Nestboxes (Direction/Orientation)

In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: 

• Nestbox Comparison Studies from New York
• That Remarkable Peterson Entrance by Wayne H. Davis
• Those Oval Holes
• The great entrance-hole debate by Myrna Pearman
• Starlings and oval-holed nest boxes by Kevin Berner
• NestBox software (shareware) demo
• Bluebird Nestbox Drawings
• Nestbox Mounting Methods
• Nestbox, Sparrow Trap, Coon Guard Drawings
• Roost Boxes
• Other Nestboxes
• Nestbox Preferences
• Descriptive Nesting Histories Of Possible Bluebird Box Occupants
• ROOFS —  Everything  MORE THAN You Wanted to Know by Steve Eno
• Winterizing Your Bluebird Boxes Permanently by Svante Humbla
• Results of Additional Research Regarding the Bauldry/Open Topped Box Design by Diane Barbin.
• Pairing houses: How do you do the math? by Linda Janilla

Date: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 16:23:56 -0400
From: Doug Woodruff w4law"at"mindspring.com
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Orientation of nestboxes

Hello all,

As a newbie I'm curious if it's true that nestboxes should ideally point North?

On a related point.....its late afternoon sun during the heat of the day a problem. My Peterson boxes are at this point are all natural pine color with on a coat of linseed oil.

Doug
NW GA

From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com
To: w4law"at"mindspring.com, BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Re: Orientation of nestboxes
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 19:31:23 -0400

Doug Woodruff, et al,
I have no evidence that the direction in which the houses face makes any difference to the birds, at least not up here in NH. I try to place mine, if possible, so that the landowner can see the entrances.
Bruce Burdett, SW NH

From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com
To: w4law"at"mindspring.com, BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Re: Orientation of nestboxes
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 21:52:33 -0400

If you live in the south, and GA is in the south, it gets hot, so I'd avoid letting the sun shine into the entrance hole. This means avoid having the entrance straight East or West, and if you have to chose one of the two, East is better than West. I live in MD, and it gets hot here too. All my boxes have a second "shade" roof, and a second "shade" west side. My boxes have entrances facing nearly northern or nearly southern directions. I think in GA the same would be desirable. If you like a picture of one of my boxes, just let me know.

Fawzi

Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland
femad"at"comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Woodruff" w4law"at"mindspring.com
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 4:23 PM
Subject: Orientation of nestboxes

...

Date: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 21:56:05 -0400
From: Doug Woodruff w4law"at"mindspring.com
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Orientation of nest boxes

Hello again all,

My apologies for the atrocious grammer in my last posting asking about orientation of nest boxes. It's downright embarrassing for an attorney to read his own post and find not one, not two, but four or five grammatical mistakes!!

What I meant to ask about the full afternoon/eveningsun and the finish is this --- "Is full evening sun a problem for Peterson boxes made out of white pine with only linseed oil as a finish?" The boxes are new and still have that light honey look so may not absorb too much heat.

Doug
NW GA

From: "Fread J" firefrost2"at"hotmail.com
To: w4law"at"mindspring.com
Cc: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Orientation Of Nestboxes
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 10:53:32 -0500

Doug Woodruff wrote:
"I'm curious if it's true that nestboxes should ideally point North?"

As you can imagine, natural cavities point in all cardinal directions of the compass. Generally speaking, these natural cavities are very well insulated simply from the thickness of the wood in the tree limb where they occur. Still, and particularly in the Southern portion of the EABL's range, it can be imperative to see that all nestboxes are sited in such a manner as to be protected from the hot sun.

In addition to proper orienting the nestbox out of the hot sun, it is equally important to have proper ventilation slots or holes in the bottom of the nestbox and including a gap where the roof meets the sides of the nestbox.

Remember that morning sun is generally a more cool sun, whereas afternoon sun can be brutal and actually kill nestlings through overheating!

Although there are many pine nestboxes that have withstood many years of weathering, many of us on this list use western cedar as a construction media. There are pros and cons for each type of wood. I personally prefer to never use any type of preservative on the nestbox whatsoever. I have western cedar nestboxes on a trail in NW Arkansas that are approaching 10 years old and are still serviceable!!

I hope that this answers your question satisfactorily. Your question was a good question! Always feel free to post questions to the List/serve. That is how each and everyone of us have learned what we know, simply by asking questions......smile!

Fread J. Loane
Tulsa, Oklahoma

From: "BONNIE A. YEAGER" dement"at"frognet.net
To: w4law"at"mindspring.com
Cc: bluebird-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Nestbox Orientation
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:21:54 -0400

Doug,
There is a good article about nest box orientation in Birdscope - Spring 2001, Volume 15, Number 2. The web address is: www.birds.cornell.edu/publications/birdscope/spring2001//preference.html

Fred Yeager,
SE, OH

Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 15:51:46 -0500
To: w4law"at"mindspring.com, BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
From: Kate Oschwald bbnestbox"at"1starnet.com
Subject: Re: Orientation of nestboxes

At 04:23 PM 6/2/02 -0400, Doug Woodruff wrote:
Hello all,

As a newbie I'm curious if it's true that nestboxes should ideally point

...

Due to heat from direct sunlight shining in the entrance hole, nestboxes should not face south or west. All mine face north, but east is okay, too. It depends on prevailing wind, and where a nearby tree might be located so the babies can fly to it when they fledge. (This is no guarantee, instead of flying to the tree in front of them, the parents often call them to a tree off to the side!)

If your nestboxes are in the shade of a tree as mine are, you have more flexibility on which way to orient them.

Kate Oschwald
Paris, TX
100 mi NE of Dallas
33.6853N 95.6293W

Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 07:33:31 -0500
From: Kate Oschwald bbnestbox"at"1starnet.com
Subject: Re: Newbie ? about Heat and my 4 babies

...Lisa, all my nestbox entrances face north, and even though that's where a  lot of fronts come from, I have never found a wet nest in my nestboxes.

As far as the babies seeming lethargic, that's how they always are when I check them. I believe their instinct is to hunker down and play dead to avoid attracting the attention of the intruder (me). Some people whistle to get them to gape for food, but I can't whistle :-)

If you decide to try to shade the box some way, be sure to watch to make sure the parents don't leave. I have had successful fledgings at this time of year in nestboxes in the full sun, without shade roofs. But once I lost some second clutches to heat (the eggs looked nearly hard-boiled when I checked them after I was certain they wouldn't hatch) I moved all but one into the shade, and that one has a double styrofoam layer on top of the roof for insulation. I painted it to match the nestbox roof to avoid startling the parents and stuck it on last year when there was an active nest in the box and temperatures in the nestbox exceeded 100 deg. The four babies inside successfully fledged with just that little bit of help, even though the roof had no extra overhang.

Whether you do anything to this nestbox at this time, you might consider moving it into the shade as soon as the babies fledge.

Kate Oschwald
Paris, Texas

I face my nestboxes anywhere from northeast, east, southeast and south. It is according to the location of a tree or something that the birds can fly to and to be able to utilize the location. I have seen no difference in the fledging rate of any of these. I think many people forget the birds need something to fledge to. Now, where would they go if there is NOTHING they can fly too?

Which brings a question to my mind. On page 49 of "The Bluebird Monitor's Guide", it shows rows of nestboxes on fences, but there are no trees in sight as it shows a distance across from the nestboxes. I am wondering if the fledglings can fly out of the nestbox onto the wire fence their nestbox is located on. Can they make a turn and land on the wire? We are thinking of turning some of the nestboxes toward the fence wire.

Another question. If a Bluebird flies his strength of a little past 100 ft.and hits the ground, if he gets back up how far do you think he can fly after getting going again? Could he fly another 100 ft.? I am
asking this as I was asked this question.

Evelyn Cooper,
Delhi, LA

Evelyn I watched babies fledge once and 2 went to the nearest tree by our pond and another flew out, turned to the right and flew all the way to a tree over by my brother in laws house.This would mean that the 2 flew east, which is the way I face them and the other flew dead South after he got out.I still wonder why he did this.I was told back then on BB-L that later they all would get together in one area.I dont remember now why I faced the boxes East but it seems I read somewhere that it was best.But then again I read alot of conflicting articles when it comes to BBs.
Shane Marcotte
Watson Louisiana

From: RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com [mailto:RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 3:10 PM
Subject: Nestbox hole orientation

Hi all,

I don't have my BB monitor guide with me and I don't know if its in there anyway. I am putting up 5-6 nest boxes on poles in open sun. Is there a prefered orientation? I would think south is bad as the sun can shine in the hole and heat it up. North should get no sun and East would get early cooler sun while west might get hot afternoon and evening sun.

Can anyone comment?

Ron
Brooksville, FL

Hi, Ron:

Here in North Texas, I orient all off my boxes toward the East or Southeast. The rule-of-thumb to use is to avoid facing the opening of your boxes into the prevailing winds.

Good luck,
David

We face our boxes to the East here.

Dottie, Hickory Hollow
Brown County, Indiana

From: rob barron [mailto:rebel1956"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 6:10 PM
Subject: RE: Nestbox hole orientation

Hey Ron,

That’s a very good question, and there is no perfect answer. David’s answer is correct, but there are no rules about roof pitch, slanting toward the front VS the back etc. One of my boxes that stay the driest inside has a 15 degree roof pitch facing downward toward the back. It overhangs the front by 7 inches and has a small one inch lip on the bottom of the front side of the roof. This is far enough back not to catch the door on its downward swing. Another thing that “Tree” Greenwood recommended was to angle the entrance hole so the opening tapers slightly upward to achieve the same size but slant downward on the door face to repel rain and keep light from entering.

I’ve never had a problem with too warm a nest box, but this will be my first nesting season in a warm climate. I built a ¾” plywood box and then covered it with ¼” foil backed insulation, and then mitered cedar to cover it all, and then I put insulation on top and put a large overhanging manufactured roof on top of that. It looks like a small cedar sided double-wide and I’m waiting to see if the blue birds think I’m nuts or I’ve violated any zoning laws, but it’s where I’d want to spend a hot day or cold night when I try to imagine being a blue bird.

Good luck and keep us posted,
Rob Barron-Woodstock, southeastern suburban megalopolis (Georgia)

......."box that stays the driest...."

folks, these birds nest in hollowed out fence posts, open to the weather, with rain pouring in on them. they dont' need to be dry. One of my boxes is in the path of the commercial sized sprinkler on the golf course. It looks like a fire hose when on. One day I had to wait to open the box until the sprinkler had passed. I did so immediately, only to find 5 small bluebirds bent over with their wings over their heads! They will cope with water and no problem to them.
Phil Berry

Northeast and East are recommended in the books. However, I have some that face Southeast and South because they are wonderful locations. They raise just as many babies as the ones facing Northeast and East. My boxes have a 2" overhang all the way round on the roof and a lot of them have the second roof that really does help keep out rain and sun.

Hey Phil,

I’m Rob; Ron must be that other guy who rambles on.

With all due respect, I’ve been around fence posts since the 50’s, and I’ve read all the myths about bluebirds nesting in fence posts, but I’ve never seen it! We used cedar or black locust, and there was never anything larger than a knot-hole for paper wasps to nest in. You’re in Florida, right?

Try to tell that to bluebirds in upstate New York on May 15th, in a cracked old cedar box when the daytime temp was 70 degrees and by 6 AM there is 15” of snow on the ground, and they are soaking wet and the air temperature is 29 degrees. I’ve seen hummingbirds dodging snowflakes larger than they are, and I’ve misted the bleeding hearts with warm water all day so they would have something to eat.

Things aren’t the same everywhere. Bluebirds are tough, but they aren’t immortal. In some places water equals hypothermia= dead bluebirds.

Another reason why we need to keep talking instead of “making rules”

Respectfully,
Rob Barron

Make the roof larger than the original roof. Drill 4 holes in it (front and back on top of the roof) and get 1 1/2" screws to go through the holes and a 1" long small piece of hose that the screw goes through and this all screws down into the original roof.

The hose that is on the screw fits between the two roofs.

It is in the Archives or on the NABS site somewhere and a picture of it would help you understand it better. Bruce B, do you know where it is?

Evelyn

http://www.bestofbbml.audubon-omaha.org/boxesdouble.htm

The above link tells about the "Echo Roof". That is what it is called.

Evelyn

Hi All,

I had one box here in Michigan that the roof was up at two ends. When it would rain the nest would get wet. After the first nest I put up a new nest box and they would not use the box. After two weeks of the
birds setting in a tree and not making a new nest I put the old box back up and they made a nest in it. I let them use the box three years before I put a new box up. They moved on and are not using this box at all.

Maynard Sumner
Flint, MI

From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 10:08 PM
Subject: Re: Nestbox hole orientation

Dear Rob,

We always face nest boxes east.

When east is not practical, we face them south east.

...In addition.

For Barn Owls, we've found that mounting nest boxes in the open facing east is best, with a tree east of the nest box so owlets have a safe place to land to evade Great Horn Owls.

John Schuster,
Cotati, CA

From: rob barron [mailto:rebel1956"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 4:22 AM
Subject: RE: Nestbox hole orientation

Hi group,

This is another great discussion topic. I know the prevailing “rule” is that the prevailing winds come from the west so your nest box should face east or southeast, but in some areas along the Atlantic Ocean, or in a mountain bowl where winds swirl from all directions, it seems logical to orient the nest box toward a windbreak, whether it’s a ridge or a row of trees. I haven’t noticed any geographic orientation in woodpecker holes or other natural cavities has anyone else?

Thanks,
Rob Barron

No, the Woodpeckers AND other birds will build in any direction that the cavity they have chosen faces. It is just that we humans have learned to put what we build for them in a direction WE KNOW will most likely protect them best. It is what WE have learned to do to help them is what we try to practice, not what the birds have learned (or know or don't know) Poor things even build in places that predators will have a meal for sure. We've learned to help them.

Also, we are always inproving on what has already been done and things change. My boxes that face south never get wet. All the books I read say northeast and east is the preferred direction. However, with larger roofs (and Echo Roofs) there is greater protection. I do not face them in any westerly direction because of the evening sun.

Evelyn Cooper
Delhi, LA

Hi Friends,

I want to thank everyone for the info about nest orientation. The more I think about what you guys said, the more I realize it isn't that simple.

My planned boxes are going to be along, but above a high fence that runs east- west on the north and from the west end it runs south. The north- south fence has woods starting 30 feet on the west side. The northern fence has trees and open space with horses walking around. The area within this fence section is open grass which I think would be ideal EABL habitat. The nearest houses are a few hundred yards away so maybe the beloved HOSP won't be around.

Anyway should the boxes face the open field? This would mean an east orientation from the west fence and a south from the north fence. I have one successful EABL box that faces north away from a golf course fairway.

I also have permission to put boxes on trees along the outer perimiter of this fence. I'm thinking of hanging them from branches like Linda does in California. If my description of this isn't confusing, what other kinds of birds and hence box sizes with entrance holes would be best to try for? Woodpeckers? Owls? I can't go into the woods. There is a 30 foot power line right of way that I am limited to.

I am also attempting to get permission to put some boxes in a Boy Scout Camp that is about 800+ acres so all this discussion may have multiple use.

Thanks again

Ron
Brooksville, FL

From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: Nestbox hole orientation

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
One thing missing in this discussion is when the baby bluebirds fledge they tend to leave the box flying in a straight low line and do not have a clue that when they fly into a building that it is going to hurt. Some one posted last year that all four baby bluebirds fledged from his nestbox in a matter of minutes and all four smacked right into the side of his house since he had turned the box to face his living room window and in 25 feet they did not veer away from the siding.

Facing a nestbox towards a busy four lane highway "might" be fine for the adults but dangerous for young on a first flight. Also I would not face a nestbox to where the young would have to fly over a large body of water. You could face the box into short grass prairies/close mowed lawns but I would not face the box where the young would/could fall down into thick soft grass where they would have trouble climbing up to fly off again.

I have seen a just fledged bluebird that was able to fly up from the box and land on an overhead power line and immediately be able to chase/follow it's parents. I have seen them crash on the ground not ten feet from the box and could not even hold onto a limb if you placed them in the tree.

It is safer for young bluebirds if you can place a nestbox so that it faces a whole fence line of trees or better yet a few acres of mature woods. Hawks, magpies, jays and crows etc. can home in a the begging voices of just fledged birds and it is hard for a pair of bluebirds to defend 4 or 5 young from a hungry predator that can fly! If these young birds only have a single small tree or bush to land in they have few places in this spot to hide in.

MANY people on this list fledge very high percentage of young from a $50 combination of poles, guards and nestboxes. Then they say a few days later the adults are right back to begin a new nest but they never seem to raise their young past the dangerous first few weeks out of the nest. I call this a $50 nestbox placed in a 2 cent location. This is the same as placing a $50 plant in a spot it will NEVER survive in.

One of the reasons I check so many nestboxes spread out over such a long road trail is that I avoid most House Sparrow areas (even though I trap them) and also you only have so much good habitat and even less perfect habitat.

Watch your parent bluebirds this year and see if you are having and increase in the local bluebird/cavity nester population in your area. We really don't want every bluebird to survive to breeding age but you do want to see increase in numbers of breeding pairs from year to year if weather and other natural cycles will permit this. KK

Here in the tall grass prairie part of Texas, I usually orient my nestboxes so that their entrance holes will point toward a "target" tree and thereby, give the babies a good chance of getting to that target tree on their first flight.

Since the summer temperatures will get into the high 90's and low 100's, I use nestboxes with full width ventilation slots in both the front and back sides. If there are no other considerations, I will orientate the boxes so that the prevailing south wind will blow straight through so as to keep the inside temperatures close to that of the ambient air. Since my entrances holes are on the front of the opening doors, this will orient the holes to the north.

I believe the bluebirds make their decisions on the boxes themselves and not on the orientation of the boxes. My experience is that any direction will work.

Dan Hanan
35 miles SE of Austin, TX

Dear Rob,

Your right woodpecker holes can be random, but be aware that Starling pressure can drive woodpeckers out of freshly excavated holes, so you may see woodpeckers moving to the other side of a tree to excavate a new hole and to get away from Starlings on the other side of the tree.

John Schuster
Cotati, CA

Dear Phil,
I apologize if you interpreted my post as inferring that you know nothing about cold weather. I didn’t mean that at all. I just meant that in some parts of the country it’s dangerous for a baby bluebird to get wet when the temperatures are low and in those areas a dry box is more important. It seems to me that what worked for me in upstate NY might be too warm or not well ventilated enough for west Texas or other hot locations.
Thanks,
Rob Barron

From what I've read, the Bluebirds consider feeding and water sources a necessity. They probably don't give a hoot which way it faces!

However, this said, I've read a certain species of bird (cannot remember which one) actually seemed to perfer a certain side of a tree to nest.

Evelyn Cooper
Delhi, LA

O.K., here's the reference where I read about certain species preferring certain sides of a tree. In the Fall 2003, Vol. 25., No. 4 issue of the "Bluebird", Journal of NABS, Kathryn Aitken, researcher writes an article about this. You can view this article at www.nabluebirdsociety.org and click on Media Center, then find this issue. It is very interesting.

Evelyn

From: owner-BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu [mailto:owner-BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Evelyn Cooper
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: Nestbox hole orientation

Keith, why would we not want all our bluebirds to survive to breeding age? Is it because we don't have the habitat to support them?

In older books, we read about flocks of hundreds of Bluebirds being seen. That's something I never saw nor probably never will. That would be a sight to behold.

Evelyn

I won’t speak for Keith, but no matter how much we love bluebirds, we need to realize that nature isn’t compassionate. We should hope for the most evolutionarily adapted to survive and pass on their genes. The ones that nest too early, choose a bad nest location, or fly into houses and die will get weeded out by natural selection. It’s cruel, but it’s best for the survival of the species. Who knows, maybe some bluebirds will learn how to construct nests like their robin cousins and we’ll need to find another cause. That would be an evolutionarily sustainable adaptation.

I saw a flock of about 100 mostly males converge on a 100 acre wooded area in Sandy Plains, Georgia in mid January. It was less than a mile as a crow flies from busy, 4 lane highway 92, but up and over several hills and valleys. I’d ever seen or heard anything like it. It was amazing.

Rob Barron

Ron, if you do try hanging boxes, your concerns over box orientation and exposure will be greatly reduced.

Boxes hanging in trees have a more constant temperature under shady branches. You don't need to build echo roofs to buffer the impact of direct sun exposure. Nor do you have to compromise wind direction with sun direction. You will want to face the box away from wind; and wind changes direction throughout the year. Hanging boxes can instantly be rehung on alternate branches facing any direction.

Nor do you have to be as concerned whether fledglings will drop to the ground as soon as they emerge from the box because they have built-in landing areas (nestbox tree branches). And, with hanging boxes 15 up in the air, fledglings have a higher kick-off flight. Fledglings trying to fly up to a tree from a 5-foot post have a greater challenge than fledglings flying straight across to a nearby tree. You still want nearby trees because aerial predators (hawks) will be always be watching and waiting for an advantage.

With boxes camouflaged and protected within a leafy tree, you are free to concern yourself with finer adjustments such as whether the box is facing the foraging area so that adults can see each other when entering and exiting a box and warn each other of pending danger.

Since you mention diversity of species, it is my opinion/intuition that you will have greater opportunity to increase diversity by offering boxes at/over ten feet and positioned within trees.

Linda Violett
Yorba Linda, Calif.

Folks have asked the list about suitability of a particular potential site for a nestbox but it's been a while since an ideal location was discussed.
I have exactly one.

My one perfect site is about 60' behind the grape arbor. The area surrounding it is open grass that I keep mowed short. The first rays of the rising sun hit the box to warm it on chilly mornings. To the south is a mature Locust tree that shades the spot from the late afternoon sun when heat can be a danger. The entry holes face northeast toward a small home orchard of dwarf fruit trees. Beyond the Locust tree is an agricultural field that's always planted with something to feed dairy cattle.
My Beachy Amish Mennonite neighbor rotates corn, alfalfa, Timothy, sorgum (sorghum, if you insist) and clover there, fertilizes with manure and avoids insecticides. An Eastern Bluebird pair fledged three broods from that spot last year. We were treated to an extended family group hanging around the site for the whole season with young birds from the first brood helping feed the second and third.
We got to watch 14 juvenile Bluebird siblings interacting with their parents through early fall.
That perfect site is even pretty close to our house so it's easy to watch the Bluebirds.

None of my other sites is nearly as ideal even if they qualify as 'good' or 'acceptable' habitat for Bluebirds.

Who else has one favorite nestbox spot?

R J 'Tree' Greenwood
Catlett VA

BEST OF BLUEBIRD_L CLASSIFIEDS HOME | Audubon Society of Omaha | The Bluebird Box | Bluebird FAQs | Search | Contact me

All material was originally posted on the Bluebird_L or Bluebird mailing list, and has been reposted here with slight modifications to make the posts more readable in an HTML format.  In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, this is indicated by an ellipsis (...)

For more information about Bluebird_L, check out http://www.cit.corn.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.htm. If you wish to contact the author of a post, you will need to edit the e-mail address, replacing "at" with the "at" symbol (above the number 2 on your keyboard). (This change was made to discourage spammers.)

If you are the author of a posting and would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages, please contact me with the web page address, title of post, and date and time of the post(s), and I will remove whatever material you like.  If you have a different opinion from one posted here, you need not contact me, as often I will have a different opinion too. The intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues facing bluebirders, and to do so in an impartial and objective manner.

If you have problems, encounter broken links (unless they are within an e-mail thread, as I do not maintain those links), or have suggestions on how the site can be improved to make it more useful, please contact the Best of Bluebird-L Classifieds webmaster. 

Website design by Chimalis