JCs Wildlife Ultimate Eastern and Western Bluebird House with Universal Mounting Pole Kit - Garden Birdhouse and Pole Combo (Brown and Brown)

This review is for the JCs Wildlife Ultimate Bluebird House with Universal Mounting Pole. This review is in two parts. The first is for the Bluebird house, and the second is for the universal mounting pole kit.ULTIMATE BLUEBIRD HOUSEWe have had wooden bluebird houses in the past, but most never hold up for more than one or two seasons without a lot of extra upkeep. We own some outdoor lawn furniture that is made from recycled poly lumber and have been pleased with the way they have held up to the weather. We were excited to find birdhouses made of the same type of recycled material, so we ordered two.Packaging: The birdhouses arrived quickly but were inadequately packaged. They were placed loose in a box with some brown paper crumpled on top. The overhang of the roof on the bird house, subjected to the shipping company's rough handling, punctured through the sides of the box in multiple places. It appears that the shipping company put clear tape over the holes to get the box to hold together until it could be delivered. Fortunately, the roofs of the birdhouses did not sustain any damage.Design: The birdhouses had all the features we were looking for. It was put together with screws rather than nails. It contained sides that opened for viewing and cleaning, it had a reinforced opening/predator guard. It had space between the roof and the sides, and in the base for ventilation. It had kerfs cut into the inside of the front wall for fledgling use. The overhang style of the roof prevents a direct path for water to run down the inside of the birdhouse in bad weather, and it had additional drainage holes to prevent standing water inside the birdhouse. It also had a mesh riser included to keep the bird nest off the floor of the birdhouse to prevent issue with Blowfly larva harming the fledglings. However, the wire mesh was of very light-weight construction, and some of the attachment points of the wire in the mesh had already come loose. This was a bit disappointing, considering the cost of the birdhouse. I would have preferred to have seen a hard riser made of aluminum or stainless steel, rather than light-weight wire mesh. The packaging states that the birdhouse is made in the USA.Quality Control: The quality control is lacking. One of the birdhouses arrived without the silver L-shaped latch screws for the side panels. The birdhouse was not even drilled for these. This was an obvious error that should not have been missed. To the seller's credit, I sent them a message on a Sunday so that they would see it on Monday, but I got back a reply message within a couple of hours, and two replacement sets of latch screws were shipped on Monday and received the following Thursday. Based on various photos of this product here and on the manufacturer's direct website, it appears that there may have been multiple versions of this product.Feature Detail: The product's details indicate that the birdhouse has pre-drilled holes to be used with the mounting flange that comes with the universal mounting pole. Some reviews have suggested that the holes do not line up with the flange. On further inspection, the holes in the mounting flange create the four corners of a rectangle, not a square. Therefore, if the holes do not line up, rotate the flange 90-degrees and then they will line up. This limits the way the flange can be mounted.Overall, the birdhouse is a well-built product, that I would rate as four stars. If the quality control issues are addressed, it would rate five stars.SQUIRREL STOPPER UNIVERSAL POLE KIT[Note: Squirrel Stopper's direct website indicates that Squirrel Stopper is a sister company to JCs Wildlife.]Packaging: The pole comes well packaged in a long, roughly 4"x4" corrugated container. All the stated parts were contained in the package, with no missing parts. There was no damage to the boxes or the product inside.Design: The pole comes in three sections that screw together. The lower section has an auger section to simplify installation. The top section has a swedged end to allow the mounting flange assembly to slip over the end of the pole. The mounting flange is L-shaped and allows it to be mounted on the bottom of the birdhouse, or on the side. Two thumb screws, offset by 90-degrees are in the short tube that is part of the mounting flange, to allow the flange and the attached birdhouse to be secured to the swedged end of the pole. It also comes with a solid bar that slips through the holes in the lower section to act as a T-handle to assist in turning the auger to seat the pole into the ground.Overall Quality: According to the manufacturer's direct website, the product is made in China, but this was not stated anywhere on the box. Although the pole kit is referred to as heavy duty, it is not adequate for use in hard or rocky soils. We live in the mountains, and after prepping a hole, when the short section of pole encountered resistance, it required additional effort to turn the auger. Upon exerting extra effort to continue seating the pole, the metal around the hole in the pole section began to tear and give way. With the other pole, it hit a spot where it would simply spin, but not continue to pull itself in to the ground. If you have soft soil, the pole kit should be fine, but if you have hard or rocky soil, look elsewhere.Quality Control: Once again, quality control is lacking. On one of the universal pole kits I received, one of the threaded holes in the mounting flange assembly was slightly too large. As a result, the thumb screw could not adequately engage the threads and would not tighten down to the swedged end of the pole. To overcome this, I had to drill a hole through the pole to secure the mounting flange assembly.Confusing product name: When purchasing a product that is predominately named "Squirrel Stopper" it would seem to imply that their products are designed to stop squirrels. However, in the product description is the following note: "This is not a squirrel-proof pole." To be "squirrel-proof", an additional add on product must be purchased.Overall, I was extremely disappointed in the universal mounting pole kit. If you have soft soil, it will work fine. But, for the cost, I expected more. I would rate this two stars at best.FINAL RATING: My final, overall rating for the JCs Wildlife Ultimate Bluebird House with Universal Mounting Pole is 3 stars. While I like the birdhouse itself, I would not buy the universal pole kit again.

Everything! Construction, functionality, appearance, design etc.

The directions for assembling the house attachment could have been clearer because the pic didn’t match the piece we received. The screws could only go into certain holes, so that’s what we did without directions. Now all we need is a bird to love it!

I love that you can open from the side to look inside. The plexiglass keeps birds from flying out at you. The opposite side opens for easy cleaning.

This company thought of everything. There are air holes for circulation, inside ridges for the birds to easily climb in and out, stand for the birds to build nest on to promote airflow and easy cleanup. It’s very well-made, clear directions for attaching pole, and very attractive

My husband and I put this bluebird box up and within an hour we had a male and female setting up residence in it.

At my home I have many different brands of bird houses/feeders/accessories. We've also made our own and repurposed other products. Based off past experiences (good and bad) I'm willing to spend more for something that meets my needs. EVERYTHING about the 'JCs Wildlife Ultimate Bluebird House (with Universal Mounting Pole, Green and Brown)' PERFECT!Installing the house/pole was a piece of cake. No problems with the bracket holes lining up and the deep auger cut thru heavy clay like butter. I initially put it in the wrong spot and had to move it, it was so easy to relocate. It's really an excellent design, no digging/pounding or cursing required. Its super sturdy as well, no chance of it leaning or loosening up with as deep as it's set.The house looks nice and is built well. I really like the recycled pollylumber, past experience tells me it holds up well. The view feature is AWESOME! I was thinking how cool it will be to see the babies but it also allows you to monitor the nest as its being built. I'm just getting into the bluebird business and have learning about nest identification so that I can remove invasive species nests before the eggs are laid. The entire side panel opens for easy access for cleaning and maintenance.Now as far as bluebird occupants go, we will just have to wait and see. I live in a heavily wooded area where they are not common but I actually I saw some this winter. Hoping that the somewhat open area where I placed the house and fancy new diggs draw them in.

This was relatively easy to assemble, but the pre-drilled mounting holes did not at all match up with the holes on the mounting piece. Fortunately though, it was pretty easy to drill through the material. There was also a little extra bump of casting on the surface of my mounting piece, which prevented the piece from laying flush against the bottom of the house (see photo). Not a huge deal, but if you’re anal like me then it might drive you a bit crazy. 😂 I drilled one screw in a little tighter to push the mounting piece down more evenly flush to the bottom of the house.The ground in our yard can be extremely hard and dry, so I was pleasantly surprised with how easily the pole twisted deeply into the ground! The house has a natural yet attractive look and is a great addition to the yard! Can’t wait for our frequent bluebird visitors to take notice of it!