A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum BLUE BIRDS

I have a pair of blue birds in a tree in my backyard. They are lovely to watch. I think they may have a nest in this tree.

What can I do to keep them their? Should I put out feed for them? What kind of feed do they like?

Just to think that this is the tree that the company where we bought our new house wanted us to tear down. I am so thankful I stood my ground and refused to do it.

Thanks, Carla

I know they like mealworms....

Good for you on standing your ground with the tree.

i second that.

Eastern bluebirds like mealworm feeders I understand. They are cavity nesters so do NOT build their nests on the branches of a tree but build their nests in a hollow cavity like a hollow tree, hollow fence post, or a man-made nest box. To encourage them nesting, check your local wild bird store or wild bird section of a department store for a bluebird nesting box.

Hooray for carla.......
from one tree lover to another......

Send a blue bird photo,..

barb

CarlaH0318, go get a bag of raw unsalted peanuts in the shell. Get as close as you can without scaring them, and toss one toward them. Stand quietly and wait to see if one takes it. If they do, you're set, just offer peanuts to them regularly and they're your birds forever. If not, keep trying, and leave a couple of nuts out every morning where you think they'll see them.

The blue jays in my area figured it out really really fast, and now I can't get rid of them. It was really fun to watch my son sit still with a peanut on his knee until a blue jay finally got brave enough to land on his leg just long enough to grab it and fly off, but it gets a bit old to walk outside to go to work in a hurry and find myself surrounded by a dozen hungry blue jays and half a dozen begging squirrels. I don't feed them very often any more. Are your blue birds Blue Jays? There are photos of mine here so you can compare: http://butterflies.heuristron.net/others/bluejay.html
Hummm... I haven't looked at those in a while, and I have one more day of vacation and a newer camera. I think I'll be feeding the birds in the morning to see if I can get a better photo (I'll tell them to wish you a thank you lol), but those should be good enough to tell if we have the same kind of bird.

Must be real close ......Great photos there .

b

sososleepy, i think they are different birds than the jays. jays are agressive little things sometimes.

Here's the difference!

Blue JAY


Eats nuts. Likes Oak Trees, Pines, Woods,and Forests


bluebird!


Eats insects. Occasionally seeds or berries in Winter. Nests in cavities in trees, fence posts, or in man-made nest boxes. Likes open grassy fields with lines and/or small patches of trees. Shuns Forests and woods. If you wanna find bluebirds, think Golf Courses and horse pastures.

i WANNA think spring

Blue Jays also like dried cat food!!

Hi everyone,

About attracting Eastern bluebirds. I put up a nestingbox 6 feet up and facing the open yard. I did manage to attract a pair of treeswallows that raised their young.


It was so much fun to watch but I would still like to try and get some bluebirds. I have a feeder about 20 yards away that attracts cardinals, morning doves, bluejays, chickadees, titmouses, ect... have never seen a bluebird. I live in a small town with alot of woods around it.

Any suggestions on how to attract them?

Sunshineseeker,

Swell photo there ....I am from western Penna......
Ole Thorn will probably answer that question......He is the bird pro on here.
I am just starting on birds.

Wow love to see a photo of the red cardinals..........My pride and joys.

b

Hi Dodge,

Sorry, I currently don't have any pictures of the cardinals. This treeswallow mom was VERY cooperative with my picture taking. I currently only have a little point and shoot. I was only 6-8 ft away from her. When I try to get close enough to take pictures of the others they take off. To fix the problem I just ordered a Rebel Xti and lens. I'm hoping I'll get some nice pictures with it. If it works out in the yard I'll order a larger lens to use when I'm out and about. When I do get some of them I'll post them to you. Until then here's one of a butterfly....I think I saw you on another thread about them. Take care.

Thats real nice .........I have to look up the rebelxt1 ..
I cant get close to birds either. You had an excellent shot of that one.. Butterfly too..........

My newest is the canon

my older one is the Fujifilm......I love the camera for closeup but I got the Canon for zooming........Well maybe you can show us new tricks on photos and birds.

b

I'll be an absolute newbie with the camera. I read a bunch of reviews and picked the one the I thought would suit me the best. It has all the "dummie' buttons but I would also like to learn how to actually do the settings myself manually and try different effects. The nice thing about digital is you see the pictures right away and can just erase them if their bad and keep trying.

You got that correct....
Upload them , admire them and keep only what you choose.
It is so fun showing the stuff online in a matter of minutes......Our flowers and everything under the sun.


Yes you can change the colors of photos and much more.. ISO so it doesnt shake too much .

Lots to learn.

b

bluebirds like nest boxes in fence rows at the edge of grassy fields. They need to be about 5 feet above the ground and at leat 300 feet from any other nest boxes and human dwellings. Think horse pastures or golf courses and you will have an idea of the PERFECT habitat that bluebirds prefer. There are several large fields within a mile of my house that are ideal bluebird habitat and ARE full of bluebirds, thanks to the 40 bluebird nest boxes I built and put up about ten years ago. I had a bluebird in my yard yesterday. there are a couple of pairs that live and nest about 200 yards from my house. They probably WON'T nest in your yard but sometimes do. I have had them nest ibn the yard of one house I lived in, but it was a very large grassy yard and the box was fairly isolated. I've never had Tree Swallows nest in my boxes but I see quite a few near my house so they are around. The important thing to remember is that you need to have THREE things to attract any and all birds in your area to your yard. These are, food, water, and shelter. If you have these three things in the proper types and amounts, the birds WILL come.

I haven't seen Carla post again... Carla, do you have the beautiful blue bird that Thornius posted? Wow, I wish I had those!

Thanks Dodge, yes, as Jiffymouse said, my bluejays got very demanding once they figured out that I provide the peanuts, and they are not at all shy about hopping up right next to me and making all sorts of noises to let me know they want some. I've mostly stopped feeding them because they're such a pain to get past when I'm in a hurry to leave, but I still like them.