Cats are incredible predators, and if you’re living in an area with some local outdoor cats or a feral cat population, it probably has you a little worried about your bluebird nest box (or chickadee, or tree swallow or any other native cavity nesting birds).
What makes things even more difficult is that cats can jump very high. So even if you’re properly mounting your nest boxes on a pole with a good stovepipe baffle – is this really enough to protect your bluebirds from cats?
The best way to protect bluebird nest boxes from cats is to properly mount the nest box on a pole with a stovepipe baffle, and pair that with a Noel guard. Keep in mind, however, Noel Guards can conflict with wren guards.
How combining predator guards protects your bluebird nest boxes from cats…
The first best mode of protection for your bluebird nest box is to get a stovepipe baffle that is at least 8 inches by 24 inches long. However most bluebird monitors are recommending taller stovepipe baffles – at least 48-60 inches.
The challenge with taller stovepipe baffles is that they are not commercially available. You have to make those. And therefore, the 8×24 inch stovepipe baffle is the next best choice.
Baffles make it difficult for predators to climb the pole because of its wider dimensions and its height. Furthermore, properly attached stovepipe baffles must wobble. That added instability helps climbing predators lose their balance.
Cats, however, are high jumpers. Even with a 60 inch tall stovepipe baffle, cats have been able to jump on top of them and get into the nest box.
This is where a Noel Guard comes in handy. Noel guards are mesh, cage-like structures that go around the entrance of a nest box. They create distance between certain reaching predators and the entrance into the box.
These guards are handy, especially for potential avian predators that might reach into the nest box – like hawks or crows. Even woodpeckers have been reported to cling to a nest box and nab a baby as food.
But there are challenges to Noel guards as well, including acceptance by bluebirds and the fact that they conflict with wren guards.
We advise you to pick your poison so to speak. That is to say, decide which threat is the bigger priority. If house wrens and other competing cavity birds are a bigger threat, choose a wren guard. Plus, your stovepipe baffle will still give you really good overall protection.
If, however, birds of prey and cats are a bigger threat, use a Noel guard with your stovepipe baffle.
Remember too, when adding a Noel guard, watch your nest box to make sure your birds accept it.
Other tips to help protect your bluebird nest boxes from cats:
Besides properly rigging up your bluebird nest box, another really helpful way to protect your bluebirds from cats is to try to prevent issues in the first place.
First, we always recommend feeding birds intentionally rather than regularly. That means, rather than putting food out every day, only put food out when the weather is really bad – extreme cold, extreme heat, or several days of rain. This is when birds will need food supplemented more. On any regular day during the nesting season, most birds are hunting for bugs.
The reason why it helps to avoid putting out food daily is because it attracts more birds to your yard than would normally be there. And while that’s fun from a birdwatching perspective, it’s also fun from a predator’s perspective. In a sense, feeding birds daily could lead to an artificially inflated food chain. And that’s not a good thing because eventually, this could draw more outdoor cats to the area.
Second, talk to your neighbors about keeping cats indoors. They may not really like that idea too much. You could try to educate them. But sometimes cats bully their owners into letting them outside.
Another way to encourage your neighbors to keep their cats indoors is talking about wildlife reports in your area. Have their been any cayotes, owls, foxes, hawks that might threaten their cat. Rather than talking about protecting your birds, talk about the threats their cats might face (what’s in it for them).
Finally, while we do not promote lying, we will still mention this suggestion we once heard from a bluebirder. That is to tell your neighbors (whether it’s true or not) that there have been a racoon (or insert other animal type) that pest control is working to trap. And you don’t want their cat to accidentally get trapped, so they might want to keep their cats indoors – again, what’s in it for them?
Third, make sure you have good cover in your yard for your fledglings. Bushes, shrubs, trees, perches, things like that are really helpful and allow your baby birds to fly to shelter. If you needed an excuse to get planting this year – there you go :).
What not to do when it comes to neighbor cats
We do not at all advise you to trap your neighbors’ cats and deliver them to the inhumane society. You have to live with these people, so you don’t want to start a feud. It’s just not a good idea overall. Plus, if you’ve protected your nest box using the tips above, and you’ve incorporated elements of cover in your yard, there is fairly good protection from cats overall.
Also, we encourage compassion and grace. When approaching neighbors about cats, as much as this makes us passionate, try to discipline those feelings in order to have a smooth conversation. Listen to the opposition and calmly discuss ways to compromise.
Of course, sometimes you just have one of those neighbors who does not care about anything, including their cats or your birds. And that is an extreme challenge. Again, rely on good nest box protection practices to at least get you most of the way there.
A note about farm cats
Farm cats are kind of another story when it comes to the outdoor cat situation. All cats should at least be spayed and neutered, but we do understand that there are roles they play on the farm. A lot of grace is given in that situation. Just work hard to protect the nest box with appropriate mounting and guards, and offer cover for your baby birds when they fledge the nest.
Another thing a lot of birders don’t realize about farm cats is that many property owners do keep their cats indoors and have them spayed or neutered. However, they cannot control the several people who pull over on the side of the road and dump kittens and puppies on their land. This absolutely happens, and it happens a lot. It’s very sad, but property owners have no control over that, and the cost of fixing those animals is beyond a lot of people’s means. So give grace to these situations, and just try your best to control the things you can control.
