Several years ago, my husband took some old fence boards he was replacing and recycled them into bluebird boxes. One side of each box opens to facilitate cleaning out the box when necessary. It also provides a way to take a peek inside without disturbing a nest.
We had bluebirds to “visit” off and on for several years, but none ever made a nest in any of our boxes. We haven’t had any bluebirds in our neighborhood the last couple of years, but we always have chickadees! This year, we watched a pair of chickadees making a nest in one of the boxes. Apparently, they sometimes build more than one nest, “committing” to one and leaving the other for backup. This particular nest turned out to be the alternate, backup nest.
Notice the foundation of the nest is made of moss, and then there are leaves, feathers, pine straw, and other soft things on the top. Think how many trips it took with little bits of moss and other items in a bird’s beak to construct this nest!
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