A Tale of Two Boxes: When Pairing Doesn’t Promote Peace
August 14, 2019By Dr. Mark Stanback, Professor of Biology, Davidson College
Tree Swallows On The Watch
Adult Tree Swallows will compete with Eastern Bluebirds for nest boxes.
Watching cavity-nesting birds build nests and care for young in our nest boxes is deeply satisfying. However, sometimes nature can be a bit red in tooth and claw. In particular, many nest box landlords can be disheartened or even upset when multiple species compete for a nest box: it’s not always a pretty sight. Sometimes one can observe chases and even violence. But often nest site competition is so subtle it’s practically invisible (to us). If a dominant species is simply able to monopolize the area around a nest box, subordinate species may not even attempt nesting. This is a natural part of the avian life cycle, and one that humans often have little ability to control.
This doesn’t mean that there is nothing we can do as nest box monitors to reduce nest site competition. Perhaps the simplest way to reduce such competition is to provide multiple nest boxes. Indeed, fans of Eastern Bluebirds in the upper Midwest long ago began to provide paired nest boxes to ensure that bluebirds were able to coexist with the more aggressive Tree Swallows. By installing boxes in pairs (close enough that both boxes are unlikely to fill with Tree Swallows), nest box monitors can ensure that their beloved bluebirds have somewhere to nest.
But what about cases where the bluebird, aided by its bigger body size, is the dominant species? In eastern North America, a standard bluebird box is likely to attract a variety of potential residents, many of them smaller than bluebirds. Body size is often a fairly reliable predictor of interspecific dominance, so it seems likely that larger species (Tree Swallows, bluebirds) might be able to monopolize boxes that smaller species could potentially use. How then, can one assist smaller birds like chickadees and Brown-headed Nuthatches if they are continually facing competition from larger birds like bluebirds? Could paired boxes ensure the coexistence of chickadees and bluebirds the same way that paired boxes allow bluebirds and Tree Swallows to nest peacefully side by side?
Eastern Bluebirds Scoping Out A Nest Box
Eastern Bluebirds can nest in boxes with holes as small as 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
On the Tolerance of Bluebirds
My students and I at Davidson College in North Carolina decided to test this. We installed identical nest boxes in pairs 10 meters (~33 feet) apart. Because Eastern Bluebirds are territorial, there was no way that two pairs of bluebirds would nest side-by-side. But would bluebirds allow smaller species, specifically Carolina Chickadees and Brown-headed Nuthatches, to use the box that they were not using themselves? Of course, the absence of a second species nesting beside a bluebird could be due to any number of factors. Consequently, we had two treatments that would allow us to narrow down what was going on. Some of the pairs consisted of two identical nest boxes (both with 1.5-inch entrance holes) while other pairs consisted of one box with a 1.5-inch entrance hole (“Big”) and the other with a 1-inch entrance hole (“Small”). The larger holes could accommodate bluebirds, chickadees, and nuthatches, but the smaller holes effectively excluded bluebirds.
If Eastern Bluebirds are intolerant of subordinate cavity-nesters breeding nearby (the Intolerant Bluebird scenario), we would expect to find similar (and low) occupancy by nuthatches and chickadees in box pairs of either type that contained bluebirds. If, however, bluebirds simply defend their own nest cavity (the Tolerant Bluebird scenario), we would expect to find similar (and high) occupancy by nuthatches and chickadees in box pairs of either type that contained bluebirds. Finally, if bluebirds guard all usable nest boxes in a small area (the Greedy Bluebird scenario), we would expect to find high occupation of “Big/Small” box pairs by nuthatches and chickadees and low occupation by these species of “Big/Big” box pairs.
Black-capped Chickadee Nest Box
Black-capped Chickadees can nest in boxes with entrance holes as small as 1 1/8 inches in diameter.
Bluebirds Exclude Their Small Neighbors
Combining two years of data, we had a total of 121 “Big/Big” pairs with a successful bluebird nest. We had 100 “Big/Small” box pairs with a successful bluebird nest. Of the 121 Big/Big pairs, 74% contained only a bluebird nest while 26% contained both a bluebird nest and the successful nest of a chickadee or nuthatch. Of the 100 Big/Small pairs, 18% contained only a bluebird nest while 82% contained both a bluebird nest and the successful nest of a chickadee or nuthatch. The difference between these distributions was highly significant. In other words, chickadee and nuthatch nests were significantly more common in Big/Small pairs than in Big/Big pairs. This demonstrates that Eastern Bluebirds tolerate smaller cavity-nesters adjacent to their own nest ONLY if the cavity being used by the smaller species is unusable by the bluebirds. When two identical bluebird-friendly boxes are placed near one another, the bluebirds apparently attempt to monopolize both boxes, even though they could only nest in one.
Under the Tolerant Bluebird scenario, bluebirds would be expected to defend only their own cavity and allow other species to use the other cavity—regardless of the hole size of the other box. This is not what we observed. We found high rates of multispecies occupancy only when the “other” box was unusable by bluebirds. This result also allowed us to refute the Intolerant Bluebird scenario, in which bluebirds would attempt to exclude all other cavity-nesters from nesting nearby—regardless of the size of the hole on the other box. Our results instead support the Greedy Bluebird scenario, in which bluebirds attempt to monopolize all the boxes that they could potentially use themselves. Smaller cavity-nesters were generally excluded from larger-hole boxes, but readily nested in boxes with 1-inch holes.
Big/Big vs. Big/Small Pairing
Bluebirds monopolize paired boxes when both entrance holes are large enough to accommodate bluebirds (left), but allow smaller species to nest in paired boxes that have smaller entrance holes (right). Click to enlarge.
Helping the “Little Guys”
Eastern Bluebird numbers have increased dramatically in eastern North America over the last half-century. Although the reasons for this are many, there is little doubt that nest box programs have facilitated this increase. While there may be truth in the saying “one size fits all” (a 1.5-inch hole does indeed accommodate most North American secondary cavity-nesters), we must also realize that competition among birds can prevent less-competitive species from making use of otherwise adequate (and available) nest boxes. Although pairing identical boxes appears to allow bluebirds and Tree Swallows to coexist, our results demonstrate that we cannot generalize this technique to smaller birds. Meaning, pairing identical “bluebird boxes” is not an effective strategy for promoting the coexistence of bluebirds and smaller cavity-nesters such as the Brown-headed Nuthatch—a species threatened by both habitat destruction and climate change. In the case of competition between Eastern Bluebirds, Carolina Chickadees, and Brown-headed Nuthatches, the best way to ensure that these smaller species have access to a nest box is to provide boxes that are “bluebird-proof” (i.e., equipped with a small entrance hole). Eastern Bluebirds undoubtedly represent a conservation success story, but it is time for us bluebird enthusiasts to think beyond this popular species and provide for the “little guys” as well.
Reference:
- Stanback, M. T., E. Niemasik, D. Millican, and P. McGovern. 2019. Pairing nest boxes does not promote coexistence of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and subordinate cavity-nesters. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 131: 422-427. https://doi.org/10.1676/18-93
38 comments on “A Tale of Two Boxes: When Pairing Doesn’t Promote Peace”
For 30+ years I have had 2 small entrance boxes and 1 Bluebird size entrance box about 30’ apart with the small ones on either side. Chickadees and Brown-headed Nuthatches nest without fuss, starting a few weeks before the bluebirds, and then the bluebirds nest.
Sometimes the nuthatches nest back to back and the bluebirds nest 3 times. Never had problems with nest selection once the small birds realized the big box was off limits to them.
Unfortunately, the researchers didn’t look at house wrens, a very aggressive box nester, in my experience. Chickadees have no chance against them. But chickadees are very plentiful, are they not?
Hi Gail, If you’re having issues with House Wrens, adding more boxes is still helpful. House Wrens like scrubby edge habitat, while chickadee prefer more forested habitat. Try placing more boxes in wren habitat to help reduce competition for the boxes.
Thanks for an interesting article. It definitely squares with what I have seen over the years installing thousands of nest boxes. A similar example: Here in North Central Washington, sometimes wrens will monopolize bluebird boxes spaced out at the recommended distance. But by putting bluebird boxes “too close” to each other, wrens will not tolerate another Wren close by but they will allow bluebirds or swallows. In other words we are using proximate placement to encourage species diversity because some birds seem more territorial with their own kind compared to different species. Anyway I think there’s a lot to be learned with this subtle approach to encouraging higher-density nesting and species diversity.
With regards to pairing boxes so that tree swallows and eastern bluebirds would readily co-exist, what do you find is the optimal distance to separate the 2 boxes, both with 1.5 inch holes?
Hi Dan, I’m not sure of any research that’s determined an optimal distance, as it likely depends on the species and habitat, but you can place boxes in pairs on poles 15 to 25 feet apart or even back to back on a single pole. Birds have been known to nest in boxes in both situations.
Great article. We have 8 bluebird size boxes around our property. We used to get a mix of chickadees and bluebirds. In recent years it has only been bluebirds. I wondered if perhaps the bluebird had established a “claim” on the boxes. Looks like putting up some small hold boxes would be a good move. Thanks for your research.
I was a cranberry farmer for 35 years. Think 50 acres of open fields with scores of boxes set up and well tended by neighbors who are birders. I never observed close habitation between bluebirds and tree swallows. Invariably, two boxes with any proximity would both be populated by tree swallows, with the earlier arriving bluebirds driven from their nested boxes as soon as the later swallows arrived and took over. In one 50 acre area, I saw only one apparently very tough bluebird successfully fledging young in a fifteen year period. This was in an area of about 20 boxes. All the other bluebirds were driven away from the boxes by swallows.
For several years, we have had one bluebird house and two small entrance boxes. We had bluebirds every year until 2019 and sporadically had Carolina chickadees and Bewick wrens in the small entry houses.
This finding is very helpful. I wonder how this might be practically applied to managing other dominant/subordinate bird situations. I live in a wooded area, so there are no Bluebirds around and the “bully” birds in my neighborhood tend to be House Wrens and House Sparrows. I’m not sure about the minimum hole size for House Sparrows, but the House Wrens would likely fit in 1″ diameter holes, right? Not sure then how to “save space” for Chickadees, who in this case are the subordinate species. Otherwise, one strategy that I have found helpful in providing for multiple bird species is placing some nest boxes very close to or on my house itself (which attracts the more human-friendly birds) and others situated away from the house (which attracts the more human-shy birds). Generally, the House Wrens, Chickadees and House Sparrows compete for the boxes situated close to or on the house. Nuthatches will use the nest boxes farthest away from the house. At first, House Sparrows were more likely to choose the house attic vents and other parts of the house’s structure over the nest boxes I had made available, but as the original nesting pair’s extended family grew over the years, the expanding flock started using the nest boxes. It’s possible that eventually the House Sparrows will take over and both the House Wrens and Chickadees might be shut out.
Hi Bridget,
If you use an entrance hole that is 1 1/8″, that will allow the chickadees and wrens to nest but exclude the House Sparrows. It would unfortunately also exclude the nuthatches and titmice, but they don’t use my boxes anyway.
I also live in a wooded area and mostly get chickadees and wrens. I have found that the House Wrens prefer the boxes furthest from the house, while the chickadees will nest in the boxes near/on the house/garage. So you may be right about “saving space” for the chickadees by providing small boxes on or near your home and some further away. And by making the entrance hole smaller, you can exclude the sparrows from the competition altogether.
I haven’t had bluebirds in any of my bluebird boxes for several years. One is always taken by European Finches/Sparrows. I remove the nesting material every week, but it always comes back. Another is always occupied by wrens. Once they are in, I leave them alone regardless of whether there are eggs yet. There have always eventually been eggs in the box. The third box is way out on my property, and sadly I don’t often get over to monitor it. I suspect it will have sparrows as well. I wish I could rid of them. Back in the day when I did get bluebirds, I’d often find that European sparrows would destroy the bluebird eggs or kill the chicks. I’ve even had adult bluebirds killed.
Hi best to get rid of the box that you cannot monitor that is likely producing more invasive house sparrows. Better no houses then letting then multiply. I trap them and dispose of them, only way to have bluebirds nest successfully
I found that putting nest boxes at a wildlife management area over a mile from the nearest occupied dwelling discouraged house sparrows. It appears they are literally HOUSE sparrows, and don’t like to be out in the boonies with no buildings around. Tree swallows loved it, and occupied every box. Then, after the tree swallows fledged, house wrens would nest in some of the boxes. I had time share nestboxes!
Thanks Robyn Bailey for the suggestion. I’ll keep 1 1/8″ in mind with the next nest box I place and see what happens 🙂
Robyn Bailey, just another thought: From observing the two or three pairs of (White-breasted) Nuthatches that nested on my property, I got the impression they are “edge” nesters. One pair nested in a box mounted on a large tree at the edge of the lot our house is built on, at the border between our backyard and our wooded lot. Another pair nested in a natural tree cavity in a tree along the road at the other end of our wooded lot. Just FYI if you wanted to experiment with nest box placement.
I made a EBB nestbox out of eastern cedar with a 1 1/2″ entrance hole but then I put on a large piece of bark from a fallen tree over the hole – the bark has a 1 1/4″ hole in it. I have a picture of an EBB flying by the entrance looking in but the box was eventually nested by a (black crested titmouse or maybe carolina chickadee?) Eggs were white with reddish brown spots – but did not see the nesting bird. The EBB did nest in another nest box about 200′ away and somewhat out of the way due to trees and cedar. I would upload the pics of the EBB and the eggs but I do not know how to upload at this blog.
I’ve heard that the 4 inch bluebird boxes are detrimental and kill off the swallows, yet assume those are the box sizes you refer to for swallow nesting. Are you seeing healthy swallows coming from the blue bird houses, or is it better to use 5×5 houses in case swallows live there?
Hi Chaz, You can find several recommended nest box constuction plans on our Right Bird, Right House tool. Our plans for bluebird and swallow boxes are the same – they are 5.5 x 5.5 inches.
Hello. Our problem is sparrows. Has anyone discovered a strategy favoring bluebirds over sparrows, besides evicting the sparrows every single morning/evening? Thank you.
Hi John, You might find our webpage on Managing Invasive Species helpful. Check it out here.
Nothing was mentioned about the Baudry bluebird box that was popular in the Green Bay Wisconsin area about thirty years ago. It was unique in that it had an open top which eliminated competing birds and many parasites. The opening was further protected by wire mesh over the top opening. My Baudry bluebird boxes were successful. It was my understanding that the success of these houses was ignored by EBB associations for unknown reasons.
I’ve read that open top boxes in areas that are susceptible to rain and cooler temperatures have been shown through study to result in more nestling deaths due to hypothermia from the wet nests and cooler temperatures.
What besides cats eat your birds? I have fed and kept birdhouses of all kinds for ten years at this home and all of a sudden I am finding injured birds and feathers all over my yard. I don’t see cats, so I wondered what could be getting my birds?????
Hi Christy, Many mammal species and larger birds eat small songbirds. Hawks, owls, raccoons, rodents, weasels, and many others could be possible culprits, however they generally eat their prey, unlike cats. And, cats can be very sneaky and avoid being seen. However, if you’re finding these birds near windows, it’s very possible they are striking the glass. If so, try putting up vinyl clings, paper, cardboard or netting to help break up the reflection .
One thing that I’ve learned and witnessed over the years is that each individual bird has its own personality. We had one eastern bluebird defend every single box on the property to the extreme. As soon as a chickadee or tree swallow landed on one of the boxes intended for them well away from the bluebird house he would immediately fly over and chase them off even though he had his own box. He eventually died and the next male bluebird couldn’t care less about the other boxes.
We also had a chickadee nest in a wren box with a 1 inch hole. Originally the wrens weren’t around but eventually migrated up when the chickadee was still nesting. I was expecting the house wren to destroy the nest and eggs but they never touched it. Later on they ended up nesting in the box after the chickadees fledged.
I’ve also tried pairing bluebird boxes with tree swallow boxes and the tree swallows were totally dominated. A lot of people claim the tree swallows will dominate the bluebirds but that was not the case with our birds.
Just goes to show you every bird is different some are much more aggressive than others at defending territories.
Savannagal, and others who have trouble with House Sparrows:
Experimentation has shown that a slot opening, or a two-hole box, will allow the Bluebirds to exit when attacked by House Sparrows, and then turn the tables on them by re-entering and attacking the Sparrow. A two-hole box is the same as a regular bluebird nest box, but you drill two holes in one side. A slot opening is easier, just leave a 1-3/16″ slot at the top.
Wrens drove out the chickadees and it seems most other birds also. We used to have both purple and yellow finches at our feeder and since we put up the wren box we never see them anymore.
I have 7 houses, 2 with hole restricters for Wrens and Chickadees. My success with Bluebirds had always been depending controlling the House Sparrows. The Bluebirds and Tree Swallows usually have few spats in the Spring but settle on a house and peacefully co-exit for the season. House Wrens are an occasional problem but usually stick the smaller hole houses.
I clean my houses in the Fall and start checking them long about January onward for House Sparrows. They don’t make their typical chirping at this time of the year but start early “camping out” in their house of choice. I make a visit around 9PM with an inspection mirror and an 8 inch long piece of wood closet bar. If I discover a sparrow, I plug the hole with the wood and remove a dead male sparrow 2 days later.
In the Spring, if the Bluebirds have at least one house uncontested, I let the sparrows work on the others. I check the sparrows every few days and remove any eggs. If I rip out the nests, I’ve had the sparrows attack the Bluebirds in their house, destroying eggs, killing young and adult alike. This method ties up some houses but leads to zero population growth of sparrows and keeps them preoccupied. Last resort – a very accurate pellet gun.
What works really well with keeping house sparrows at bay is a van ert trap and not ripping the house sparrow nest out leave it and oil the eggs good that’s why your blue birds are getting attacked and killed use the trap on their box and oil eggs don’t rip out nest it makes them act in it with aggression and they are taking it out on the bluebirds.
I have had never had bluebirds. iv’e been trying for years. all i get is wrens.
Bluebirders- Check out Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin for bluebird nest box information. They have a great 20+ page guide you can download on box design, placement, monitoring, pairing boxes, etc. They have also done research on box pairing everyone should check out.
Hi Gary, You can also find this information on our website in our Right Bird, Right House tool, Features of a Good Bird House infographic, and more all listed under our “Learn” tab.
What an absolutely superb study that I will most definitely make use of on my large trails. Thank you for taking the time to do this. What an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding.
Now, for those interested in wrens, I always try to think like that which I am studying, whether birds, snakes, insects, etc. When it comes to wrens, here’s a tip, 100% legal and allowed per managers and memorandums at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Migratory Bird Act. Do I remove entire new empty wren nests? No. Do I partially remove new, empty wren nests? Yes. Does this keep the wren from nesting in the partially removed wren nest. Absolutely not. They may still choose it. Does it keep them from building that nest back up to the top of the box. Yes. Does a partially removed wren nest, with the remaining wren nest shaped into a cup allow other birds like bluebirds, tree swallows, chickadees construct their nest over it? Always. Just as it would in nature. So, if you remove an entire unused wren nest, with a wren near, they will build it all over again, preventing any other bird from nesting. If you partially remove it, they will look in, see that everything appears OK and leave it alone while they very possibly pick that or another of their boxes that was also built. The bluebird, chickadee, etc will then build over one of the partially removed nests. I do it all the time and get birds other than wrens when, if not done, would only give me unused boxes. And, the wrens are perfectly happy. My goal is to make wrens happy, not angry. If I come home from work and you throw all my belongings out on the street, I will move them back into the house. If you partially remove my belongings, I might thank you for getting rid of my junk I didn’t need anyway.
Great article! I have no problems with my bluebird box and tree swallow box as long as I space them far enough from one another. And as far as house sparrows the van wet works great for that. My problem is the house wrens I have my chickadee boxes around my house landscaping because I think it deters the wrens a little. I used to let the wrens nest but they keep killing all my chickadee babies that are close to fledging even with a short wren guard on the box I’m ready to give up because the wrens are to aggressive even with available boxes on the property can anyone suggest anything? Should I just put the boxes away?
Hi Mic, House Wrens are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so if you happen to have trouble with them, management options are limited. As I’m sure you know, the MBTA means you may not legally remove nesting material, eggs, nestlings, or adult House Wrens from a nest box. If House Wrens are not wanted, it’s best to wait until after the breeding season is over to move your nest boxes away from shrubby areas, which are prime House Wren habitat. Another solution is to place an additional box or two in good wren habitat. This will give them a place to nest and decreases the chance that they will usurp boxes meant for other species. If you are aiming to attract chickadees to your boxes, they tend to like woodland and forested habitat, so placing boxes deeper into a forest/woodland may also help (again, away from a shrubby tree line).
After maintaining a bluebird trail of 30 boxes (now 55 boxes) for 42 years, I have learned anything is possible. I really like the idea of smaller and larger holes on paired boxes. I will try this. I am experimenting with a multiple hole tree swallow box.
I have had bluebirds nest successfully in a barn swallow nest in our cattle barn (2 years in a row); in our purple martin house; in both paired boxes (20 feet apart) at the same time; 2 years ago I had bluebirds nest in boxes 10, 11, 12, and 13 at the same time (boxes are 100 yards apart); this year I have bluebirds nesting at the sometime in boxes 51, 52, and 53 (again boxes are 100 yards apart). The pair in 52 have already fledged one brood in this box, immediately built a new nest and started the 2nd clutch. This part of the trail has fifteen boxes, 12 of the 15 are occupied. There are currently 40 tree swallow nestlings in those boxes.
We have 2 bluebird houses about 50 ft apart. Tree swallows took over first we put up so we added another after observing a fight between the male swallow and a male bluebird who tried to take over the nest box. After adding a second house it took only a couple hours until the bluebirds noticed it and claimed it. They live near each other in peace now. We had European sparrows nesting when we put up
the first house so I removed their nesting materials and we moved the birdhouse away from where they could find easy cover and we placed fishing line in the shape of an X on the roof and vertically on each side of the opening on the front of the birdhouse they never tried to enter it again. Thank you YouTube! We did the same on the second birdhouse before putting our outside and they have not bothered that one either.
I have the opposite problem. Too many chicadees taking over my bluebird boxes.