Wildlife Gardening: Who has Eastern or Western Bluebird trails?, 1 by von76

von76 wrote:
Magpye, I mount my boxes on real steel pipe because that is what I have. The pipe extends beyond the top of the box so that they provide a perch for the males to sit on also. When I mount a sparrow spooker into the top of the pipe, this provides a T (see the picture). I find most of the birds do like to sit up there and to hunt from there also. I'm not sure what to say about fence posts. I've seen trails like you describe all along the turnpike in upstate NY. I would not mount my boxes on wooden posts. Maybe someone figures that even if they lose a few nests full of nestlings, the sheer size of their trail will make up the difference. I don't think monitoring can help since most predators are around at night. How frequently can they possibly monitor a large trail? I figure no more than once a week. I only have 3 boxes. Lately, I've been trying to decide how much intervention is really ideal. I think that the first year, my goal was to learn and so I monitored daily. That leads to a more emotional tie to the birds that I feel is healthy for me or them, so I have cut back. I will do everything possible to control sparrows and keep them safe from predators, but I feel that too much intervention might just be encouraging a weaker species. I don't know though........just food for thought.

Equil, you are welcome!