Date: 11/21/25 1:41 pm From: Evelyn Cooper via groups.io <emcooper34...> Subject: Re: [labird] Bluebird winter behavior
Bluebirds check their nestboxes in the fall just like they do in the
spring. Several times, I have found a mini-nest started in the fall. In
fact, some of my boxes I drive by year round and I see a pair sitting there
year round. Many years ago, I was involved in a study with the North
American Bluebird Society and had to check the boxes weekly and keep
records. Believe me, that is where I learned plenty about bluebirds.
Evelyn Cooper
Delhi, LA
On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM Michael Cavanaugh via groups.io
<michaelcav...> wrote:
> Friends, We've only had bluebirds in our yard a few years, but of course
> we love them. They have nested in the box we built for them for the last 3
> years.
> But this year they exhibit some behavior I am curious about. After
> fledging they disappeared for a month or so (probably they were feeding
> with other bluebirds we saw in a large mowed field nearby), but then they
> started coming back. It may be anthropologizing them, but it SEEMS they
> are checking on their nest-box. Anytime a large collection of birds
> appears (for example when our watering system is on), the bluebirds appear
> too, and drive off anyone who lands on their nest-box just as if it were
> nesting season. From my reading in ethology, I suspect this is an "innate
> releasing mechanism" that is an independent variable from actual nesting
> behavior. See rival on box = attack rival on box. But I'd love to have
> this suspicion challenged, and the real reason explained. Even if the real
> dynamic is my projection of what I'm seeing onto a template that can't be
> supported scientifically. Yours,
> Michael Cavanaugha mile and a half south of LSU
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