Flicker Nest Box

[Sara]

We put up a Flicker box last weekend. This weekend we had a pair of Flickers making it home! They hung around in the mornings, pecking back-and-forth on the box (which held up well), our chimney's, the neighbors gutter, etc.

We are crossing our fingers that over the next few months it will be a permanent home, and we'll have the cute little short-tailed fledglings hopping around the front yard :)

[Gary Lefko]

Have a nest box webcam, handy? :-) Gary

[Sara]

That would be to cool! But, my better half is a photographer. I'm sure she'll get some fun pictures when the time comes.

[Sara]

We'll the pair of Flickers were tossed out of the box by a pair of squirrels! Not just any pair of squirrels either-- it's Daisy, our favorite squirrel.

Daisy is kinda cute, she is half the size of normal squirrels, and mostly stays in the front yard. She has been hanging around for a while and we don't have the heart to kick her out. Maybe next year (if we get a big ladder) we'll keep the box open for the Flickers.

But, having the squirrels nest in the box got me to thinking perhaps putting the box in a tree isn't the smartest place. Perhaps placing it on the house would be better. That way there would be no squirrel access. There are a few Flicker boxes around the neighborhood, and they are all on the house.

I don't think that is possible for us, as we have a little ranch. Any ideas (aside from getting out the b-bgun) to keep the Flicker box open to only Flickers?

[Alikina MacAndrew]

Aww - that's a bummer that there's competition between the flickers and the squirrels. But I'd love to keep up with the story - are you going to try to move it to a less squirrel-friendly location?

I love all the details about nest boxes - we just moved into our house last fall, so we're working on feeders and a wildlife-friendly garden first, but hopefully we'll get to do nest boxes eventually.

Alikina