat lots of bugs -
good for people and Fjordhorses!
Lori
--
Lori Albrough
Bluebird Lane Fjords
R.R.#3 Moorefield Ont Canada N0G 2K0
phone: 519-638-5598
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.bluebirdlane.com
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