A delightful note (Jan. 25) from one Walter Knapp on the American
<naturerecordists> mailing list included:
>
> I was out today replacing bluebird nestboxes on our front "lawn". I
> retired 4 20 year old boxes that were beyond repair, 4 of the original
> boxes remain, though two are in areas too brushy for bluebirds and are
> used by other birds. Then we were working our way along setting new
> posts and new cedar boxes.
>
> We attracted a crowd, a group of male bluebirds that were following
> along supervising. The moment we would move from a new box there would
> be a dash to check it out. Not a lot of fighting yet, but they are
> warming up. By the time we finished putting up the four new boxes we had
> made they all had bluebird males on them. And one woodpecker who tried
> out each one for sound effects. They even followed as we put up 8 more
> posts for boxes we have not made yet. I've had bluebirds grab boxes only
> a day or two after I put them up, but never following around and
> grabbing as we got done like this.
>
Walter offered some further advice (Jan. 27) that might be relevant for
anyone putting up nesting boxes here in Australia. I've not delved into the
subject of nesting boxes, and maybe it's already being done, but just in
case:
>
> One thing I realized I failed to mention. I normally score the inside of
> the front board below the nest hole. Makes it easier for the young to get
> out, the adults seem to fly out straight from the floor. I just set the
> saw height so it will only cut about 1/8" into the board and saw several
> runs only in the center of the board below the hole. Kind of ladder
> rungs for them.
>
Confirmation of the desirability of doing this came from a Mark Phinney:
>
> Excellent point about scratching up the interior of the box, Walt. The
> insides of natural cavities certainly aren't like finished lumber! I learned
> that the hard way many years ago....put up a nice (or so I thought) box for
> tree swallows...one soon checked it out, and I heard it scuffling around
> inside the box for quite awhile. I thought it was merely 'inspecting', but a
> check on progress a couple days later revealed a DEAD tree swallow...and it
> hadn't been cold, nor had other birds been in the box. Apparently the design
> was such that the bird couldn't quite fly back up to the hole, and was
> trapped. As you say, it's likely more important for the chicks than the
> adults, but I've never made another box without some sort of 'ladder' up to
> the hole; I often staple some screening or wire mesh if I don't have the saw
> nearby.
>
So, do Australian-made nest boxes have "ladders"?
That's just about talked me into trying to inveigle kookaburras to nest in
our tiny, 16 perch (pun intended) allotment. I've got trees. They
sometimes visit. Kookaburra nest box dimensions, anyone?
Syd Curtis
(in Hawthorne, Brisbane)
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