# bluebird nesting in MN



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

How long do bluebirds nest in MN? Do they nest more than once?

I just saw one checking out a nest box and a week ago saw another one leave a different nest box.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

blue jay , is that what you mean by blue bird 

I don't know about they nesting time line , but they can be very protective of the nest and small bird , i got to close once when i was a kid and it made a pass at my head , came real close brushed my hair , making noise and flapping wings , it was not happy

then again one of the chicks had fallen out of the nest and i went to pick it up , so i was probably way to close , but i had to do some thing the dog was going crazy with the bird on the ground in they yard


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## momagoat61 (Mar 30, 2008)

FYI> Blue Jays don't use nesting boxes!


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

TWO Typically, two broods are raised during the nesting season.


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

My mother took care of a small bluebird trail years ago in Green County, WI. Bluebirds use nest boxes. In the upper Midwest they be would Eastern bluebirds, not Mountain or Western. They usually have more than one batch of chicks each year. If something happened to the box they used for the first batch, or they felt unsafe, they could indeed be looking for new digs now.

Here is a link to the Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota: http://bbrp.org/

Wisconsin has a very active state bluebird group too and may have useful information: http://braw.org/

Peg


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Thanks. With our late spring it probably pushed the nesting season back.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I think i have seen one of them . but we it isn't a common thing for me to see , i might have thought it was a red breasted nuthatch even if i had seen more 
i see lots of cedar wax wings , finches and many others outside my kitchen window , some really colorful ones half or more of i don't know the names of i was just looking at a bird chart and i think i saw a summer tanager earlier this year or something that looks a lot like it , but sparows and chickadees are the most common small birds we see 

we do get a fair number of cardinals and occasionally blue jays 


my kitchen window looks into a nice cedar tree , that attracts a lot of small birds 

I should probably get a book of birds to keep by the window so i can learn some more names.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

That would be a great way to learn who's visiting your feeder.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I should probably get a book of birds to keep by the window so i can learn some more names


Get a Peterson Field Guide
They are the easiest to use:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/peterson/birds.cfm


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

For an online field guide, these guys are very good. 
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/eastern_bluebird/id

Bluebirds need open land and nest on the edges. You can build and put up bluebird nesting boxes on the fence posts along pastures. They were real scarce for a while because of the lose of nesting places so there was a big push to put up the nesting boxes. Just like with the wood ducks. 

I think the bluebirds are really pretty but the indigo buntings are even prettier.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I'm pretty sure that there is a bluebird nesting in the house in my yard. I've seen one sitting on the house and one in the entrance.


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