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Boxes - Kerfs(All material was originally posted on the mailing list Bluebird-L or Bluebird and reposted here with only slight modifications to make them more readable in an HTML format, for more information about Bluebird-L check out the following http://www.cit.cornell.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.html. or for the mailing list Bluebird run by Dusty Bleher check out http://fsinc.com/wildbirds/Bluebird/List)If you are the author of a posting to one of the mailing lists and you would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages please contact me at: bluebirdbox@cox.net and I will remove whatever material you like. If you have an opinion different than one posted hear you need not contact me as often I will have a different opinion also. My intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues confronting bluebirders and to do so in an impartial manner.In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, it is indicated by an ellipsis (....) From: Adthomas10@cs.com All of the boxes I made on my trail, I put 3 "saw kerfs" on the inside and outside of the box approximately 1/2 inch apart. . . . . I was told by another experienced bluebirder that saw kerfs on the entrance hole will make it easier for predators to enter a box. . . . . Any thoughts on this???? Dan Thomas
From: "Fawzi P. Emad" <femad@comcast.net> I do not make any kerfs on the outside. The kerfs on the inside I make around 1/2" apart, and depending on the depth of the box, there may be 5 or more such kerfs. I usually start around 2" above the floor and go up close to the entrance, to within an inch or less. Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland ----- Original Message ----- ...
From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd@tds.net> I just went out into the shop and measured the spaces between my kerfs. They average about 3/8". I don't actually measure them when I'm cutting them on the saw. I just run them through the blade more or less randomly, and 3/8" seems to be the way they come out. I guess I put cuts on the front of the entrance hole just to give the birds a little claw-hold in lieu of a perch dowel. I suppose they probably don't need them, really, any more than they need a dowel. Bluebirds mostly cling with their claws to the edge of the entrance hole, though I have seen them hanging by the kerfs as well. Dan, the houses I make myself are all made of #2 white pine, 7/8" thick, planed
one side only, with sound knots. I have never had the wood split out with the
3/8" ± spaces, and pine is more splitty than the clear cypress and ash that my
inmate friend uses.
From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" <kridler@1starnet.com> Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas The smooth lumber of today when used on the front of a nestbox offers very little for their toe nails to cling to except the edge of the entrance hole! If they are hit with a strong gust of wind or are distracted going to the nestbox at the last moment by a predator they often miss this hole edge and have to struggle to reach the hole. They end up with scratch marks far down the front of the nestbox by the end of the season. Check your nestboxes and see if you can see these tell tale signs below the entrance holes on your boxes. White PVC nestboxes will show these to be gray patches well below the entrance holes. Soft wood boxes will actually show hundreds of very light scratch marks. Healthy cavity nesting birds can easily raise their young in smooth fronted boxes even if they occasionally "trip" and fall/slam into the front of the box while trying to enter. Very often bluebird banders will find that while banding a bird it is missing toe nails, toes, occasionally the entire foot or sometimes a leg is missing. I often see other bird species coming to bird feeders with a broken leg or a foot that does not work! They can have deformed or malformed toe nails that are too long to be of use. They may only have one working eye! They may be very "old" for a bluebird! Can you race across the yard, dash up the steps and maneuver through the door as easily now as when you were a child being closely chased in a wild game of "tag" you are it! Harry Krueger from Ore City Texas worked for 6 years trapping every adult nesting bluebird every nesting attempt and would watch the birds through a spotting scope as they entered the nestbox and observed so many accidents where the birds missed the edge of the hole that he began adding saw kerfs to the fronts of every predator guard on every box. This greatly aided the birds entering the boxes and sometimes gave them an added second without having to concentrate on regaining a foothold and not losing a large beakful of insects! Imagine the trouble a female bluebird has seeing around the huge amounts of nesting material they sometimes carry! The reason we don't place perches on nestboxes is because of the House Sparrow. Dating back to 1898 I have found references that state, "IF you DO NOT place a perch under the hole of bluebird boxes the English (House) Sparrow CANNOT nest in the box." This has been repeated now in nearly every book and newsletter for the last 100 years. Anyone on this list have sparrows using boxes without perches? This statement has been changed a little to "makes it easier for the House Sparrows to hold nestboxes or House Sparrows prefer perches" over about the last 25 years. Anyway consider inspecting your smooth fronted nestboxes for missed landing signs and experiment with "rough cut" lumber or add a few toe holds or heaven forbid a real perch to a few boxes and see if this makes a difference. You can video tape hours of bluebirds entering the box and fast forward to see if they are aided with different types of toe holds. Since we are slow on the posts to the lists this would be another good subject to debate in depth:-))) The House Sparrows have adapted to many different sparrow proof inventions over the years and sometimes we need to go back to the drawing board or think if we really are making improvements for all of the birds. KK
From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd@tds.net> Kim Marie, et al, If you will type my name (Bruce Burdett) in your Yahoo! Searchbox and select link # 5 (Identification Center), you will find my photo of a female Eastern Bluebird at the entrance hole of one of my pine NABS boxes. The picture clearly shows both the entrance block and the saw kerfs. (It's not as good as a Wendell Long shot, but one does what one can.) It's a good site, with several clear photos and some useful maps. Bruce Burdett, SW NH
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