As I write this column I am feeling quite under the weather. The flu has come to town and it has me in its grip. I haven’t left the house in days and all I want to do is sleep. That being said, I am also stuck on “teacher time” and I can’t seem to sleep past 5 a.m. With the recent changing of the clocks this puts me in the unhappy position of being awake while it is still dark outside; annoying on a work day, positively miserable when not going to work.

It is easy to get a little down in the dumps, but I find solace in the birds at my feeders. The regular crowd is slowly growing as the temperatures warm, but we’re only talking about three-to-four new species so far. Most of the faces are familiar and most of their numbers are “normal” for this time of year. Still, when I’m not curled up in the fetal position contemplating my current predicament, I do try to glance out the windows whenever I can. Thus it was that I caught sight of something that instantly put a smile on my face.

Out of my office window, which looks out onto a large plot of lawn, there are two nest boxes on poles. One of these is lying on the ground; the victim of the high winds that we had in past weeks. However, the other has managed to stay upright and in the bright sun of Friday morning I saw a little streak of blue fly from the top of my roof (just above my office window) to the standing box. It was a male eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) and he was not alone.

Half a second after he landed on top of the nest box pole, the male was joined by another bird that had more a of grayish appearance. From a distance the color wasn’t enough to help me identify the bird, but her behavior was. It was a female bluebird and the little pair was clearly out to do some house hunting. Wings were fluttering with great excitement as each of the birds took turns popping in and out of the nest box. They seemed to be in their own little world of joy and possibility and I found myself infected with happiness. For a moment, the symptoms of influenza disappeared and I was buoyant and light as a bluebird’s feather.

I have lived in the same house for 20 years and ever since the first summer that I moved in, there have been nest boxes in my side yard. There has never been a summer that these boxes haven’t been occupied by someone, but in most years it has been bluebirds that have nested in the same box. The other box is usually first claimed by tree swallows and then used by house wrens. House sparrows are never tolerated and are met with extreme prejudice. In my yard there will be no shenanigans from invasive species.

The eastern bluebird is one of the most charming birds that you will ever meet. Males and females work together to select a nest site, build a nest, and raise their offspring. Before humans started to offer boxes for them to nest in, eastern bluebirds were dependent on old woodpecker holes and natural cavities in trees. But bluebirds are denizens of grassy fields and would only have nested in places that were close to their prime foraging habitat. Today, the generosity of humans has resulted in a multitude of man-made housing and the bluebirds are more than happy to take advantage of such accommodations.

The only hitch is that bluebirds remain somewhat vulnerable to two invasive species: the house sparrow and the European starling. Nest box plans are easy to find on the internet and the boxes are easy to build, but if this is something that you want to try then you are accepting the responsibility of stewardship for them. If you put out nest boxes, then you have to make sure that they are being used by the correct tennants.

Bluebird nests are generally made of fine grasses; light and dry and comfy. The location of the nest is advertised by the male. He will fly to the spot, and carry nesting material in and out of the cavity as though to show his mate how easy and convenient the location is. If she accepts, then she will take charge of building the rest of the nest, using grasses and pine needles for a foundation and then finer grasses for the lining. Once complete, the female will lay four-to-five pale blue eggs and then starts incubation on the day that the final egg is laid. All the while, the male will defend their territory in preparation for the hatching of their chicks.

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The real danger comes from house sparrows and their nests are rather easy to identify. Rather than having a nice, neat bowl-shaped nest, the house sparrow tends to stuff the box full with as much material as possible. A bluebird nest is neat and the sparrow nest is a hot mess. Because house sparrows are invasive species (not protected by federal laws) it is safe to pull their nests apart. Better to have no nests at all than to have a house sparrow nest.

If you go to my website (speakingofnature.com) and visit the “Readers Corner” page, then you will see a link to “Bluebird Boxes” in the top left corner. This takes you to a page that provides plans for building a box and at the bottom of the page there is an additional link to “How To Control House Sparrows.” Examples of non-bluebird nests are provided so you can make sure that you are only removing sparrow nests and not wren nests. If you live in an open area with lots of lawn and fields, then you might consider trying your hand at being a landlord for bluebirds. Just plant a box and watch for that little streak of blue that will brighten your day as soon as you see it. And now, the fetal position beckons.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 27 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.