2 responses to “Eastern Bluebird (Male) sits on Nest Box”

1. Christine Ogan says:

   February 8, 2021 at 3:13 pm

   How do Ii attract Eastern bluebirds to the nesting box I put on a post near where the birds eat meal worms from the place where I feed them. They come and go all day long but don’t even investigate the nest awaiting them We live in north central Florida

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   • Holly Grant, Project Assistant says:

     February 9, 2021 at 8:14 am

     Hi Christine, We don’t recommend keeping food near a nest box. This can increase the risk of predators to the box (who may be attracted closer than they would be normally by the food). In any case, Eastern Bluebirds have several preferences that you can learn about if you scroll down on this page and read more general recommendations on this page. For example, they need a specific size entrance hole, to be 300ft from another Eastern Bluebird nest, and they prefer to nest in open meadows or open woodland. If your box fits all of these preferences on the webpages, it’s possible the birds might just need time to get used to the box. Birds will sometimes take up to a year to nest in newly placed boxes. In any case, there’s no way to 100% guarantee a bird to use a nest box. We can make it the best it can be, but ultimately, it’s up to the birds to choose to nest there. If you have more questions please email nestwatch@cornell.edu.

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