Bluebirds in the Spring

I realize that birds are not always interesting to everyone, but I do want to write about one of my favorites, the Bluebird. Specifically, in Wisconsin, the Eastern Bluebird. When my husband and I first moved to Random Lake, every once in a while I'd see a flash of blue zip through the yard. Before I became a bird enthusiast, I really didn't know that this was a unique opportunity. Bluebirds are very picky about their habitats, and if you have one cruising through your yard there's a very good chance you can get them to raise a family if you put out a nest box.

According to NABS (North American Bluebird Society),Bluebirds were very common in Wisconsin during the 1800's until 1875 when Old World Weaver Finches or House Sparrows, took over after being introduced to this country from England in 1850. House Sparrows were mistakenly believed to help with insect control of crops and gardens, but the obnoxious birds actually harmed the crops. They also began displacing native birds, especially the Bluebird. Cavity nesters; the Bluebird relied exclusively on Woodpecker holes to raise their families. House Sparrows were so aggressive in not only defending the holes, but killing the already nesting Bluebird parents, eggs and babies. Bluebirds are docile, but I have noticed in the past few years that they are becoming more willing to defend their nest sites and babies. The first few years of putting out a nest box in my yard I never had problems with Bluebirds dive-bombing me when I would check the nest and babies. However, the last few years, both parents have defended the nest when they had eggs or chicks in the nest box. At times actually touching my hair or hitting my shoulder.

I'm not going to go into the whole history of how Bluebird trails were started, or the finer points of one nest box over another, but during the 1970's, a movement was started to save the Bluebird. Here's a link to the history of NABS:

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/nabs%20history.htm

Because of all the hard work of people who want to see the Bluebird survive, the bird has been brought back from the brink of extinction by the use of proper habitat and trails of nest boxes in those habitats. But, it doesn't come without cost. Getting rid of House Sparrows is a time consuming and frustrating job.

Here is a link to pictures of House Sparrows if you don't know what they look like.

http://www.sialis.org/hospphotos.htm

or here's a close up of a male House Sparrow. My thanks to Bet Zimmerman who took the photo and gave me permission to use it and the link to her website.

I have two nest boxes in my yard and have seen first hand what House Sparrows will do with not just Bluebird eggs, but any eggs or adult bird, and I have no sympathy for the sparrow. I found a dead Black-Cap Chickadee lying on her smashed eggs because the sparrow had killed her while she tried to defend her eggs and nest. Then, the sparrow didn't even use the nest box. He just flew on to be a pest somewhere else. Mostly, after killing the bird already nesting, they will just build their nests on top of the deceased. Doesn't make for happy birding.

If you want to learn more about Bluebirds, these are two very good websites:

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/

and

http://www.braw.org/

If you have a large yard, with lots of flat-cut grass land, please consider putting up a nest box and monitoring it. The above websites have nest box designs, finished product for sale or you can buy the wood ones from Fleet Farm.

Here's a link to buy nest boxes on line too:

http://www.sialis.org/bluebirdstore.htm#nestboxes

Just make sure you don't let the House Sparrows nest in there, otherwise you've done no good for the birds you are trying to help.

Blog for the week of April 14th