How to attract · species guide

How to Attract Bluebirds

How to attract bluebirds begins with a box: Audubon notes that a high percentage of Eastern Bluebirds in North America today nest in birdhouses put up especially for them along bluebird trails, and that the species' recovery has undoubtedly been helped by birdhouses ⁴.

Box specifications are from NestWatch ⁵⁶; bluebird diet, habitat and nesting from Audubon's field guide ⁴; feeders, water and safety from FeederWatch and All About Birds ¹².

Bluebird nest box on a pole facing open ground — how to attract bluebirds starts with the box — Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How to attract bluebirds with the right box in the right place

NestWatch's Eastern Bluebird specification: a box 5½ by 5½ inches inside and 9 inches deep with a 2¼-inch entrance as drawn in its plan, mounted on a pole 4–6 feet from the ground with the entrance facing east and toward open habitat, boxes spaced 300 feet apart ⁵. Build it to the general checklist — untreated wood, ¾-inch walls, drainage and ventilation holes, sloped overhanging roof, rough interior, no perch — and mount it on a metal pole with a cone or stovepipe baffle, never on a tree or fence post ⁶.

Clean out old nests as soon as a brood fledges so the box can be used for a second attempt — bluebirds raise two broods a year, sometimes three ⁴⁵. To reduce competition from Tree Swallows, pair boxes 15–20 feet apart with pairs 300 feet apart; if House Sparrows are a problem, a second identical entrance hole beside the first helps bluebirds defend the box ⁵.

Bluebird habitat, food and water

Bluebirds are birds of open country with scattered trees — farms, roadsides, clearings, open pine woods, and suburbs with extensive lawns and good nest sites ⁴. They forage by perching low and fluttering down to the ground for insects — crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, earthworms — and eat many berries, especially in winter ⁴. So the yard needs open, unsprayed ground, low perches, and winter fruit: Audubon's cedar and holly, and the dogwood and serviceberry that fruit earlier ³.

Mealworms on a tray are the feeder food bluebirds take, since they do not eat seed; a shallow bird bath with a dripper, changed daily, completes the setup ¹. Keep cats indoors — cats leap to box tops from nearby trees, and ground-foraging birds are at greatest risk ¹⁶.

Keep the birds you attract safe: windows, cats, clean feeders

Window collisions kill perhaps a billion or more birds a year in North America, and far more die at homes and low-rise buildings than at high-rises simply because there are so many of them ². Older rules about safe feeder-to-window distances are no longer thought valid; the fix is to make the glass visible — markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart on the outside, exterior screens, or hanging cords ¹².

Cats are the most numerous pet in North America and kill hundreds of millions of birds each year; ground-feeding birds, ground-nesting birds and fledglings are at greatest risk, and feeder birds are easy prey, so FeederWatch strongly recommends keeping cats indoors ¹. Clean seed and suet feeders every week or two — more often in heavy use or wet weather — with warm water and dish soap, since leftover seed and hulls harbor pathogens ¹.

More attraction guides

Attract birds to your yard →Attract birds to a feeder →Attract birds to a new feeder →Attract birds to a bird bath →Attract birds without a feeder →Bird calls to attract birds →Attract birds to your hand →Attract birds in winter →Balcony birding →Attract birds to a birdhouse →Birds that eat yard pests →How to attract american goldfinches →How to attract northern cardinals →How to attract black-capped chickadees →How to attract ruby-throated hummingbirds →How to attract baltimore orioles →All guides →

Frequently asked questions

Which direction should a bluebird house face?

East, toward open habitat, 4–6 feet up on a baffled metal pole, per NestWatch ⁵⁶.

What do bluebirds eat at feeders?

Not seed — mostly insects and berries; offer mealworms on a tray and plant winter berries like cedar and holly ³⁴.