I HATE tree tubes!

First, as a nestbox monitor, I don't like them because they signal the 
arrival of new trees, and TRES and EABL like meadows, while HOWR like woods 
and brush, and HOWR are fierce competitors for nesting cavities, evicting 
eggs from CACH, EABL and TRES cavities, as many as five, while the HOWR pair 
will settle on only one nesting cavity.  We are steadily being driven out of 
Oregon Ridge Park by the reforestation effort ongoing there.

Second, because they are sometimes irresponsibly installed, without the 
caps, although Oregon Ridge staff are very careful to ensure that the caps 
are installed.  They could be designed with a small exit hole at the bottom, 
but when I talked to the manufacturer of the brand which was used at OR, 
they weren't willing to consider it.

Third, as Shirley Ford points out, there is no program, even at OR, for 
removal of the tubes after their purpose is done, that is, either the tree 
has grown up or it has failed to thrive.

Fourth, invasive European Paper Wasps LOVE these things as nesting areas.  
Around OR, you can see multiple European Paper Wasp nests in many of the 
tubes, seemingly going back generations -- the caps do not exclude wasps.  
These EPW are also competitors for nesting cavities, primarily in early 
spring, and Oregon Ridge is a prime breeding ground for this invasive wasp 
because of all the tree tubes that are there.

This year, OR has a new style of tree tube, made of heavier material, I 
think PVC, with holes in them.  I am curious to know how the EPW like them 
as nesting sites.

Paul Kilduff, Baltimore
Nestbox trail at Oregon Ridge Park, Cockeysville (Baltimore Co) MD

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:01:47 -0400
From:    "" <>
Subject: Bluebirds & Tree Tubes

What bothers me the most about the tree tubes is that they are left on the 
trees way too long. At that point the mesh guards are
gone and many of the tubes do not even have a tree growing out of them. 
Isn't there a specified time that these tubes are to be
removed and collected for recycling? I have seen the guards still on trees 4 
to 5 inches in diameter.
Shirley Ford
Emmitsburg, MD.


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