Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

Construction Difficulty

moderate difficulty moderate

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Nesting Range

Eastern Bluebird Range
Source: Birds of the World

Nesting Habitat

  •  icon Grassland
  •  icon Open Woodland

Attach Nest Box To

  • Pole icon Pole

Known Nesting Period

Not Nesting
Some Nesting Occurrence
Nesting in Most of Range
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Source: Birds of the World

Nest Box Placement

Height Range From Ground

4ft
6ft
4–6 feet

Spacing Between Nest Boxes

300 feet

Facing

Entrance hole facing visualization
East

Nest Box Measurements

Entrance Hole Size

Entrance hole size visualization 2 1/4

Nest Box Depth (inside)

Nest box depth visualization 9

Nest Box Width and Length

Nest box width and length visualization 5 1/2 5 1/2

Helpful Tips

  • Position the nest box so that the entrance hole is facing east and towards open habitat.
  • To decrease competition from Tree Swallows, you can pair nest boxes about 15–20' apart, with pairs of houses about 300' from each other.
  • Clean out old nests as soon as a brood fledges so that the nest box can be used for a second nest attempt.
  • If House Sparrows are a problem, consider drilling a second entrance hole beside the first one (so that there are two separate but identical holes on the front panel) to enable bluebirds to better defend boxes from sparrows.