| The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Eastern Bluebird Nestbox is constructed with Red Cedar. Wood stock is rough-cut on
both sides so birds can grip interior and exterior surfaces.
It has a 5" by 5" floor
(inside dimensions), 12" floor to ceiling (inside front), 1 1/2" diameter
entrance hole located 10" above the floor (to top of hole) and ventilation openings
in the floor and under the roof.
The hinged roof provides easy access
for monitoring and cleaning. Shutter hooks secure roof in closed position.
Pilot holes in both primary and secondary work pieces makes for easy assembly in minutes.
For Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, mount in woodland edges
near clearings within the proximity of lowlands and water, from just out of reach to
twenty feet - no more than can safely be reached and returned to for yearly maintenance.
Installations out of reach should be installed and maintained by professionals:
carpenters, electricians, power line workers, etc.
Since the Sapsucker often excavates
new cavities (often in the same tree), it might make sense to fill the box with wood
chips, or half full, it's debated.
For
Eastern
Bluebirds mount houses on fence lines on the sides of posts facing the next post. The
recessed position helps avoid cattle or other large animals that like to rub against them.
Make a "bluebird trail" of several houses
about 100 yards apart; further in wide open expanses and closer in clearings of wooded
areas.
Monitor the boxes for unwanted squatters. Deter
predators with steel posts or sheet metal wrapped around wood posts. Avoid shade, but also
avoid direct sunlight through the entrance if possible.
Tree Swallow
Nestboxes placed between bluebird nest boxes invite good
neighbors that will help defend against sparrows, but
the bird houses also invite sparrows, so monitor the swallow houses as well as the
bluebird houses.
See assembly instructions and complete
plans below.
Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice,
Wrens, Tree and Violet Green Swallows (and sparrows) may use this nest box.
Resources
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