Bluebirds are beautiful songbirds that add color and life to backyards across North America. As temperatures drop in fall and winter, many bluebirds migrate south to warmer climates. However, some bluebirds, particularly Eastern and Western Bluebirds, may stick around for the winter if food and shelter resources are available.
If you have bluebirds that visit your yard regularly or nest on your property, here are some tips to help them survive the cold winter months:
Provide Food and Water
Food can be scarce for bluebirds in winter, so providing supplemental food sources is crucial. Mealworms are an excellent high-protein food source that bluebirds love. Offer dried mealworms in a feeder or platform feeder filled with sand. Live mealworms can also be offered in moderation. Suet feeders stocked with insect or fruit suet mixes also make great winter food sources.
Offering a heated birdbath provides bluebirds with unfrozen water for drinking and bathing. Use a birdbath heater or a solar-powered heating element designed for birdbaths. Refresh the water daily to keep it clean.
Offer Winter Roost Boxes
Bluebirds need a sheltered place to sleep at night during winter. Installing properly constructed nest boxes specifically designed for winter roosting provides crucial shelter. Choose a nest box made of insulating wood like cedar and place it 5-10 feet off the ground, oriented away from prevailing winds. The entrance hole should be 1.5 inches across. Face the entrance hole south or southeast.
You can further modify the nest box by installing a ventilation hole on the top and drilling drain holes in the bottom to prevent moisture buildup inside. Leave the nest box up year-round so bluebirds can use it for winter shelter and nesting come spring.
Provide Natural Shelters
In addition to roost boxes, ensure your yard also offers natural shelter options like dense hedges and conifers where bluebirds can get out of the elements. Evergreen trees and shrubs provide protective cover from wind and snow. Leave tree snags standing, as bluebirds may roost in old woodpecker cavities.
Put up brush piles that bluebirds can huddle inside. Use pruned branches, sticks, and logs to create loosely piled shelters. Position the brush piles near trees or hedges to provide additional wind protection.
Choose Bird-Friendly Landscaping
Evaluate your landscaping to ensure it meets winter needs for bluebirds. Native berry-producing shrubs like dogwood, elderberry, and holly provide essential food sources. Leave dried flower heads and seed heads standing on perennials, grasses, and annuals so bluebirds can forage the seeds.
Avoid trimming back all vegetation in fall. Leave some leaf litter and low ground cover for shelter and foraging habitat. Minimize the use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, which reduce food supplies.
Supplement with Groceries
When natural food sources are limited, you can supplement with healthy people foods that bluebirds enjoy. Offer small amounts of raisins, currants, chopped grapes, cranberries, peas, diced apples, live or dried mealworms, crumbled suet, peanut hearts, and crushed unsalted nuts and seeds.
Avoid anything sugary, salty, or seasoned. Spread food items out on a large platform feeder, scattering them loosely. Clean up any uneaten food daily to prevent rotting or spoiling.
Monitor for Problems
Keep an eye on bluebirds visiting your yard in winter. Look for signs of stress like fluffed up feathers, weakness, lethargy, or heavy panting. Contact a wildlife rehabilitator immediately if you observe any injured or debilitated birds.
Discourage predators like cats from patrolling your yard. Trim back brush and remove hiding spots to deter ambush predators. Install predator guards around nest boxes and feeders.
Protect Roost Boxes from Elements
Position winter roosting boxes out of the way of prevailing winds and precipitation. Mount the boxes under eaves or overhangs on buildings or mature trees to provide extra protection. Face the entrance away from the wind.
Ensure the nest box remains dry inside by drilling rain drainage holes in the bottom. Check boxes periodically after wet weather to remove any water or ice buildup.
Insulate Roost Boxes
On bitterly cold nights, bluebirds benefit from extra insulation on their roosting boxes. You can wrap boxes in weatherproof insulation wraps made for outdoor pipes. Bubble wrap, burlap, or heavyduty insulation also work well to seal in heat.
Another option is to install a second nest box 1-2 inches around the first box, creating an insulating air gap. Just be sure not to seal up the entrance hole.
Offer Nesting Materials
Put out nesting materials like dry grass, pine needles, and shredded bark that bluebirds can use to insulate nest boxes or natural tree cavities. Provide cotton, wool, hair, or other natural fibers for nest building later in the season.
Avoid synthetic fibers, real fur, or any materials like yarn or ribbon that could get tangled around birds. Only provide natural fiber materials.
Protect Against Cold Snaps
When extremely cold weather is forecast, take extra steps to protect bluebirds. Wrap nest boxes and winter roosts in extra insulation to conserve heat. Provide ample food sources and refresh thawed birdbaths several times a day.
Limit roost box checks during periods of extended cold. Open the box only briefly to avoid chilling the interior. Emergency winter storm shelters can provide critical refuge during weather extremes.
Remove Snow Buildup
Heavy snow can make it difficult for bluebirds to access food, water, and shelter. Check nest boxes, feeders, birdbaths, and foraging areas after snowstorms. Gently clear snow buildup to reopen access points and refresh offerings.
Avoid disturbance near roost boxes to prevent chilling the interior shelter. Carefully clear snow several feet around the base so bluebirds can enter and exit.
Conclusion
With some preparation and care, you can help bluebirds that stick around in winter survive until spring. Focus on providing supplemental foods, access to unfrozen water sources, protective shelter from the elements, and nesting materials. Monitor birds for signs of stress and predators. Avoid disturbance but be ready to intervene with emergency provisions during weather extremes. With a little help, your resident bluebirds can flourish all winter long.
