Heartwood Bluebird Boxes

Last week, we discussed our favorite overall bluebird house, the ATZ Woodcrafters Classic Bluebird box. This week we will go over our more decorative bluebird boxes. Our preferred options are produced by Heartwood and made by hand down in Star, Mississippi. Founded 20 years ago by brothers Jerry and Larry Glass, these two brothers transitioned from building houses for people to wood creations for local craft fairs and at their mother’s suggestion, began building bird houses. Fast forward to today, and their unique but practical bluebird boxes have become a perennial favorite of ours.

We are especially fond of the models shown here for their practicality and versatility. They work well on our three piece pole setup, ($58 with tax) a 4x4 post, fence, or even tree. All open from the front, top down, for ease of monitoring and cleaning between each nesting. With Mother’s Day just a month away, they also make great gifts!

Models shown:

(White: Bluebird Manor, $85)

(Yellow: Bluebird Bright, $85)

(Natural: Bluebird Bunkhouse, $92)

Our Favorite Bluebird Box

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This time of year we are often asked for advice on picking a bluebird box. With so many choices, as well as the vast wealth of misinformation online, folks can be left feeling like they will be making the wrong decision regardless of which box or setup they choose. Fortunately for us, the Eastern bluebird didn’t establish a range from Nicaragua in the south to Nova Scotia in the north because they are picky! Quite the opposite in fact, as we have seen these adaptable little birds nest successfully everywhere from a broken box in our service alley to in an unusual instance, a cinder block in a customer’s yard.

All that being said, the question remains: Which box should I get? Our favorite over the years is by far the ATZ Woodcrafts Classic Bluebird Nest Box. These boxes are handmade in Ohio out of kiln-dried cedar. This material is resistant to rot and can often give many seasons of use. They also feature a pre-installed guard to prevent animals from chewing and enlarging the opening. These boxes are also some of the best for ease of maintenance and monitoring thanks to them opening from the top down. This means that no matter how high up they fill the box with nest material, you can still peek in and get a good view. These also have two pre drilled holes in the back making them easy to attach to a fence, tree, or 4x4 post.

Springtime Gifts

With flowers in bloom, the first leaves turning green, birds singing and Easter right around the corner, we have a number of gift ideas sure to please the garden lover in your life!

Lavender Sachets

We love these delightful smelling gifts! Not only do these lavender sachets make the front of our store (or wherever else we have them displayed!) smell like a Provencal summer’s afternoon, they can also freshen up drawers, closets, cars or cupboards. I always add one to my travel luggage so that my clothes have a clean, relaxing scent when I arrive at my destination.

$8

Butterfly and Hummingbird seed mix

Produced by Roundstone Native Seed out of Upton, Kentucky, this blend of native wildflowers has been in our store for a number of years now. Specifically formulated for our part of the southeastern region, this blend contains Common milkweed, Butterfly milkweed, Black-eyed Susan, and Purple coneflower to name a few. Each packet contains approximately 500 seeds that will not only add a splash of color to your yard, but also help to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and even potentially goldfinch.

$10

Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians

If you’re like me, part of the fun of the spring and summer wildflower bloom is identifying and learning more about the plants themselves. This second edition of Wildflowers of Tennessee describes over 1,250 species in 90 families. To make this a little more manageable, everything is color coded and organized by flower family and there is a color key to help expedite the process. This has been our favorite guide to wildflowers and we’re sure it will be yours as well.

$28.95

Small and Large Solar Shadow Lanterns

Since discovering these last fall, they have quickly become one of our favorite solar products. Available in hummingbird and dragonfly patterns, they cast the pattern of each lantern in green and blue, respectively.

Small, $24    Large, $45

Comical Bird and Plant Mugs

Sometimes it seems as if the people who discovered certain species had a sense of humor and wanted to embarrass their colleagues by giving the species ridiculous names they would be ashamed to say aloud. These bird and plant themed mugs highlight the best names of both Aves and Plantae! Sticky Willy, Shaggy Soldier, Sausage Tree, Blue-footed booby, Southern screamer and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock are just a few of the comical animal and plant names that you can start your day with, with the Comical Mugs!

$14.99

Campania “Pre-Order” Sale

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It’s time for the annual Campania

"SPECIAL ORDER" sale

campania hAs a Great Selection of cast stone Birdbaths, Fountains, Statuary, and Planters, as well as Beautiful Glazed ceramic birdbaths made in the usa

WE INVITE YOU TO PLACE An order of $150 or more and receive a 20% discount to receive Before mothers day

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Place your order with us BY Friday April 12th.

RECEIVE 20% OFF

YOUR ORDER OF $150 OR MORE

For a full listing of Campania products please visit www.campaniainternational.com
Or Come By the Store to Look Through the Catalog

Please call, email, or come by the shop with questions you may have regarding product specifications and pricing. Phone: 615-356-7640 or e-mail: thewoodthrushshop@gmail.com

All special order sales are final unless the product arrives damaged or defective. We require a 50% down payment of the full purchase price. Delivery of large items from our store to your home is available for an additional fee to be determined. Weight limits may apply to special orders.

Bat Houses and Placement Strategies

I have invested a fair amount of time researching bats the last month or so trying to learn more about the fascinating creatures sharing my yard this summer.

After last week’s blog about my recent success with bats a few customers had questions.

One customer asked “why do you think you have more bats this year. What did you do to encourage them”? The fact is I’ve done nothing different and I wish I knew why we have this surge in numbers. The bat house has been in the same place for several years. The only thing about the “Rocket” style house that’s different is Downy woodpeckers have pecked a couple of holes in it ranging in size from about 1 ½” to 3” in diameter. I hardly think that would increase the chances of a box being used.

Bats have to find new roosts on their own. They investigate new roosting opportunities while foraging at night, and they are expert at detecting crevices, cracks, and nooks and crannies that offer shelter from the elements and predators. Bats are not blind as the saying goes but in fact have sharp eye sight.

BCI (Bat Conservation International) indicates 90 percent of occupied bat houses were used within two years (with 50 percent occupancy in the first year). The rest needed three to five years for bats to move in. So, perhaps it was just time needed for bats to locate my house. Now that I’ve attracted bats to this house I am planning on putting up at least one more before next spring.

There's a lot of information about success rates of various types of bat houses and, perhaps more importantly, how they are presented. I am merely going to summarize some of the more pertinent information and would encourage you to visit www.batcon.org if you want to learn more or have enough interest to construct, or buy, a bat house to install in your yard.

Below are some basics of presenting a bat house.

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Three chamber bat house.

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Rocket style bat house.

Facts, Tips and Suggestions

Bat houses installed on buildings or poles are easier for bats to locate, have greater occupancy rates and are occupied two and a half times faster than those mounted on trees.

Tall designs like the multi-chamber (nursery) and rocket-style houses perform best

Occupancy in rural areas is over 60 percent, compared to 50 percent for urban and suburban areas.

According to BCI maintaining proper roost temperatures is probably the single most important factor for a successful bat house. They say interior temperatures should be warm and as stable as possible (ideally 80º F to 100º F in summer) for mother bats to raise their young. Some species, such as the Big Brown bat, prefer temperatures below 95º F, while others, such as the Little Brown bat, tolerate temperatures in excess of 100º F. This is very interesting because we always think of bats in relation to the coolness of caves but this is mostly during the hibernation months, fall through winter.

Bat house temperatures are influenced directly by the exterior color and direction faced. East-, southeast-, or south-facing are generally good bets. My Rocket house is, as you have seen, a darker color. Bat houses we sell are almost always a plain western cedar. From now on I will suggest staining the box a darker color.

Avoid placing bat houses directly above windows, doors, decks or walkways. Bat urine and guano would fall directly down to whatever is below. The urine is known to stain some finishes.

For more information about constructing, painting, installing and maintaining your bat house, please see:

The Bat House Builder's Handbook

Single chamber bat house plans

Four-chamber nursery house plans

Rocket box bat house plans