Evening star., 1947-02-05
This and That
By Charles E. TraceWeH.
ARLINGTON, Va.

"Dear Sir:
do YOU know how we can protect the
baby bluebirds from the blue jays? Last
year I wrote you about how they de-
stroyed all of them in house a few
feet from the porch.
"They left afterward, but returned in
six weeks with two babies. just learning
to fly. You can imagine our delight,
and we have wondered where they found
safer place.
"We are expecting them again and
have thought of placing their houses
With the openings facing toward the
body of the tree or other background.
There would be just space enough
for the bluebirds to enter, but not TO-
the blue jays long neck and bill.
"The houses are built with the open
ings inches from the bottom. They
usually use so much nesting material,
though, that it is half filled.
do you think this plan would work,
or do you know better? Something
certainly should be done.
"Words cannot express the enjoyment
we have from your column.
Respectfully, L. T."
X X
This letter gives additional proof of
the contention of this column, that blue
birds are not helpless when run out of
a nesting box, but go to some safer
place.
Usually this Is the woods. Bluebirds
are gentle creatures, but no fools; they
long ago put into effect the ancient Chi
nese saying, ''Of the % ways of getting
out of trouble, the best is to run away"
Some persons profess to believe that
bluebirds cannot fight back, in any real
sense, but must be destroyed, with their
Young. upon any attack by sparrows,
jays or others.
Nothing could be farther from the
truth. Not only do these lovely birds
refuse to yield, in some instances, but
always they have enough sense to fly
away to another place, if the attacking
force is too great for them.
It is true, of course, that some babies
are lost every year. This is true of prac-
tically all species. Even thunderstorms
destroy some nestings.
In the main,. however, the bluebird
holds it's own fairly well and partly
achieves this by fight, when necessary.
Driven from one spot, it goes to another,
and finds in the forests and small wood
ed patches the protection it cannot find
in the cultivated garden and around the
houses of man.
Our correspondents scheme sounds
as If it might work, provided the blue
birds will try it.
The distance between house wall and
tree trunk or post should not be more
than liz inches.
The hole of the bluebird house is usu-
ally placed no more than 6 inches from
the floor.
AS explained here many times, blue
bird boxes are very likely to be invaded
by English sparrows.
The solution is to place the house no
more than feet from the ground, and
this might be tried by our correspondent.
Another house should be placed in the
normal fashion, door out, preferably
faced south.
In this way the visitors would have
a choice, and future plans could be laid
by what they 90, and how they act IN
relation to the tree-faced house.
Certainly no amount Of trouble is too
great, if it will induce these beautiful
birds to nest.
Experimentation with bird houses is
necessary, for birds are capricious; that
is, the human element in the scene
cannot be sure what their thoughts are,
and so the only way to know what
pleases them and what does not Is to
try various ways OF appealing to them.
Lack Of this personal experimentation
no doubt accounts for much OF the fall
ure with bird houses, put up with such
high hopes, but snubbed by the birds.