I use the Kingston stovepipe wobbly baffle, designed by Ron Kingston, Charlottesville, VA. This is basically a baffle to ward off ground predators; i.e., snakes, raccoons, cats, field rats, and mice. It is considered one of the best guards out there for most ground predators. It’s not 100% fullproof, but it’s worked well for many bluebirders, including me, for most boxes. Black Rat Snakes are my #1 ground predators for my boxes. The other ground predator possible are ants, which do not seem to be a problem on my trail. This baffles does NOT hold back ants.
http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/pages/new_box_grd.html
To view some predator guard plans, click to this URL to the Virginia Bluebird Society’s page on guards:
http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/pdf/guards_2.pdf
http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/pdf/Kingstonbaffle.pdf
Stovepipe is 8" by 2 feet long and the Noel guard is made of a heavy guage hardware cloth, difficult to bend.
I also use the Noel hardware cloth wire guards for over the entry hole. Being a member and County Coordinator for the Virginia Bluebird Society, we are asked to use these guards since Virginia has many avian and ground predators, particularly the raccoon. It also helps any ground predators that gets on top of a box, like the raccoon, to not be able to reach inside the entry hole and remove eggs or chicks or hurt an incubating female! (Again, many thanks for Carl’s help in making these.)
Nesting bluebirds liked this box.
OTHER PREDATORS:
The House Sparrow (see HOSP Control page) and the House Wren (HOWR) are predators to bluebirds and their young. House Wrens can attack bluebird eggs and nestlings. There is a video of the House Wren attacking bluebird nestlings on my Problems page. The House Sparrow is a killer of our native birds. Jays and other avian predators, even woodpeckers, can bother our cavity nesters.
INTERESTING PHOTO SHOOT SERIES IN A NOEL GUARD:
BELOW is a series of five photographs taken on June 12, 2009, of a bluebird couple both entering and exiting the box and guard at the same time. As you’ll see in the photos below, she arrives with grub, feeds her chicks, stays inside the guard, he arrives with grub, he feeds her some, they pass each other, he enters the box while she watches, she leaves the box and guard, she flys to the box roof and waits, he exits the box with a fecal sac. After that, they both left to look for more food. Interesting activity indeed! This all happened 5 minutes after I did a nest switchout from a blowfly infested nest to a clean nest saved from a previous brood from another box earlier in the season. This photo series is a good indication to me as a monitor that the parents return quickly after I did the nest switchout and have no issue with using a nestbox with an installed Noel guard. (Please note that the foliage behind the box is farther back than what appears in the photos, a slight optical illusion with the focus of the lens on the camera that day. I try to keep my boxes as far away from thickets as possible. These bluebirds really like this box and location — this box did well in the 2008 season.)
RETURN TO THIS SITE’s HOME PAGE: http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/
Does the wire noel guard deter The House Sparrow and the House Wren?
Thanks, Marianne
By: Marianne on April 5, 2011
at 3:06 PM
Hi, Marianne. It has not deterred the House Wren on my trail. I only have a House Sparrow problem in one area, an in-town location, but it’s my TEST box (see my tabbled page for info on that test box); that box does not have the Noel guard on it because it’s a two-hole box. After the test box is completed after the 2012 nesting season, I would like to install another box somewhere in that area to see if it does indeed deter the House Sparrow. If the House Wren has enough assertiveness to enter a box with one, I’m thinking the House Sparrow might also. I certainly can ask some of my fellow County Coordinators in Virginia to see what they say about it and can update this post with another reply in the near future. Thanks for asking this question–it’s an excellent one!
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on April 8, 2011
at 2:26 PM
Would the modified noel guard (made from a plastic milk carton) deter House Wrens?
In 2010, I had a BC Chickadee nest in a box with a hole that may be borderline too small for a House Sparrow. As soon as the House Wren came back, it proceeded to remove the Chickadee nest. I hope that the young Chickadees had already fledged, but I am not sure.
I would prefer that the Chickadees could have a successful brood.
Thanks again!
By: Marianne on April 8, 2011
at 2:52 PM
I’ve not heard of the milk carton approach. However, if you need really good info on how to deter the House Wren , I suggest the best bluebirds website out there, compliments of Bet Zimmerman at: http://www.sialis.org/wrens.htm(Remember, it’s a protected native species; so by federal law, we monitors are not allowed to remove nests and eggs and young of the HOWR–we ARE ALLOWED, however, to remove “dummy nests” — this is when the HOWR fills up a nestbox with just sticks to the the ceiling so no other bird species can use that nestbox–a territorial thing the HOWR does. It takes some learning to distinguish the differences between a dummy nest and a REAL HOWR nest. Believe me, I know, as I’ve made the mistake of taking a HOWR nest out that wasn’t a dummy nest! Thankfully, I was able to fix my own problem without harming the birds–I learned quite a bit that day! Learning about all native cavity-nesting birds is what’s good about monitoring. I do know that the HOWR can cause havoc on other birds’ nests, including throwing out the babies of another species. I have a video posted on my site about it….under PROBLEMS.
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on April 8, 2011
at 7:10 PM
I know it will not deter the House Wren, as I’ve seen them use one of my boxes and bring up a brood with the Noel hardware cloth guard over the entry hole with no problems. Whether it deters House Sparrows remains to be seen. I’ve heard from other bluebirders they think it has deterred them. It needs to be tested. I can certainly write to some of our Virginia Bluebird Society monitors/coordinators, and ask them about it and try to get back here to update this post in the near future with another reply. If anyone reading this knows, feel feel to post a reply here. Thanks!
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on May 3, 2011
at 11:34 PM
Your site looks absolutely awesome! I love it and you should be proud! I see you already have over 2k hits. WOW! Keep up the good “birding”…can’t wait until our trip to the Bluebird Convention. I’m really getting excited…
By: Lenore on August 7, 2009
at 6:45 PM
I’m glad you have enjoyed what you’ve seen. The intent is not only to share the joy of bluebirding but also to educate what bluebirding is and why we are so passive about it. The main goal is to help the birds be successful. Bluebirds have a lot going for them and a lot going against them. Human intervention has helped them in the past decade to come back in greater numbers and survive through nestboxes, predator guards, and installing those boxes in habitat that helps them be successful in breeding and fledging bluebirds.
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on August 13, 2009
at 4:24 AM