this week's theme is special for me because in his later years my father was very active in the massachusetts bluebird association and their effort to save the eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) from extinction. he was awarded for his many efforts and in particular for his design modifications of the houses the mba erects, monitors and maintains to help the bird population to recover. one of the setbacks many in the early nestbox campaign experienced is the fact that houses intended for bluebirds were most often inhabited by non-native english sparrows or european starlings. the challenge was to design and place boxes and establish suitable monitoring routines that function specifically for bluebirds and not invasive competitive species.
some of the issues include placement in the terrain, direction the hole faces relative to vegetation, hole size, durability, ease of ability to open for cleaning, presence of an appropriate feeding platform and regularity and standardization of monitoring
male eastern bluebird at his house
female. i took these photos in the garden where i grew up though we did not have them at that time. the nesting bluebirds in the garden was a source of great satisfaction to my father. he was also a hobby woodworker and spent many hours working on house designing and building. he never missed a chance to share his enthusiasm for the effort to save the species.
nesting boxes were placed throughout the state in strategic areas and mba members had assigned routes for monitoring and reporting. my children and i remember well walking with their grandfather on his route, counting eggs, cleaning out boxes, removing parasites from the baby chicks and setting out mealworms in the round feeding cans. my father taught us how to handle the chicks properly. i had thought the parents would reject the chicks if they had been handled by humans but that is not the case. however once they reached a certain age he never disturbed them. we would observe from a distance before approaching the box and afterward wait for the parents return.
the campaign to save the birds has overall been very successful throughout the bluebird's range in the eastern united states thanks to the efforts of countless birdlovers.
my father is no longer with us but fond memories linger in these boxes
