Bluebird's nest on porch -- how to move it?

[MushyMushy]

A blue bird has made a nest on our back porch right near our door and we'd like to try to move it to one of the trees in our yard. DH is worried that the bird will abandon the nest if we move it. Is that true? We don't want to get rid of it, we just want it off our porch.

 

[JR6ooo4]

once it has your scent they will abandon it. Well that is what we thought as kids.

Is it blue birds or blue jays?

If it is blue jays and there are no eggs then move it quick. Blue jays are noisy and bullies.

Mikeeee

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I wouldn't risk moving it, if there are already eggs in it.

 

[Amelia Peabody]

Agreed - if there are eggs it's too late. Odd place for bluebirds, they usually nest in fields facing a certain direction... I saw one for the first time on Easter. It wasn't happy.

 

[JR6ooo4]

if they are bluebirds then do not disturb the nest!

you don't want to mess with your happiness.

Mikeee

 

[MushyMushy]

Hmm, not sure if it's a blue bird or bluejay. DH is the one who has seen it and it flies away every time he goes outside. I can see a blue feather in the nest. I'll have DH climb up and see if there are any eggs.

We'd just leave it, except for the fact that it's right beside our back door and it's on top of an outdoor speaker and we were going to try to hook it up for this summer. No, we're not pesky neighbors. In fact, people have been grateful that we're as quiet as we are.

 

[Sparx]

If your scent is on it, the birds will abandon it. The birds also may not be able to find it if you move it.

I'd avoid moving it at all costs.

 

[Jpgirl]

The birds WILL NOT abandon it because of human scent. We just had a couple of houses finches build their nest and hatch eggs in a hanging basket of ivy. I had to water it every few days so I'd get the ladder out and water it-avoiding watering the nest/eggs. There were 7 eggs-5 hatched. Then last weekend while we were sitting in our porch (it's open) a hawk flew in and took the babies. We didn't hear a thing-except the parents ranting. So I got up and looked-the basket was swinging-the babies gone I looked out on the driveway and there was a baby-still alive. I picked it up,put it back in the nest and turned the basket around so the hawk couldn't see the nest and wouldn't be brave enough to fly into the porch to try again. The parents came back, fed it all week and voila it flew away a couple of days ago to a nearby tree. I think the parents are teaching it to fly and eat. I see the parents (at least I think they're the same ones) still gathering food and twice I've seen the baby up in a tree.
So best advice is to leave it alone if you can-from nest building to fly away was almost a month. Then when they leave remove the nest and discourage them from rebuilding somehow. Bluebirds are smaller than blue jays. Buebirds have red breasts and jays have white breasts. Maybe it a Indigo bunting which would be all blue and closer in size to the bluebird.

 

[Sparx]

The birds WILL NOT abandon it because of human scent. We just had a couple of houses finches build their nest and hatch eggs in a hanging basket of ivy. I had to water it every few days so I'd get the ladder out and water it-avoiding watering the nest/eggs. There were 7 eggs-5 hatched. Then last weekend while we were sitting in our porch (it's open) a hawk flew in and took the babies. We didn't hear a thing-except the parents ranting. So I got up and looked-the basket was swinging-the babies gone I looked out on the driveway and there was a baby-still alive. I picked it up,put it back in the nest and turned the basket around so the hawk couldn't see the nest and wouldn't be brave enough to fly into the porch to try again. The parents came back, fed it all week and voila it flew away a couple of days ago to a nearby tree. I think the parents are teaching it to fly and eat. I see the parents (at least I think they're the same ones) still gathering food and twice I've seen the baby up in a tree.
So best advice is to leave it alone if you can-from nest building to fly away was almost a month. Then when they leave remove the nest and discourage them from rebuilding somehow. Bluebirds are smaller than blue jays. Buebirds have red breasts and jays have white breasts. Maybe it a Indigo bunting which would be all blue and closer in size to the bluebird.

Thats a extreme case. a parent that has lost all other babies except one would probably make an exception of abandoning a foul smelling baby to pass on its genes.
in a regular case, however, i have seen birds abandon starving babies due to human interaction.

 

[JR6ooo4]

The birds WILL NOT abandon it because of human scent. We just had a couple of houses finches build their nest and hatch eggs in a hanging basket of ivy. I had to water it every few days so I'd get the ladder out and water it-avoiding watering the nest/eggs. There were 7 eggs-5 hatched. Then last weekend while we were sitting in our porch (it's open) a hawk flew in and took the babies. We didn't hear a thing-except the parents ranting. So I got up and looked-the basket was swinging-the babies gone I looked out on the driveway and there was a baby-still alive. I picked it up,put it back in the nest and turned the basket around so the hawk couldn't see the nest and wouldn't be brave enough to fly into the porch to try again. The parents came back, fed it all week and voila it flew away a couple of days ago to a nearby tree. I think the parents are teaching it to fly and eat. I see the parents (at least I think they're the same ones) still gathering food and twice I've seen the baby up in a tree.
So best advice is to leave it alone if you can-from nest building to fly away was almost a month. Then when they leave remove the nest and discourage them from rebuilding somehow. Bluebirds are smaller than blue jays. Buebirds have red breasts and jays have white breasts. Maybe it a Indigo bunting which would be all blue and closer in size to the bluebird.

And if you are going to have a nest near the house, having it in some sort of hanging plant is best. Bird nests can get pretty .... uh, dirty...

Mikeeee

 

[MushyMushy]

Well, looks like it's a blue jay (white chest). DH said it was angrily squawking at him earlier when he went outside to work.

 

[freckles and boo]

Aside from being loud, bluejays are very aggressive birds. I would definitely move the nest. I don't believe that your scent will cause a problem.


from http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/myths/myths.aspx


9. Parent birds will abandon a nestling if it has been touched by humans.
This is an amazingly popular myth despite the massive amount of evidence to the contrary. Think about the thousands of studies that involve monitoring nests, weighing and measuring the young. Consider that most of those nests are successful and that the adults return as soon as the intruders are gone. Factor in the millions of baby birds that are banded and fledge successfully. Remember the tens of thousands of bluebird boxes.

If birds were repelled by the scent of human beings and fled if their odor appeared on the nest, there would be wholesale abandonment of nests every year. Yet this myth persists, a "truism" handed down from generation to generation. Its origins may lie in the fact that human scent can be disruptive to birds' nesting success. It is not birds, it is mammalian predators that follow scents, and if you approach a nest too often, or too closely, you may well be leading a predator to the site. The next time you visit, the nest will be abandoned. Voila! The birds smelled you and ran.

There are very good reasons for staying away from bird nests. Birds may find your intrusiveness offensive for many reasons, but one of them is not the way you smell.

 

[HappyHeart]

Blue Jays can be very mean. They have been known to attack and torture cats.

 

[Jpgirl]

Thats a extreme case. a parent that has lost all other babies except one would probably make an exception of abandoning a foul smelling baby to pass on its genes.
in a regular case, however, i have seen birds abandon starving babies due to human interaction

.
__________________
Ummm NO- I've been feeding birds all my life-got the habit from my parents- and have replaced many baby birds and moved nests and have never seen the parents abandon a nest.

Blue Jays do tend to be aggressive-check to see if there are eggs-if not remove the nest

 

[kirbsam]

i say move it. i have moved nests that werer built right outside our front door due to being attacked every time we came out of the house.

 

[Mrgrin4birds]

I found a nest ontop of a 4x4 post that is right by my garage back door. It was built while I was out of town for 5 days, when I'm home it is frequently used so a bird would most likely not build there.
It has 3 darker blue eggs with the nest made of long grass. After a Google search we think its a Eastern Bluebird nest. It needs to be moved because it is such a high traffic area so the parents can hatch the eggs and raise the babies. I was thinking it would be best to build a open front birdhouse, cut part of the 4x4 post and transfer it to the house near the current location with less traffic.
If this sounds like a good idea or have any other ideas let me know!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I found a nest ontop of a 4x4 post that is right by my garage back door. It was built while I was out of town for 5 days, when I'm home it is frequently used so a bird would most likely not build there.
It has 3 darker blue eggs with the nest made of long grass. After a Google search we think its a Eastern Bluebird nest. It needs to be moved because it is such a high traffic area so the parents can hatch the eggs and raise the babies. I was thinking it would be best to build a open front birdhouse, cut part of the 4x4 post and transfer it to the house near the current location with less traffic.
If this sounds like a good idea or have any other ideas let me know!

Welcome to the dis, Mrgrin.

 

[mumto3girls]

Last year we had a bird build a nest in the wreath on our front door. By the time we realized it, there were already eggs in it. We decided to let it go and try to use the door as little as possible—we generally come and go through the garage, but others use the front door, packages are delivered there and we use that door usually when taking the dog out. I was worried when we closed the door we would send either an egg or baby bird flying out of it, but it ended up okay. Only lasted about a month before the babies were gone and then we removed the nest. Wreath did need cleaned a little, but no where near as bad as I expected it to be.

I vote for leaving it alone.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I found a nest ontop of a 4x4 post that is right by my garage back door. It was built while I was out of town for 5 days, when I'm home it is frequently used so a bird would most likely not build there.
It has 3 darker blue eggs with the nest made of long grass. After a Google search we think its a Eastern Bluebird nest. It needs to be moved because it is such a high traffic area so the parents can hatch the eggs and raise the babies. I was thinking it would be best to build a open front birdhouse, cut part of the 4x4 post and transfer it to the house near the current location with less traffic.
If this sounds like a good idea or have any other ideas let me know!

It’s not legal to move it once eggs are in it. If you did obtain special permission to move the nest, I doubt chainsawing the post with the nest on top would be the best method. The noise, vibrations, and possibility of toppling the nest right off the top would be far more disruptive than just gently picking it up and moving it (not to mention the first method would take 5 times as long). The best course of action is to leave it alone if you at all can. Brownie points if you can adjust your comings and goings to disturb them as little as possible. They’ll be fledged and out of there in a few weeks.

https://birdwatchingbuzz.com/can-you-move-a-birds-nest/

 

[_19disnA]

14 years later, I would assume the OP has resolved their bird's nest issue...........LOL.