Attracting bluebirds to your yard

Attracting bluebirds to your yard can be quite a challenge if you do not know exactly what to do. Here are some tips: Bluebirds love fresh running water for drinking, so add a birdbath with a dripper to your garden so that they can bath, drink, and splash around. Some people add a waterfall rock to their birdbath for variety.

Be sure to plant the right plants that provide a natural source of food for bluebirds such as eastern red cedar, holly, pokeweed, flowering dogwood, and American elderberry.

You should also make sure that you have the correct housing for bluebirds so that they nest in your yard. Bluebirds compete with sparrows and starlings for housing, so the nestbox should be made to deter these competitors. The nestbox needs to be made of wood with a 1 1/2″ entrance hole. Do not add a perch. You also want to make the inner dimensions are exactly 4″ x 4″ . This is nice and cozy for Eastern bluebirds and not quite large enough for other birds. The height of the nestbox can be 8″ to 12″ high.
The nestbox needs holes on the bottom to let water drain properly. You should clean the box after the fledglings leave to encourage the female to have more broods in the same nestbox.

The nestbox should be about 5 1/2 feet off the ground in open land (not wooded areas) with a tree 50 feet away so that fledglings can land safely and closely to their nestbox while practicing.

Good luck! These birds are truly spectacular to watch!

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