8Ialia Pages 41·80 Sia/Ia Means Bluebirds

Volume 6, Number 2 Spring 1984 8ialia Pages 41·80 Sia/ia means bluebirds. Hence the title of this journal. Technically, stette is the NORTH AMERICAN Latinized, neuter plural version of the Greek BLUEBIRD SOCIETY word sia/is, a noun meaning a "kind of bird." Since the Eastern Bluebird was the first bluebird classified by Carolus l.ln­ naeus (1707-1778), he gave it the species name sialis, though he placed it in the Founder genus Motacilia which is now reserved for Lawrence Zeleny the wagtails. It was William Swainson President (1789·1855), who, in 1827, decided that the Lillian Lund Flies bluebirds needed a genus of their own with· in the thrush family (Turdidae). He selected Vice President the generic name Sialia which he simply Thomas M. Talt adapted from the species name sia/is which Treasurer Linnaeus had used. Therefore, the scien­ Del os C. Dupree tific name for the Eastern Bluebird is Sialia sia/is (pronounced see-ahl-ee-ah see'·ahl· Recording Secretary Iss). Similarly, the Western Bluebird and Mark Raabe Mountain Bluebird, the two other species Corresponding Secretary within the genus, were named stette mex ­ Joseph G. Tall icana and Sialia currucoides (coo-roo-coy­ Directors dees) respect ively . Their specie s name s are Art Ayl eswort h descriptive of their locations. All three blue­ Montana bird species are native only to the North Martha Chestem American continent, although each in­ Maryland habits different regions generally sep­ Richard J. Dol esh Maryla nd arated by the Rocky Mountains and by alti­ Sed Ie Dorber tudinal preferences. Naw York While the adult birds all show ditter­ Gay T. Duncan North Carolin a ing plumages, the young of all three Rog er & Dottle Foy species look remarkably alike, prominently North Carolina displaying spotted breasts and large white Jo an Glascock eye rings. This similarity in plumage was Oregon the principal reason the Society chose the Theodore W. Gutzka North Dakota juvenal bluebird for its logo. Since bl ue­ L. Edward Haws birds almost always choose to raise their South Carolina young in small enclosed cavities, a young Charlotte Jernigan bluebird sitting near a nesting box seemed Oklahoma to symbolize our mi ssion. The hope of any Reber B. Layton Mississippi spec ies resides in its young . Because of Donald Stiles bluebird nest ing preferences, the survival of Albert. their young may depend on the nesting bOX, Executive Dire ct or especially since natural cavities, for a va­ Mary D. Janetatos riety of reasons, are disappearing rapid ly. The theme of bluebird young nurtured in Editor man -made structures will be a recurring one Joanne K. Solam in our art and literature. We hope that this theme will remind all about the plight of the blueb ird, and wil l st imulate action which will allow this beautiful creature to prosper.

Sialia is published quarterly by the North American Bluebird Society, Box 6295, Silver Spring, MD 20906·0295. Subscription price is included in annual membership dues. Single copies: $2.50. Write for information about bulk quantities. Checks and money orders should be made payable to North American Bluebird Society and should be in United States funds. Issues are dated Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and appear approximately on t he fi ft eenth of January, April, July and October respectively. Deadl ine fo r subm ission of material is three months prior to date of publication; dated it ems only, tw o months. 8ialia The Quarterly ,Journal About Bluebirds

Vol ume 6, Number 2 Spr ing 1984 Pages 41-80

EDITOR J oanne K.Sol em CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Lawre nce Zeleny ART EDITOR Ric hard L. Woodward

Ree ntorcrno Nest Boxes with Ga lvan ized W ire Cab le ' ". .48 RObert R Cot-en Prothonotary Warblers Accept COVER Blueb ird Box . . . .. 50 A Proth onotary Wa rbler near a Jo M F ind lay III ne s ung c av: ty Is Art Ed Ito r 1983 Nestlitg Box Repo rt ...... 51 Rich ard L. WOodwa rd 's subject. Delos C Dupree This species is featu red in two Prothonotary Wa rble rs Use short articl es In t his Issue. Bird Boxes . .. .. 54 Law rence H Wa lkI nsha w Why and When Should Staffa welcomes original articles, ar t Blueb ird Boxes Be Mon it ored? . .. 55 and photographs for publication. Lawrenee Zeleny A lt hough trus journal IS named for Mounta in Bluebird s In the bluebird, rnatenal relating to all Saskatchewan ...... 57 nat ive cavity nesting sp ec ies wil l be M ary I Hous ton conside red Man usc rip ts should be Blu ebirds and the Sages of typed neatly and double-space d. Al l Concord 60 ma te rial submitted is subjec t to lil!lan Lund r iles edit in g or rewriting. Subm i t th e Plantings for Bluebi rds and ori ginal manusc ript plus a du plicate Other Wi ld life: Sassafras 62 copy if you wi sh to proof the material Ka ren Black burn befo re publicat ion. If the art ic le has Que st ion Corner ...... ' " . . . 64 been s u bm it ted elsewhere (o r Of Bluebirds and Snakes ...... 65 previous ly pub lis hed) that fact must Dtrk de waaro be sta ted at the time of subrrussi on. Eas tern Bluebirds Nest In Boot . . .. ,68 A ll manuscripts w ill be acknowl­ Improved Design for Experi mental edged . Black and whi te glossy photo­ Nesting Box 70 graphs are preferred. Print th e sub­ Ira L Ca mpbell jec t, names of individuals pictured, 1:17 , ...... 71 phot ograp her and return address on Ja ck a nd Ma rykaye W e inm ann the back of each photogr aph . Art IS My Bluebird Story 73 we lco me and shou ld be in black pen­ FrederIck W Comstock and-in k. We do not assume resp on­ On the Trai l , 75 sibilit y for manuscripts, photographs Bl uebird Express .. , , 76 or ar t subm it ted. The editor's address Bluebird Tales . _ 78 IS 10617 Graeloch Road , Laur el, Mary ­ Poetry ...... 80 land 20707. Presidential Points

Lillian Lund F i les

s NABS enters its sixth yea r of in­ Avolvement in blu ebird co nse rva­ tion, th e Societ y's hor izons are ex­ pand ing . Peopl e recognize us as a so urce of info rmation on blueb ird s and other cavity nest in g bird s. NABS at this poin t has sent out one-half million packet s of bluebird inf orm ati on. NAB S sta rted out to be a clea ring ho use fo r bluebi rd ac tiv it ies . One thing Gutzke has asse mbled , a bookl et to being don e is to searc h out ways to help members collect trail dat a, and a cope wi th nest ing compet itors. We pamphlet for begin ners descr ib in g how receive inq uiries fr om many di ffe rent to set up a bluebird trail. Since NAB S is groups : colleqe stude nts in grad uat e a non-prof it organ iza tion and most of pro grams, Camp Fir e girls r.nd boys, th e wo rk is do ne by volun teers, your Scou ts , 4-H, garden cl ubs, and other ta x-ded ucti ble don ation s are spent bird societ ies. The Department of almost ent irely for research and educa ­ Natural Resources in ma ny st ates is tiona l pu rposes. You can help NABS utilizing mon ey from non-qarne wildlife help the bluebirds by continui ng your fu nds on beha lf of bluebirds and ot her mem bership, gett ing others to join, cav ity nesting birds. Check in your wr iting art icles fo r local newspapers state to see if such a fund exi sts and and/or let ters to the editor , se nding in try to chann el so me of these funds names and addresses of your friends , toward blu ebirds. Wh ile these non­ and by ma il ing a tax-dedu ct ible con­ gam e wi ld life funds are for all non­ tr ibution to day. You are rew arded by gam e species, NABS has established a knowing that you have help ed the workable progr am and th is is bein g blu eb ird s. so ught by state wi ld life officia ls. It is a W atch fo r a new blu ebird treat : An­ natural becau se it gets peopl e invo lved dre Dion 's book Le Retour de i 'Oiseeu and it works! Bleu (The Return of the Blu ebird). This Since NA BS' begi nning in March beau tifully illustrat ed st ory has now 1978, it has sponsored th e printing and been tr ansl at ed into Engli sh. di stributi on of nest ing bo x plans, a full I wi sh to announce th e foll ow ing c o lo r infor mat io nal brochure, th e app ointment s: Reid Caldwe ll o f Lucas, qu arterly journal Sia lia and a 144-slide Ohi o, a natu ral ist with th e Ohi o Divi­ lecture progr am. The Soci ety has pro­ sio n of Wildlife, as co-c hai rman of th e vide d qu ality nesting boxes at the Edu c at i on Co mm ittee along wi t h lowes t possi ble price as well as other Bryan R. Shant z of Lacombe, Alb erta, relat ed bluebird it ems. A 30-seco nd biolog ist wi th Union Carbide. Past ­ publ ic servi ce announceme nt abou t president Ann e T. St urm of Barnesville, NABS' eff orts to hel p bluebi rds will Maryland , has bee n appo inted to head soon be avail able. This is ideal for use the Devel opm ent Commi ttee. on te levision stations, both public and commerc ial. For fu rther information Aw ard w rite to headqua rters. All these accomplishments would The list of awa rds made at the an­ not have been possibl e w itho ut the nua l meeting included in my co lumn in help of the membership. Co ntinued the Winter issue negl ect ed to mention support is needed to further these pro­ Amelia R. Laskey , wh o was post­ jects and to set new go als. Plans for hum ous ly given a Researc h Award fo r th e fut ure inc lude publication of the her work with bluebirds and ot her cav i­ fo llow ing : a bi bliography which Tedd ty nesting birds. •

42 Sia lia , Spring 1984 Historical Population Changes of Eastern Bluebirds in Northwest Tennessee

1. David Pitts

ince 1969 I have been studying a year as it gains. Annual ch ange in a S nonmigratory popul ati on of East ­ sta ble population is il lustrated in ern Bluebirds (Sialia siali s) in north­ Fi gure 1. Wh lie the effects of annua I west Tenne ssee. My study area is in change are usually s hort-term, as the Obion County in the Reelfoot Lake name annual implies, cumulative ef­ wat ershed. I will describe here the fect s can occur. For example, a popu­ types of ch anges that I have observed lation wil l dec line and event ually and other changes that are kno wn to bec ome extinct if annu al los ses co n­ have occu rred in thi s population since sistently exceed the number of in­ 1818, th e year thi s area was acqu ired di vidu als added. Conversely, a popula­ from th e Chic kasaw Indians. Simi lar tion will increase if annual gains are type s of c ha nges have been observed la rger than the losse s. Pop ulations In other area s. rarely remain the same fr om year t o Forty nest boxes are present on year, even in a stable environmen t. th e area. While most nest s are bu ilt in Usua ll y there are small and off setting the nest bo xes , some pairs oc ca sional­ t tuc tuations around a parti cu lar level. ly use natural cav ities . Routine in­ vestigative pro cedures include record­ In north west Tennessee two or ing the dates of nesting activities, three bro ods are produced by most measu ring eggs and nests, and band­ breeding pairs. First broods t ypic ally ing young and adults . Proj ects suc h as begin fl edging in early May with subse­ the measurement of daily weigh t ga ins quent broods being fl edged th rou gh of nestlings and th e description of the summer and, occas ion all y, into food hab it s have also been conducted earl y fal l. The fl edglings experience a on the area. high rate of mortalit y; some ad ult s al so The East ern Blu eb ird population di e, but they d ie at a lower rat e. The of northwest Tennessee has been pattern of an nual change wi ll vary fro m c ha rac ter ized by t hree types of year to year. In som e years a cold, late c hanges since 1818. Two of th ese spring may delay or reduce the produc­ type s of changes, annual change and ti on of first broods. In oth er years ab­ winter ki lt, have had short-term effec ts, normally hot and dry summe r weather wh iIe the th ird ty pe, wh ich has been may adversel y affect seco nd or third due to habitat change, has occ ur red broods. / .nnual changes are therefore ov er a lon ger peri od of t ime. Each of due to the producti on of off spring and th ese three kinds of changes wi ll be the s ubse quent mortality or mo vement described and discussed. of both young and adults.

ANNUAL CHANGE WINTER KILL

Annual c hange is due primarily to The second type of short-term the producti on and fledging of young. c hange results from abn ormally heavy The fledging of young birds will in­ winter mortality f ollowed by a peri od of c rease the population, but usually population recovery . Normally three to such increases are only temporary. five years will be in volv ed in mos t of Mor tality, and perhaps emigration, will these cycles, although a great er range qui ckly redu ce the population size . A of variation is possible. The most re­ st able population has the same num­ cent occurrence of this type of popula­ ber of breeding pairs each year; ti on change in northwest Tennessee therefore, a stable populati on will lose resulted from th e harsh winters of the same number of ind ividuals each 1976-1977, 1977-1978, and 1978-1979.

Volume 6, Number 2 43 Figure 1. Annual change in a stable population of Eastern Bluebirds.

W N (J) z o I­ a.. o a..

AM J J A S O N D J FM MO NTH

As shown in Figure 2 the number of tality and then studied bluebirds in the breeding pairs on my study area de­ following years noted that the popula­ c lined precipitously. Similar changes tions recovered in a few years. The in­ occurred across much of Tennessee. I tervals between winter kills have usual­ c alc ulated (Pitts 1981) that the number ly been long enough to allow the of pai rs of Eastern Bluebirds in Ten­ populations to recover. If a populat ion nessee dropped from about 45,000 in experienced repeated winter kills with 1972 to about 10,000 in 1978. Normal inadequate time for recovery between wi nter weather in the following years kills, the population wou ld become ex­ allowed a recovery to take pla ce, so tinct. This is a major reason why most that in 1983 th e population on my study Eastern Bluebirds migrate awa y from area and in the state had returned to th e northern nesting areas. Onl y those the mid -1970's level. individuals that migrate fr om the no r­ thern nesting areas have been able to Eastern Bluebirds in the south­ survive during winter and return to rear eastern states have experienced winter offspri ng. Northwest Ten nessee is kills frequently in th e past. Hea vy mor­ near the northern edge of the Eastern tality due to winter weather in the Bluebird wintering range. Even though southeast has been documented for winter kills occur in northwest Ten­ 1884-1885 (Golsan and Holt 1914), 1899 nessee, such kills are infrequent (Wayne 1899), 1911·1912 (Bent 1949), enough to all ow popu lation recovery. 1940 (Musselman 1941), and 1958-1959 (Laskey 1958; J ames 1961). Although this list of years is not complete, it em­ HABITAT CHANGE phasizes the repeated, but un predlct­ able, oc currence of win1er kil ls.Most The third type of population of the writers who observed such mor- change that has occurred, and con-

44 Sia iia , Spring 1984 linues to occur, on my st udy area is a (Progne subis) to use as nest sites. long-term c hange du e to habitat Eastern Blueb ird s also used so me of changes . The se changes take place the gourds. Whether or not the Indians over a period of several decade s. While of northwest Tennessee placed gourds this is not a long period in a geol ogical for the birds is unknown. Bas ed on the sense, it does involve many genera­ available information about the area , tions of bluebirds. West Tennessee Eastern Bluebirds were not abundant was legally opened to sett lement by in northwest Tennessee in 1818; the Jac kson Purch ase of 1818. Prior to however, it should be emphasized that thi s time the area was sparsely In­ some Eastern Bluebirds were present habitated by Chi ckasaw Indians. While in the area at that time. the number of Eastern Bluebirds in the As sett lers moved into northwest area in 1818 is not k nown, estimates Tennessee and began clearing the land can be made by c ons idering the for farms, Eastern Bluebird numbers amount of suita ble habitat avai lable. increased (Figure 3). Much of the early Most of the area was heavily fore st ed forest removal was acc omplished by with dec idu ous tree s. A number of girdling trees but all ow ing th em to re­ openings had been created by beaver main standing wh il e crops or pastures dam s, wind, and fire. While these open­ we re planted around th e trees. ing s in the forest were temporary, the y Pastures were essential for the sur­ pro vided nesting habitat for blu ebirds. vival of ca ttle and hors es which were Most of the Indians probably remo ved present on virtually every farm. some of the trees around thei r camps. Wo odpeckers excavated cav ities in In some part s of the southeast, Indians many of the dead trees; consequently, hung empty gou rds for Purple Ma rtins bluebird s had available many nes t

Figu re 2. Number of pairs of Eastern Bluebirds on northwest Tennessee study area, 1976-1982. 3 0

en c::: 20 -

(!) z- ..... 10 en w z

76 77 78 79 80 81 82 YEAR Fi gure 3. Est im ate d cha nges in the East ern Bluebird population of northwest Ten nessee , 1818-1 983. z ~ HIG H I- « -.J ::J o, o c,

o e: LOW zn w ::J -.J rn

18 2 0 190 0 19 80

s ites in th e f orm of aband on ed bu ildings tod ay. Farming practices and woodpecker cavities. Li kewise, the land use pat t ern s have c hanged; nu merous short grass pastures pro­ numbers of Eastern Blu ebirds have vided an abundant and accessible sup­ also changed. The mosai c of s mall ply of ins ects and other small animals farms , each with live stoc k and pasture, for food. European Starlings iStum us has been replac ed in no rthwe st Ten· vulgaris), House Sparrow s (Passer ness ee w ith larg er farm s, most of dome s ticus), and pesti cides were not w hic h are now devote d almost totally pre sent in th e area . As a result of t hese to row c rops. East ern Blu eb ird s are, habitat changes, East ern Bluebird however, sti !l present in northwest Ten­ nu mb ers increased rapidly. The in­ nessee, but t hey are not present in the crease, or at least t he maintenance of numbe rs of 100, or even 50, years ago. large numbers, co nti nued unti l the ear· It is poss ible th at the curre nt popula­ Iy 1900's. Since then many land use ti on is Simila r to th e populat ion of pract ices and habitat changes have 1818. In 1818 sm all " islands" of not been com pat ible with bluebirds . suitable hab itat ex isted; the sa me is Tractors (which need no pasture!) true to day . In 1818 the small areas of replaced horses; fences were Increas­ su itab le habitat were surro unded by ingly built with metal posts rat her th an forests; tod ay th e suitabl e ha bit at is wood posts; European Sta rli ngs and su rro unded by soybeans an d corn, Hou se Sparrows arrived in th e area; While the timing may have been and persi st ent pest icide s were ext en­ di ff erent, other area s in the eastern sively used. In recent years East ern United St ates have apparent ly ex­ Bluebirds have been f aced wit h even perienced simila r in cr eases and th en further redu cti on s in the amount of decreases in Eas tern Bluebird popula­ su itabl e habitat as man y of th e re­ tio ns as the nati ve habitat was maining pastures and hayfields in c ha nged . I have use d the term " habita t nort hwest Tennessee have been con­ c ha nge" in a broad sense. For exam ­ verted int o soyb ean fields . ple, the applicati on of a persistent pes ticide such as DDT may prevent Som e of the old est farm ers in East ern Blue birds from surviving and northwe st Tenn essee can still remem­ repr odu cing . The conversion of sma ll ber when East ern Bluebirds were abun­ fa rms into suburbs or bac k into dan t and commonly nest ed near, or wood land c an have the sa me effect. even in, farm bu ildings. Those Both are types of habitat change. It is memories con tr as t with th e hordes of proba bly obvious by now th at I co n­ House Sparrows and European Star­ side r habitat cha nge to be the fact or l in g s f ound a ro u nd mo s t f a rm th at has most influenced East ern

46 Si ali a, Spring 1984 Bluebird pop ulations in northwest Ten­ More Bluebirds nessee s ince 1818. Wh ile pop ulation c hanges du e to prod uction of you ng or Feeding Chickadees winter kills may be con sp icuous, and are important, such changes are us ua l­ Ral ph Tripp ly sho rt-te rm. I read with interest the report by t he Benders in a recent issue of Sietie Should we be concerned about th e (5(4):125) abo ut bluebirds feedi ng dec line in East ern Bluebird numbers? c hickadee yo ung . I had a simila r occ ur­ Cert ain ly ! But we should keep in rence in the spring of 1982 wi th a s lig ht pe rspe ct ive the many fa ctors t hat in­ variation. Our 2.6 ac re lot has t wo ac­ fl uence Eastern Blu eb ird numbers. An­ tive blu eb ird bo xes, one of which wa s nual changes, wi nte r ki lls, and habitat occupied ea rly that sp ring by Carolina changes are al l invo lved. The lon g-term Chickadees (Parus carolinensis). A few trend, th ou gh, is primarily go verned by days aft er the seven you ng hatched, I the suitabi lity of hab ita t w hic h ma y, in noticed a pa ir of Eastern Bluebirds turn, influ ence an nua l changes and the iSieti« sia lis ) frequenting the box and severi ty of w in ter kills . We s ho uld also keep ing the par en ts awa y much of th e keep in mind that the dec li nes show n time. During th e sec ond day of such by East ern Bluebirds in so me pa rts of activity, I watc hed w ith binoc ulars and the United States are declines from found th at th e bluebirds were not try­ peaks that were caused by human ac­ ing to oust th e in habitants of " their" tivities. Perha ps we s hould co mpare box as I had specu lated, but were bus i­ c urrent numbers wi th pop ulations at ly feeding the young. This continued th e time settieme nt beg an in eac h unt il f ledging with the c hickadee regi on, rat her than ma kin g co rn­ parents feeding when th e bl uebirds parlso ns with th e pea k populat io ns of were abse nt. As soon as th e box was the recent past. • vac ated the bluebirds bui lt th eir nest on top of the c hickadee c up and raised one brood. Li terature Cited: Another bluebird co up le fledged two broods from the box at the ot her Bent, A.C. 1949 . Li fe histories of North end of the yard. There seems to be no American thrus hes, kinglets, and lack of tenants in our area late ly. • th eir allies. U.S. Nati onal Mu seum Bull. 196, pp. 253-254. 15209 Turkey Fool Rd. Gol san, loS., and E.G. Ho lt. 1914. Birds Darnestown, MD 20878 of Autauga and Montgomery Coun­ ties, A labama. Auk 31:212-235. James, 0 .1961. The changing seasons. Aud ubon Field Notes 16:308-3 11. Laskey, A.A . 1958. Bluebi rds suffe r from severe February w eather. In ­ land Bird Banding New s 30:57 . Mu sselm an , T.E. 1941. Bluebird mor­ tality in 1940. Auk 58 :409·410. Pitt s, T.D. 1981 . Eastern Blu ebird pop ­ ul ati on flu ctuation s in Tenn essee during 1970-1979. Migran t 52:29 -37. Wayne, A.T. 1899. Dest ruct ion of birds by the great col d wave of February 13 and 14, 1899 . Auk 16:197 -198 .

Biology Department University of Tennessee at Marti n Martin, TN 38238

Volu me 6, Number 2 47 Reenforcing Nest Boxes with Galvanized Wire Cable Rob ert R. Cohen

n 1975 I began a large-sca le popula­ helpful to have larg e linesman' s pli ers; Ition st udy on th e Tree Swal low (Tach­ the best, by fa r, that I have fou nd for ycineta bi colo r) in th e mountains nea r thi s is th e Channelloc k Wiremast er Denver, Co lo rado, setting ou t 400 nes t pli ers, mod el 349. The wire must be box es, most of whi ch I had made frorn wrapped and tw isted as tightly as 3/4-in ch- thi ck cedar. Although cedar possibl e. wea thers well withou t need for pai nt or I wr ap wire around the body of the varnish, it is als o rath er frag ile, and box and al so aroun d the back o f th e during that fir st yea r many of the boxes box where it extends bel ow the body wer e cracked or smashed by vandals, for mo unting on a post or tree (Fig ure horses, and ca tt le. Foll ow ing that ex­ 1). Except for box es attac hed to live per ience I reenforc ed all of the box es trees, I als o wrap w ire aroun d th e bo x by wrapping them tightly 'Nith wire and pos t for add it iona l st rength and cable.The bo xes are not as aesthet­ security. The wire th at passes ac ros s ic ally pleas ing when wrapped wit h the fro nt of the bo x is posit ioned at an wire, bu t the birds do not seem to mind ap propriate distanc e be lo w the ho le so th e wire in th e least, and box des truc­ that the bird s will no t mash thei r tail tion has been reduced great ly. feathers against the wi re as they ha ng Tutt le (Sia lia 4(2):65-69) recently at the hole before entering. de scribed a livest ock guard that Th is wire is shiny and sil very in prevent s horses and catt le from dis­ color whe n new; it wea thers to a dull tu rb ing boxes . How ever, where th at gray within about a year. No ne of the ty pe of guard is not practi cal or where sp eci es using th e boxes (MOuntai n vandali sm is a prob lem, reenforcement Bl uebirds, House Wrens, Mou nta in of the box wit h wi re ca n be very helpful. C hick ade e s , and V i ol et -gre en The wire I use is six-stranded, 18-gauge Swal low s, as well as Tree Swa llows) per strand, galvanized steel guy -wire has shown any relu ctance to use ca ble, which I purc hase at a local boxes wrapped wi th new cab le or old bui ldi ng supply store for $3.30 per 50 ft ca ble . In mos t years, fewer than fi ve roll. Thi s is a strong , durable , sturdy percent of the boxes have been unoc­ wire.When it is wrapped ti ghtly around cupied. • a nest box the bo x is gre atl y st rengt hened, and it is difficult for van­ Depart ment of Biology-Box 53 dals to cut t he wi re or rem ove it Metropol itan State College without prop er t ool s. In orde r to cut 1006 11th Sl. this wire, wrap it around a box, tw ist it Denver, CO 80204 tig ht, and cu t off the exce ss, it is Figure 1 ~

Attention Bluebird Trail Operators in Wisconsin

Research on th e Easte rn Bluebird in the sta t e is co nt inuing for a second year. Last yea r's efforts resu lted in nearly 2000 bluebird nesting bo x repo rt s. An yone in­ t erest ed in co llecting information for this research is urged to co nta ct Ste ven Kruger at the foll owin g add ress. Respon de nts wi ll be supplied data collection form s and procedures for co llec ting th is info rmation. Con tact: Com ma nder, For t McCoy Attn: Steven Krug er (LM B) Sparta, WI 54656

48 Sialia, Spring t984 Figure 1. Front and side views of nest box attached to woo den fe nce pos t by lag scr ews, reenfo rced wit h cable wire, and further secu red to fen ce post with cable wire.

0

0

::=-:--=- WIRE

0

" J::.'" oo 0:

.0 o a::" c-, .0 E 0." o" FRONT VIEW SIDE VIEW

Volum e 6, Number 2 49 Prothonotary Warblers Accept Bluebird Box John Findlay III

he only warbler spe cies in the TUnited States that is a cavity nester, the Prothonotary Warbler (Pro­ tonoterle citrea) nested in one of my Eastern Bluebird boxes last year in north - central Alabama. Five young fledged successfully from the single brood. It is the first time in the seven years of my " Help Bring Back the Bluebird" program tha t this beautiful swamp warbler has OCC Upi8d one of my nest boxes. This period represents hundreds of bo x nestings in both II· linois and Alabama. My four trails las t year totaled 135 boxes. They are Prothonotary Warbler in blueb ird located in both Jefferson and Shelby nesting box , Birmingham, AL, 26 May Counties near Birmingham, with mos t 1983. Pno toqrapn by Jo hn F,nd lay III boxe s in Oak Mou nt ai n St ate Park. The time-tabl e recorded for the pho tographs tak en with long lens from Prothonotary Warbler nesting was as car at a distance of 20 feet. follows: 3 June 1983. Nest empty. All five 4 Ma y 1983 . Unknown non-blueb ird young fledged successfully. nest fo und co mpleted in Box #24 on Further use of the bo x by the Campground s Si te #101 in Oak Moun­ warblers was not observed. tain State Park which filled th e bottom Bluebird Box #24 is placed on a of the 4 1/2 x 4 1/2-Inch box floor and was utility po le on a campgrounds turn­ app roximatel y 1%-inches high . The around approximately 60 yards from cup-shaped nest con tained mosses, the nearest water, a wooded and gr asses, and fine roots. swampy backwater area of a state park 17 May 1983. The bright yellow of the fi shi ng lake. This suitable Pr o­ large w arb ler (5 %-5 1h -inch) was th onotary Warbler habitat has had in­ reco gnized as tha t of a Prothonotary c reased human use with "im­ even before the female flushed. Five provements" made to accommodate cream-colored, brown-spottec eggs such use. This, i n turn , has lessened were found in the nest. acceptable nesting sites. The bluebird 20 Ma y 1983. Fema le flushed again. box apparently was a we lcomed alter­ Fiv e eggs were being incubated. native. 26 May 1983. Both the male and With this in mind, an excerpt from female warbler were observed bringing A Field Guide to Birds' Nests by Hal H. fo od to the five small young. Phot o­ Harrison is of interest : " Of 84 nests [of graphs were taken at cl ose range from the Prothonotary Warbler] in Michigan car without undo disturbance to the in natural situations 29 were over parents. standing water, 32 were over running 1 June 1983. Parent warblers feeding water, 23 over dry land; of these, 43 five pin-feathered young. were in natural openings, 41 in 2 June 1983. Two yo ung had fledged woodpecker holes." (p. 176). • and were being fed by parents outside of the box in nearby trees. Three young 2129 Greenlree Dr. remained in box also being fed. More Birmingham, AL 35216

50 srana, Spring 1984 1983 Nesting Box Report Delos C. Dupree

A record 695 reports we re rece ived AS the tra ils become more established, fo r the 1983 nesting season. Some it is hoped the percentage of bird s us­ news was good and some bad , but the ing th e boxes will increase. large response, espe cially by new Due to the large in crease in the members, was greatly appreciated . number of reports recei ved the total The man y comments written on the num ber of boxes monitored rose from back of the reports were mos t infor­ 8,452 in 1982 to 12,780 in 1983, an in­ mati ve and interesting. crease of 51 % . The number of boxes For the first time more reports used by bluebirds rose fr om 3,143 to wer e received from the Midw est (361) 4,793; an increase of 52% . However, than from the East (301), while reports the total number of bluebird s fl edged from the West (33) remained th e same. onl y increased 39% fr om 14,499 to Increased mem bership in th e Midw est 20,162. Thi s indi cate s that 1983 was is one reaso n for the great response , not as good a year as 1982 for but most of the cr edit mus t go to blu ebirds. Adverse weather conditions Dorene H. Scri ven, wh o chairs the were report ed from man y areas . In po r­ Bluebird Recovery Committ ee of the ti ons of the East a wet spring and a Audub on Chapt er of Minneapolis. hot , dry sum mer redu ced nesting suc­ Doren e's report covered 59 co unties ces s. In Idah o and Oregon t here wa s an and 8 state s. Refe r to S ietie ear ly spring, but th e warm weather 5(4):129·130 for the story of how the soon turn ed c old and wet. First brood Minnesota Department of Natural reports wer e very discourag ing as a Resour ces Non game Wildlife Program co nsequence. Fortunately, the weather has helped the cause of bluebird co n­ improved and second nes tings were servation. Does yo ur stat e have a pro­ much more succ essful. Good news gram to aid ca vit y nesting birds? came from the Northern Plains st ates There are man y variabl es in most and provinces wh ere ideal wea ther surveys, but the greater the input the condit ions prevailed durin g the nesting mo re meaningful the data becom e. For season. Early nestings were reported, example, in 1982 the total num ber of 4" foll owed by increased acti vit y during x 4" boxes mon it ored in the East was the summer w hic h tog ether prod uced 2,915 and in 1983 numbered 3,108. The 2,565 fledgling Mountain Bluebird s. perc ent age of boxes used by all cav ity Onl y 430 Western Bluebird fledglings nesters in 1982 was 64% of w hic h 41% we re listed. wer e blu ebirds. No significant change occurred in 1983 w hen 66% we re used by al l species of which once again Relat ively few memb ers exper ­ 41 % w ere bl ueb irds. Wh en the imented with ope n-top nesting boxes Mi dwes t report is studied, how ever, and jugs. Conversely, th e use of 4" x 4" there are si gnifica nt changes whi ch boxes rose from 4,733 in 1982 to 8,189 can be attributed to the greater number in 1983, a co nsiderabl e Inc rease. A of trail s jus t getting und er way. In 1982 greater num ber of larger nesting bo xes ther e wer e 1,389 boxes mon itored in wer e set out by members also, but th e the Mid west . Cavity nesters as a whole rate of increase wa s not as dramatic used 77% of the boxes while blu ebirds (4,410 co mpared with 3,497). Results of th emsel ves occupi ed 50%. In 1983 th e usa ge by bl uebirds an d other cavit y t otal number of boxes reported rose to nesting spec ies were very similar to 4,742. The usage dropp ed to 51% and those not ed last year. A higher percen ­ bluebird occupancy dropped to 30%. tag e of the larger nesting boxes w ere

Volum e 6, Num ber 2 51 used by cavit y nesters, but the percen­ in creased , few members listed them as tage used by bluebirds w as abou t a cause for nest ing failure. equa l. Apparentl y swallows prefer Several members have ask ed larger box es als o. Maybe it' s not a mat ­ about using the Cornell Univers ity ter of preferen ce at all bu t mere Iy a Nest ing Record Card. Thi s is a wo rth­ matter of availabilit y. The only way to while proje ct and members are en­ find out is to set out boxes of different cou raged to particip ate, but NABS can sizes in the sam e general area and see no long er aff ord to become involved. for yourse lf. Postage costs were becoming ex­ Add M ountain Chic kadees , ces sive. Anyone desiring to help Cor­ Brow n-headed Nuthatches, Bewi ck's, nell Universit y can do so by contacting Wr ens, North ern (Commo n) Flickers the m directly. and Hai ry Woodpeck ers to the list of cavit y nesters using nesting boxes Last year Bob Bodin e w rote, " Hap­ monitored by members . Thi s brings the piness is bein g out on a bluebird tr ail." tota l to twent y, not co unting the three Of course not hing is ever perfect, but species of bluebirds. Just th ink, one­ Bob knows the joy of seein g a brood of fourth of all cavit y nesters w ill use four or fi ve young bluebirds fl edging nesting boxes. No wonder several from a summer home he provided. State De partment s o f N at u ra l Share you r experien ces w ith ot hers Resources have adopted the nesting whe n you send in your 1984 report. box trail program as a part of their non ­ Whether th e news is good or bad, game projec ts. Conservation of our whether you have one box or hun dreds, nat ive song birds is fa st becoming a sharing your knowl edge can only help majo r concern of environmentalists the bluebirds! • everywhere. An other advantage is tha t , any person w ho wa nts to help can become directl y involved in moni tor­ in g, great ly expandi ng t he effort wi th a minimum amount of moneta ry expen ­ diture. The pers onal satis fact ion and pleasure derived by participating in monit oring nesting boxes is a reward that money cannot buy. Proof of th at are the man y co mments made on the back of su rvey form s w hich des cribe 1 /.1 how exciting the arrival of the first ,/ r: / : /1/ / ./;// / ?y:/:: -r: - / J/ bluebird w as or how cute the little - ,,(> ;;; -" chick adees we re. //jr~ " ~ /:l Wea ther more than anyth ing else ~ ~--~~~~~ - was listed as th e main agent affect ing nesting su ccess. Predation by Hou se Sparrows , racc oons, snakes and House Wrens was a majo r secon dary reas on. Flying squirrels were con­ Bluebird Slide Show sidered a seri ous problem in so me areas . In Arizona Scoloperu s lizards The NABS sl ide show is available for w ere listed as the number o ne rental at $10.00 or purchase at $55 .00 . predator. That is the first tim e a lizard The show consists of 141 co llated, has been reported as a cause for con­ cardboard-framed 35 mm slides and a cern. More and more members are printed script (no sl ide tray). If a beginning to view swallow s and wrens cassett e narrati on is desired add $5.00 not as predators but as co mpet itors . to the pur chase price. These members are more sele ct ive in To rent or pur chase the bluebird choosing the right hab itat in which to slide show, write to Reid Caldwell , Co­ place boxes. Whi le the number of Chairman NABS Education Commit­ boxes used by sw allows and wrens has tee, 152 Moffet Rd., Lucas, OH 44843. < 0 c Table 1. 1983 Bluebird Nest Bo x D at a Acco rd ing to Geograph ic Re g io n . 3 Ql Type o f Bo xes U s ed 4" x 4" 5" x 5" To t a l _C]) Ope n-Top Ju g O t her Z Region E M W E M W E M W E M W E M W c 3 cr ~ Tota l No. of s oxes 3,108 4,742 339 858 988 549 32 72 8 16 2 1 221 136 1,658 12,730 I\.l Boxes Used by 8 1uebirds 1,261 1,439 109 348 561 344 19 13 1 6 0 0 121 14 557 4,793 No of 81uebirds Fl edged 5,175 5,662 548 1,597 1,937 2,067 19 33 11 19 0 0 1,145 85 1,864 20,162

80xes Used: Chickadees 144 90 12 33 9 15 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 3 6 322 Boxes Used : Tit mice 58 8 12 9 16 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 1 122 Boxes Used : Nut natch es 0 2 2 7 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 31

Boxes Used : Swa llows 256 744 41 195 147 40 6 5 0 0 0 0 17 7 190 1,648 Boxes Used : Wrens 326 118 37 72 66 14 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 11 22 674 Boxes Used: Flycatch ers 5 1 2 1 2 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25

Total No. of Boxes Used 2,050 2,402 215 665 816 439 25 19 1 6 1 1 158 39 778 7,615

% 0 1Boxes Used by All Spec ies 66 51 63 78 83 80 78 26 13 38 50 100 71 29 47 60 % of Box es Used by a tuob.ros 41 3U 32 41 57 63 59 18 13 38 0 0 55 10 34 38 % of Boxes Used by O thers 25 21 31 37 26 17 19 8 0 0 50 100 16 19 13 22

E - Easl (301 report s) M- Midwes t (361 reports) Geographic Regions Acco rding to States and Provinc es W- Wesl (33 report s] Tot al (695 report s) East: Mai ne, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusett s, Co nnec uc ut, New Yo rk, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Virgin ia, D.C., Maryland, North Caro lina, Sou th Caroli na, Quebec, New Brunsw ick, Nova sco ua Midwest Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas,Loui siana, Mi ssi ssippi, Wisconsi n, uuo ors, Indi ana, Mi ch ig an, QhIO, Kentu cky, Tennessee, Alabama, Fl orida, Georg ia, Wasl Virginia, Ont ario. West WaShi ngt on, Oregon,Californi a, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Ar izona, Mont ana, Wyoming, Colorado, New MeXICO, Nort h Dako ta, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas , Okl ahoma, Texas, Haw aii, Alaska, Manit oba, U1 Saska tchewa n. Alber ta, Brilish Co lumb ia. w Prothonotary Warblers Use Bird Boxes Lawrence H. Walkinshaw

n the work I have done with Pro­ Ithonotary Warblers (Protonotaria / - ~ citrea), I found they used bird ~.. ~~.::-:-~ -. ~ .~\ houses regularl y. In Mi chigan we -•. W-9;'~ :' ~ t: placed several boxes along the ./<' ~... / Kalamazoo River, western Calhoun County in the earl y 1930's . We also put up 38 houses along the Battle Creek River in Convis Township, Calhoun County, a narrower river w it h a good wooded bott om land and 20 houses along the White River in Muskegon and Oc eana counties. Nea rly every house wa s ,- . used by Prothonotaries. On the I ~I Bat tle Creek River the bird s had muc h tr oub le with House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) which to ok nessee tw o cl utches were normal. ove r the boxes de stroying th e Pro­ We were working with banded th on otary nests. Because of th is birds and found they returned to we put up about 30 houses on the their previous nesting area regul ar­ south si de of Reelfoot Lak e, Lake ly.In Michigan two nest lings, one and Obion counties, Tennessee, male and one fe ma le, returned to where there are no House Wrens. nest whe n they wer e adults. In one The n in the mid-1970's we put up bird box in Tennessee t hree pairs fou r ho use s al ong the Marion of banded bird s nes ted one sum­ Creek , east of Haines City, Polk mer: one in May, one in June and County, Florida. Except fo r th e one in July. Apparently all were Florida houses w hich were s uc c es s f u l . Norm a l ly a pai r dest royed by va nd a l s , Pro­ renested in th e same box. • thonot ar ies nes ted in all the 5230 Timberland Rd. sou thern hou ses in Tenn ess ee. We Lake Wales, FL 33853 found the best place fo r their toea­ tio n was righ t over the river bank, WANTED: Back Issues of Sialia nailed to a tree or on a pole erected fo r the ir use and fac ing the river, Don't disc ard back iss ues of Sielie! placed about 5 to 6 feet above If, for any reas on, yo u ca nnot keep past water level when the river was at copies of the bluebird journa l return normal level. them and cla im a ta x deduction of $2.50 for each. Prothonotary Warblers laid 3 Ma ny new members desire complet es to 7 eggs in Michiga n, 4 to 5 in Ten­ sets of back issues wh ic h we ares nessee; 12 to 13 days was the unable to sup ply. Copies of Volume , usual incubation period and the 1:1,2 and Volu me 3:2 are particu larly­ need ed. Mail back issues to head­ young remained in the nest nor­ qu arters: mally 9 or 10 day s. In Michigan if a North American Bluebird Society nest was successful, so metimes a Box 6295 second clutch was laid. In Ten- Silver Spring , MD 20906-0295 Why and When Should Bluebird Boxes Be Monitored? Lawrence Zeleny

hould blu ebird nesting bo xes be if the female only is removed th e ma le S opened and examined dur ing the will usually maintain possession o f the nest ing season? If so , why, when, and bo x and try to attract another mate. how often? Th ese are among the ques­ Ordinarily Hou se Sparrows nest ti on s most fr equent ly asked by begin­ rather close to human habitation s, but ning bluebirders. Opinio ns d iff er wide­ when bluebird trails extend out long lyon how th ese questions should be di stances into relatively uninhabitated answered . areas the sparrows often foll ow these Nearly everyon e will agree that the tra ils and nest in area s where they bo xes sho uld be examined, cl eaned have never nested before. Th us out , and repai red if neces sary prior to bluebi rd trails th at are not ad equa tely the nesting sea son . Beyond that man y monitored are li kel y to be overrun by w ill argu e th at th e boxes should be left spa rrows soo ner or lat er. Such t rail s strictl y alone sin ce bluebirds, lik e near­ then become a detri ment rather than a ly al l wild creat ures , sh ould thrive best ben efit to th e bl uebirds. without hum an interference. The y are An other important reason for fr e­ fearful that blu ebirds will dese rt th eir quent monitoring is to remo ve blu ebird nest s if we open the boxes to look in at nests or those of other nati ve spec ies them. from the bo xes as so on as possibl e Experience has show n, however, after th e nestlin gs have flown. that under co nditions as they exi st to­ Blu ebirds of ten raise two bro ods and day blu ebird nesting success in mo st so metimes three broo ds in a sea son . areas is greate st wh en th e boxes are They do not use their old nest for monitor ed periodically, weekly or subsequen t broods, bu t unless it is oftener if possible, during th e nesting rem oved they may build a new nest on sea son. Blueb irds will rarely, if ever, top of the old one. Th is ra ises the level desert th eir nests as a result of careful so hig h that th e nest becomes more mon itor ing. vulnerable to an attack by predators. The mo st imp ortant reason for fre­ Also, if the ol d nest is inf est ed with qu ent monitoring in most localities is mites these tiny parasites will quickly to prevent the use of the nesting boxes mov e into th e new nest wh ere they will by Hou se (Eng lish) Sparr ows. Wherev­ plagu e the nes tl ings of th e new brood. er the se alien pests are num erous Bluebirds seem som ehow to sense bluebirds have very little c ha nce th ese problems and are more likely t o to nest successfully without human use the sa me box for sec ond or third help . Sparrows start to nest earl ier broods if the old nest is removed. in the season than bluebirds. Al­ Someti mes one or more nestlings though they are very persi st ent in will die in the nest . If th is hap pens th ei r nesting eff orts they will eventual­ when the y are les s than about fi ve days ly abandon a nest ing box if th eir nest s old the parent birds will remove them, are removed repeat edl y and of ten. providinq som e living nestlings are still Hou se Sparrows ma y also be trapped in the nest. But if th e dead nestlings in the boxes and released mi les away are older th e par ent bird s are unabl e to or otherw ise disposed of . Th ey are not drag them ou t and the nes t may then protec ted by law. The tra p designed by bec ome badly foul ed to the detriment Jo e Hube r and des cribed by him in of the remaining members of the Sialia 4(1):20 is highly effective when brood. Her e again the bluebird family used as direc ted. If the mal e House will benefit by frequent moni toring and Sparrow is tra pped and di spos ed of,th e the removal of any dead nestlings. Oc­ female will des ert th e nesting box; but casi onally one of th e adult birds will be

Volume 6, Number 2 55 found dead in the nest and should, of are present they can be prevented from course, be promptly removed. proliferating in nesting boxes by Nests that are raided by predators monitoring the boxes and removing all with the loss of all eggs or nestlings sparrow nests and their contents at are rarely, if ever, used again. Frequent least once every four or five weeks monitoring usually enables one to from March through July. More fre­ detect such events. The nests should quent monitoring, preferably weekly or then be removed and steps taken, if oftener, is necessary to keep the spar­ possible, to lessen the chance of fur­ rows out of the boxes so the bluebirds ther predation. One possible objection can use them. to frequent monitoring is that some mammalian predators, especially rac ­ Care should be taken in monitor­ coons, may sometimes be guided to ing nesting boxes to create the least nesting boxes by the scent of the per­ disturbance possible. The bo xes son doing the monitoring. For this should be opened quietly and the con­ reas on it may be better to monitor early tents carefully noted. Unless some ad­ rather than late in the day so that the ditional attention is then indicated the scent will have largely disappeared by boxes should be promptly closed and night when such predators are most the operator should lea ve the area active. qu ickly. A word of caution is in order Weekly monitoring du ring the when monitoring side-open ing or front­ nesting season, alt hough h ig hly open ing nesting boxes . When these des irable under most ci rcumst ances, bo xes contain bluebird nestlings mo re is often imp ractical, esp ecially in the than 12 days old they should be case of extensive trails or those opened with extreme caution, if at all , lo cated long distances from the per­ lest the nestling s become exc ited and so ns who operate them. In some parts j u m p o r flutter from t h e nest of the country highly successful prematurely. Top-opening boxes are bluebird tra ils are monitored only once much safer in th is respect. a year , either before the nesting Perhaps one of the finest fringe season or after it is fin ished. This is an benefits derived from monitoring a acceptable practice in areas where bluebird trail is the opportunity it House Sparrows are not a problem, presents to observe at close range the especially if t rouble w ith other family lives of the birds. It enables one pre dators is minimal. Eventually, t o become intimately ac quainted with however, such trails are likely to be the birds and to learn that each one discovered by House Sparrows and has its own indi vidual traits differing at then may become more of a liability least a little from tho se of all others of than an asset. When th is happens the its kind. Children particular ly enjoy and trail should be discontinued and the benefit from participating in these nest ing boxes removed unless ar­ monitoring operations. It helps them to rangements c an be made for more ef­ understand and appreciate the fective monitor ing. wonders of nature through direct ob­ The time requ ire d for House Spar­ servation. It should be men tioned, rows to fledge a brood of young after however, that young children shou ld be they start to build their nest is approx­ carefully supervised when examining imately fi ve weeks. So where sparrows active nests of any birds. •

56 Sialia, Spring 1984 Mou

Mary I. Houston efore Saskatchewan was settled produ ced noticeable increas es in both Band long before it became a prov- spec ies. This pro ved co ntagious .Lorne ince , the Mountain Bluebird (Sialia Scott, a student at Ind ian Head, sas- cur rucoides) was a rare res ident . It kat chewan , began building boxes and nes ted mostly in crevic es in c lay cl iffs by the time he had fin ished high in the "badlands" of the southwest or school, he had put out about 200 in hollow stumps of trees whic h had bo xes . In 1968 Lorn e linked up with been burned by fires in th e ce ntral Ja ck Lane's trail of box es at Broad- areas. view, Sas katc hewan. At this time th e The firs t natura lists were John Saskatoon Junior Na t ural Hist ory Richardson,Robert Hood, and Thomas Society began buil ding boxes and their Dru mmond with the two Franklin ex· trail joi ned up with Lorne's tr ail in 1970. ped rtions wh ich crossed central Sas-J ake Karg ut, a ret ire d farmer at kat chewan in the 1820's. Neit her the y, Langham, ex tended the trai l nor thwest nor Tho mas Blaki ston with the Pall iser al most to North Batt lef ord. Mea nwhi le, expedition in the late 1850's, recorded Manito ba co operators ext ended th e a single Mountain Bluebird along the trail eas t to Winnipeg. By the time of Sask atchewa n River . J ohn Maco un his de ath in 1975, Jack Lane co uld ta ke had one Sighting in 1872, and found his satisfaction in abo ut 2,500 conn ected fi rst nest in 1895 in the ext reme m iles of bluebird box es averagin g southwest. th ree ho uses to the mil e with the ex- With the arrival of the fi rst ranch- tremit ies 600 miles apart, a greater ers and la ter of the wheat -farmers, distance tha n for any other bluebird telep hone po les and fence pos ts we re hou se tr ail in the world. excavated by Nor thern (Ye l low ­ shafted) Flickers (Col ap tes auratus), My own study area c onsist s of the and ma il-box es, binder-boxes and sect ions of the tr ail on either side of c revic es in bui ldings also provided Saskatoon, with in 40 m iles o f the c ity bluebird ne st ing sites . Mountai n and con sis ting of 250 ho uses. We have Bl ueb irds incr eased gradually until lear ned mu ch from initial errors . Most 1950, wh en they were regular as far of ou r hou ses are now along paved north as Ni pawin (Houston, 1977). highways where pass ing cars are mov­ Unfortunat ely, the European Star­ ing too quickly to not ice th em ; con se­ ling (Stunus vulgaris) appeared in the qu ent ly, vandalism is less t han on province in 1938, an d increased rapid ly quiet country roads. We make sure the during the 1940s. The starlings qu ickly box es are made of stron g ply wood and us urpe d many of th e nesti ng si tes firm ly na iled together- plain boards pre viously used by bluebirds; by th e spl it , press board di si ntegrates in the late 1950s the blueb ird num bers had rain, and shingle nails have proved in­ decreased greatly. ad equate (Housto n, 1971). Houses placed on the field-s ide rather than the To counte ract this dtsastrous road-side of a fence pos t ar e less con­ deve lo pment , J ack Lane of Bra ndon, s picuous, but are rubbed loose by fa rm Man itoba, with his Junior Birders, in animals . Boxes placed near c ropped 1959, began a nes t bo x proj ec t. The en­ la nd will attract Tree Sw all ows (Ta chy­ tr ance hole was de liberately made 1.5 cineta bicolo ri , but grassy pastures at­ inc hes in di ameter, a tig ht squeeze tr act Mountain Bluebirds and in the lat­ even for a Mountain Bluebird, but irn­ ter habitat we will put up ten houses possible for any starli ng to enter. Bra n­ per mile . We avoid nearby shrubs and don th en wa s near the eastern lim rt of tree s when possible, and th us keep the Mo untain Bl uebird and the western down House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) limit of th e Eastern Blue bird's (Si alia nu mbers. Boxes near fa rmyards a!t ract sia/is) range , and Lane's project so on House Sparrows (Passer domeslicus ) but some boxes even half a mile away appeared in the Autumn 1983 issue of someti mes attract sparrows regularly. Sia/fa 5(4):128 (Ho uston, 1982). Bad Such houses are then moved . weather, following a year of poor pro­ Until 1983, we had not felt that duction of young in 1982, seems to pred ators, other than human ones , have produced even more di sas trous were a cause for c oncern. We did n01 results of a cumulative nature in 1983. mind tha t an occasional box was oc ­ cu pied by a Wh ite·footed Mouse. In In 1983, s pring arri val of bluebirds 1983, the number of unsu ccessful was delayed. Then a 5-in ch fall of wet Mountain Bl uebird nests wa s unusual­ snow on 9 May , though three weeks ly high. In many boxes , the eggs had earlier than last year's storm, ca used di sappeared by the time of the seco nd nesting to be 10 days to 2 weeks later visit, ten days later. Sometimes the than normal. Statisti cs were the most nest showed signs of disturbance; dismal ever. Of a paltry 43 attempted sometim es it was just totally empty nesti ngs, 21 we re unsu ccessf ul , without any rema ining eggs. We have resulting In only 2.3 young per nesting few clues to help us dec ide what was attempt or 4.5 fledged per succ essful hap pen ing, although raccoons have nest. There were no second nest ings of recen tl y moved into the area. One bo x bluebirds, though in fo ur instances wa s severely gnawed on al l the edges, bluebirds used a box befo re or after and on the top. And why did the new use by Tree Swa llows; not one of the predator, of whatever spec ies, attack four was successful. In total, I ba nded only boxes occupied by bluebirds and only 100 young this year , compared to no t those oc c upied by swall ows , 132 in 1982 aft er the late May unless the earlier nesting sc hedule of sno wst orm , 355 in 1981, and 324 in t he former made a difference? 1980 (Table 1). Tree Swallows , th ough the y were Numbers of boxes used by Moun­ also about 10 days to 2 weeks later in ta in Bluebirds inc reased alm ost ex­ hatching , produced normal numbers in ponentially for the first few year s of th e 1983. Of 131 nesti ngs, 114 w ere suc­ trail , from 3 in 1969, to 10 to 25 to 35 to cessful and yielded 526 you ng (4 young 54 to 71 to 83 in 1975, th e seventh year. per nest attempt or 4.6 per su ccessfu l Things levelle d of f over the next six nest). years . In good years, up to ha lf the The number of t otally unused pai rs brought off a second nesting, boxes wa s similar to 1982: 53 this year qu ite satisfactory for 52 degrees no rth and 57 in 1982, over 20 % of our 250 latitude. In 1981, fo r exampl e, we had a houses. In 1983, occ upant s o ther than t otal of 107 nestings. Tree Swallow s were House Sparrows My ac count of t he dam aging late (19), House Wrens (3) and White-footed May snowstorm of 1982 has alread y Mice (2).In all other years, we have had

Table 1. Mo untain Blue bird Nest ing Success, Sas kat oon Area, 1980-83.

1980 1981 1982 1983

First ba nd ing May 27 May 30 June 7 (1 ) June 12 June 16 (1 ) Peak banding May 29 & May 31 & June 29 June 13 Jul y 8 July 8 Last banding Ju ly 17 July 21 July 29 July 19 Total nestings 84 107 60 43 Double nestings 27 36 4 0 Young banded 324 355 132 100 Average young per nest 3.9 3.3 2.2 2.3 over 80 % of th e bo xes used by o ne Bluebirds have used any o f our boxes spec ies o r anoth er, the peak year being since. 1972 when the occupancy rate wa s a We feel that bluebirds need our remarkable 98.7%. help more than ever: our boxes provid e nesting sites with the leas t pos sible Eastern Blueb ir ds ha ve o nly compe ti tion a nd dist urbance an d rece ntl y moved into the Sa ska toon hence have a high nesting succes s area, possibly havi ng sp read west rate. Neverth eless , after two bad yea rs along the nest bo x trail. In 1974, our in succession, we predict that it may fi rst mixed pair, an Eastern Bl ueb ird ta ke som e years before Mou ntain fema le m ated w ith a Mo unta in Bl uebird s ac h i eve the i r f o rm e r Blu ebird mal e, used a box sout h of numbers in Ihe Saskatoon are a.• Langh am . We ca ught and banded the female and th e five you ng . In 1975 an Literature Cited: Eastern Bluebird pa ir nest ed near Pike Lake , th e fi rst defin it e nest ing reco rd Houston, C. Stuart 1977. The Prairie for th e are a of an un mixed pair. We Bl uebird Trail. Nature Canada 6(2): caught and band ed th e mal e. In 1976 3-9. th e same bo x wa s used success fully Houston, David V. 1971. The Prairie by an unmixed pa ir of Moun tain Birdh ouse Trail. Inland Bird Banding Blu eb irds and then by a pair o f Tree Association New s 43:58-61. Swallow s; we wer e deli ghted when Houst on, Ma ry I. 1982. Effects of a late Eas tern Bluebirds returned to use the May snowstorm on Mountain Blue­ box in 1977. Neith er adul t co uld be birds and Tree Swall ow nest ing. ca ug ht but we sus pec t th em to be the Blue Jay 40:206·207 an d Sialia 5(4): 1975 pa ir. Th ey raised five young 10l 128 and 144. their fi rst atte mpt, then fledged on ly 863 University Drive tw o yo ung from the four eggs of the se­ Saskato on, Saskatchewan co nd attempt tha t year. No Eastern Canada S7N OJ8

Request from Historian J unius W. Birch ard Duncan Mackintosh If anyo ne has his torica l data goi ng Charles E. Kierstead back to the beg inning of NABS. Mrs .Gay Du ncan magazine articles o r news paper ar­ Joseph R. Sedl acek ti cles abo ut mem ber s' work with bluebirds, or items in prin t about It is very imp ortan t to make sure the blu eb irds in general, please send t hem date, the neme of newspaper or mag­ 10 azine, an d the area are A LL noted on th e article or written and attached to Mrs . Roger W. Fay sa id material. P.O. Box 457 Dorothy J. Foy Orienta l, NC 28571 Hist orian I woul d li ke to have th em either for our scrap book or to make co pies. If Grants Received you wish to have th e or ig inals returned, please sta te th at fact w hen you send Anne T. Stu rm, Chairwoman of them to me. t he Development Co mmi ttee , an­ noun ces the receipt of two grants I wou ld li ke to t hank the following during 1983: people for sending me articles about Jane E. Marilley Foun dat ion, Inc.­ ou r bluebi rde rs and our bluebird s; $1000.00 Mrs. Hom er Ge rmo nd The Foundat ion for Peace in the Doug Levasseur Middl e East-$500.00

Vol ume 6, Num ber 2 59 Bluebirds and the Sages of Concord Lillian Lund Files

During a portion of the nineteenth century the town of Concord, Mas­ sachusetts, was one of the preeminent intellectual centers of the country. Lillian Files has erected bluebird nesting boxes at the homes of some of the famous individuals who lived in Concord during that period. Each of the authors and thinkers whose homes are shown wrote of bluebirds on one or more occasions.

"If the warble of the first bluebird doe s not thrill you ...know that the mo rn ing and the spring of your life are pa st. " Fe b ruary 25 , 1859.1

This is a replica of Henry David Thoreau 's fam ous hut wh ich he built at Walden Pond. The st ructure is located at the Thoreau Lyceum in Concord.

Orchard Hou se, Louisa May Alc ott's home , is shown with a bluebird box attached to a tree in the right foreground.

60 Sialia, Spring 1984 "Our Pan is dead,"she wrote on the occasion of Thoreau's death,

"His pipe ha ngs mute beside th e ri ver Spring mourns as for untimely fros t, The bluebird chan ts a requiem The willow-blossom waits for him, The Genius of the wood is lost, '?

The Emerson Hous e has a nesting box in th e back yard . As a porti on of hi s journal entry on Ja n. 17, 1862, Ralph Wa ldo Emerson wrote

" Long ago I wrote of 'Gifts,' & neglected a capital example. John Thoreau, Jr. one da y put up a bluebird's box on my barn fifteen years ago, it must be-and there i t is still with every summer a me lodious family in it, adorning the place, & singing his praises. There 's a gift for you which cost the giver no money, but nothing he could have brought would be so qooa. ":

All phol og rap hs by Lillian Lund FIles

1 The Journal 01 Henry DThoreau edued by Brad ford Torrey and FrancI s H. Allen In 2 vel. Dover' PUblications, Inc.• NY, 1962. v ol. XI, p. ~ 5 5 . Used Wit h permission 2 Taken from The Alcotts Biography 01 a Fam ily by Mad elon Bed ell. Copyrighl © 1980 by Madelon Bedell Used by per­ mission o f Clarkson NPoti er, Inc. 3. EME RSON 1/1 HIS Journals selec ted and ediled by Joel Porle. COPrrPght @ 1982 by lhe Presiden t and Fell ows o f Harvard Coll ege. Harvard Unlver slly Press, Cambri dge. MA Repnn ted by per miss ion

Volume 6, Number 2 61 PLANTINGS FOR BLUEBIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE Sassafras: Vari abl e- But Valuable fo r Wildl ife Karen Bla ckburn

here is onl y one spec ies of Sassa­ Tfr as found in North America , but with in its range in the eastern United States, Sassafras alb idum takes many forms. In the sou thern portions of it s range where it is most common , Sass afras often oc curs as a tul l­ fledged tree, and , under favora ble con ­ ditions, spec imens may att ain a height of 100 feet. In t he No rth , however, Sassafras more oft en displays a shrub­ by gro wth hab it and rarely assumes a hei ght of 50 feet. Equally as variable are the leaves of this plant which may be 3-lobed, 2-lobed (millen-shaped) or unlobed . Al l three leaf patterns generally occur on the same tree. Even "!Northern Mockingbird, Brown ing . Root cuttings are often suc­ Thrasher, Common Yellowthroat and cessful. or cleaned seed may be sown Ruf ous-sided Towhee also take the soon after collection. fruits. As mentioned, Sassafras con ­ tributes significantly to the diet of deer Undesirable Traits-Fruit production in some areas, and it is often heavily is variable with good crops occurring browsed. • at one to two year intervals. Tendency to spread by root sprouts may be con­ P.O. Box 110 sidered undesirable in some locations. E. Hampstead . NH 03826

Special Uses-Sassafras tea (from the Correction: The autumn planti ngs arti­ bark of roots). Aromatic oils derived cle (5(4):138·140) contained a dra wing from plant parts have been used as which was not represent at ive of flavoring agents or s cents in Autumn Olive. That shrub has altern ate beverages, medicines, soaps and other leaves and fruit c lusters which hug the products. Leaves are a natural source stem.

ZONEl Bel ow - 50·F ZONE2 - 50 · to - 40 ' F ZONE 3 - 40 ' 10 - 30 'F ZONE 4 - 30 ·\0 -20·F ZONE5 - 20 · to -10° F ZONE 6 -10·to O°F ZONE? 0 · !0 10'F ZONE 8 10 · t0 20 'F ZONE9 20 ·10 30 'F ZONE 10 30 ' t0 40 'F

Figure 1. Hard iness Zones for the United States and southern Canada. Temperatures for each zone are the average annual minimum temperatures. When no zones are mentioned with the plant desc ription. plants are hard y an ywhe re. If a zone is g iven. it indicates that plants are hard y wit hin the zone and in all areas south of it. Factors within zone s suc h as altitude, ex­ posure, soi l type, moisture, etc . can cre ate variations . This map was developed by the Agri cul tural Research Service o f the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Volume 6, Number 2 63 QUESTION CORNER lawrence Zeleny

You advocate the use of plastic jugs as bluebird houses to deter House Sparrows. I think 4·inch l.d, white PVC drain pipe would be even better. It is much thicke r than the bottles and would not need painting because light doesn't shine through. It would be almost indestructible. If 4·inch is too small , s-rnch diameter could be used. ti vities even though the bees What do you think of this idea? would not be a direct threat to the Frank Ramondo birds. However, some years ago Newton Square, Pennsylvania my son kept several coloni es of bees on our small property and I The plast ic jug blu eb ird houses was unable to detect any adverse described in Sialia 5(4):140-141 are effect on any nesting birds.Cat­ recommended only for experiment­ birds, for example, nested su c­ al use at th e present time. Bluebird cessfully within 25 feet of one of houses made of polyvinyl chloride the hives. Several other species drain pipe have been used with nested with in 50 feet. No bluebirds some success, but more work is were in our area . need ed to determine their accep­ tability to bluebirds and whether or Would the salt-treated southern pine not t hey wou ld be rejected by that is used for decks and patios Hou se Sparrows. Hou ses made (greenish color) be suitab le for bluebird with 4-inch diameter pipe would be houses or is it toxic? a little crowded for large bluebird Carroll F. Russell bro ods, so the 6-inch pipe would Clarksville, Virginia be preferable. Nesting boxes made of so-called A sequence of events make me " treated lumber" have th e advan­ suspect that mid-season placem ent of tage of being resistant to decay, bee hives 35-50 feet from a Western but the lumber contains to xic Bluebird nesting box caused abandon­ substances that are potentiall y ment of a clutch of eggs a few days hazardous to birds. Bo xes mad e of before hatching. We are positive that such lumber have been used sue­ the same pair of bluebirds wa s in­ cessfu Ily, but we do not recom­ volved in these incidents . May we mend them until they have been please have your opinion or corn­ proven sa fe without qu estion. ments? Bo xes made of untreated cedar, Elsie Eltzroth Corvallis, Oregon cypress , or redwood will last for many years. Boxes made of less Heavy con centrations of honey decay-resistant lumber should be bees close to a nesting box might painted on the outside with light­ discourage bluebirds fr om ca rry­ colored exterior grade latex or ing on their norm al nesting ac- aluminum paint. •

64 Sialia, Spring 1984 Of Bluebirds and Snakes Dir k de Waard

Not only is Dr. de weero's description of along with a large flock of Yellow­ bluebird and snake interaction of interest, rumped Warblers (Dendroica but, in the process of watching a nesting coronata). From the solarium we box in his yard, he obtained rare cit­ observed their daily routine: usually curnstentiet evidence of a male bluebird in­ coming in the morning, the warblers terfering in a Carolina Chickadee's at­ c hasing each other around the house, tempted nesting by removing an egg . and the bluebirds sitting in the silk tree, then perching on and inspecting ur involvement with Eastern Blue· the nesting box one after the other. birds (Sia/ia stetis; started in 1981 O In the spring of 1982 our bluebirds when my wife hung a small gourd con­ aga in had a successful first nesting, taining water in a crape myrtle, but when the second brood of chicks because she thought the hum­ was almost ready to leave the bo x, mingbirds might be thirsty. She no­ disaster struck. That morning it was ticed a bluebird trying to get through too Quiet : no parents, no feeding. When the too-srnall hole of the gourd. Assum­ we checked the bo x it was filled with a ing a shortage of suitable nest sites in large, tightly coiled Oak Snake or Gray the neighborhood, she took a larger Rat Snake (Elaphe obsotete spi/oides). gourd, cut a proper-sized hole in it , and I realized my mistake. I had hung it in a nearby silk tree. The mounted the box on a wooden post gesture was appreciated; the female which is no contest for rat snakes. promptly started building a nest in the They are excellent climbers, often gourd. found in trees when birds are nesting. In the meantime I had retreated to We built more bo xes , and mounted the workshop, bui lt a nest ing box ac­ them on 2-inch PVC pipe, which is cording to proper specifications, presumed to be too slippery for snakes mounted it on a fence post, and placed to climb. The boxes were pla ced about it a few yards from the gourd. The idea 100 yards from each other along the was that the bluebirds, though having edge of our pastures. started to bui ld a nest, would recognize that the gourd did not have the specifications ornithologists prescribe and would switch to the box. Next spring (1983) a lone male It was either too late or the birds d id bluebird arrived showing interest in the not care about specifications. They in­ nesting box under the silk tree. He spected the box seriously and often, came several times daily to inspect the but continued building their nest in the bo x. In the meantime a pair of Carolina gourd. There they reared five ch icks Chickadees (Parus caro/inensis) also successfully, while using the box as a showed interest in the box and sta rted convenient perch. bu ilding a nest in it. This displeased After the young had left the gourd the bluebird who di d his best to hinder we removed it, hoping for a second the construction. When, in spite of the nest in the box . The plan worked. The belligerence of the bluebird, the female started building almost im­ chickadee had laid an egg , we ob­ mediately; the male provided en· served the bluebird entering the couragement and the five fledglings nesting box several times. Upon check­ showed daily interest. The box turned ing the box we found the egg gone and out to be as good as the gourd in suc­ felt that the bluebird must have carried cessfully producing another brood of it out. Because we could only see the five . back of the bird we did not actually see Absent during late summer and the egg removed. We feel Quite certain fall , the bluebirds returned in winter, the bluebird did it because we kept a

Volume 6, Number 2 65 close watch on the disputed box, and and the parents were feeding again. we checked it before and after the oc­ Our minds were at ease with the currence. No other bi rds had sh own an knowledge that rat snakes can not interest in the box; no snake or lizard climb PVC pipe, provided, of course, could have climbed the PVC post; the that the young would stay in the box. wrens were busy elsewhere; and we do not have House Sparrows (Passer Next morning again there was com ­ domesticus). motion, popping and hopping birds, In an attempt to ease the situation and probably the same snake. This I took one of the unoccupied, identical time it had strangled a c hic k and had nesting boxes and placed it a yard started swallowing it. With a hook I from the disputed one in the hope that caught the snake, dumped it in a gar­ the bi rds wou Id accept each other as bage can , put the lid on, and brought neighbors. But the bluebird was not so the can to the woodshed. Next morning inclined and kept interfering with the we would take it to th e other side of the chickadees. Next day I moved the swamp, as we had done before with chickadee box three yards farther to quite a few Oak Snakes who threat­ see whether th is mi ght sati sty the ened nests of mockingbirds, Brown bluebird. The chickadees had no trou­ Thrasher, cardinals, and Carolina ble finding it , but neither did the Wrens. Again, we collected the brood bluebird. Next day I moved it 20 yards of now four chicks, put them back in and then 50 yards, with the same th e box , and , once aga in, peace re­ result. The chickadees finally gave up turned. and disappeared; so did the bluebird. Until the evening. Same story Parents sounding the alarm urging the A few weeks later a pair of chicks to get out , nestlings popping bluebirds arrived and started building a out one by one , hopping down the nest in th e empty box under the silk drive. And that was the las! we saw of tree, All seemed well again. The box them. Buzzed by angry par en ts, who which the chickadees had abandoned feared more interference, we searched was chosen by Carolina Wrens (Thryo­ for but cou ld not find a snake as the th orus ludovicianus) for their second cause of this hasty exit. Perhaps the nest after their first in the woodshed. parents had decided that this was the None of the other boxes attracted way to go, so we let them. But it kept bluebirds. Although the boxes were us wondering. Why the evening? identical and their locations similar, The answer c ame next morning the one nearest the house appeared to when we were ready to take the snake be the preferred one . away. It had escaped by pushing up the In the bluebird box the nest was Iid of the garbage ca n, and it had ob­ finished, eggs were laid, incubated, viously caused the bluebirds to urge and five chicks hatched. One afternoon the chicks to get out, PVC pipe not­ we noticed commotion near the box. Withstanding. The day after, we still The parents fluttered around in the silk heard the ca lls of parents and fledgling tree above the nest sounding their in the bushes, so some survived th e alarm call. While we watched, the five ordeal. nestlings popped out , one after the It is winter now and , as is usual other and , unable to fly, hopped away this time of the year , at least a dozen from the box . bluebirds, together with scores of Then we noticed the six-toot Oak Yellow-rurnped Warblers, are visible Snake which caused the alarm. On our near our home. The warblers chase approach the snake disappeared in the each other at breakneck speed , and the underbrush. We quickly collected the bluebirds in the silk trees inspect the five hopping chicks and plopped them nesti ng box one after the other. Wi II it back in the bo x through the top open­ be another spring with snake-bluebird ing, while I kept my hand in front of the confrontation? We built the bo xes entrance to prevent them from po pping because we like to watch birds, but we out again. After a while all was qui et are also interested in snakes and wish

66 Sialia, Spring 1984 them no harm. Bluebirds seem to POSTSCRIPT : The abi lity of rat prefer to nest close to the ho use, and snakes to cl imb is further illustrated by Oak Snakes are attracted to build ings. the discove ry of a large Oak Sna ke in We found them in the barn, in th e our marlin house when the bi rds were woodshed, on the screened porch, and nest ing. Ithad cl irnbed the 14 foot iron one even on the carpet in the middle of pipe to the ma rtin hou se and had c on­ the liv ing room . Unl ess we move the sum ed tw o adults and a num ber of nesting box out of sight, from unde r chick s and eggs, as eviden ced by the the silk trees to a place far from the und ige sted rem ains fo und in the c om­ hou se, and let nature take its course, partments. Applying engine grease to our spr ing again wil l be one of the low er por ti on of the pipe would vigil ance: ch ecking t he bluebirds by have prevented this di sast er. • the hour and catching Oak Sna kes to be relea sed on th e other side of the RI. 2, Box 53A swamp. Greenville, FL 3233 1

In January 1983,I erected ten ad ditiona l bluebird nesting boxe s. Six were placed al ong a road entering Lake 0' The Pines and fou r along a hard- surface highway (#450). On or about 9 March a vandal stole No. 16 alon g the highway. On or about 28 March ano ther nesting box was st olen. I had the above sign painted and erected. Since th e sign has been in place I have not had another nesting box stolen. I cannot be sure but feel that th e sign has had som e effect in deterring vand al s. Al l t en box es were loc at ed on the roadside in front of a barbed wire fence . In th e future I am going to locate the boxes 10 to 20 fee t insi de the fen ce making it a little hard er fo r th e box es t o be stolen. A Texas state highway maintenance sup ervi so r has assured me th at as long as th is sign is in front of the fence t he state will have no obj ection . Harry A. Krueger, Rura l Route 1, Box 632, Ore City, TX 75683. Pho tograph by Harry A Krueger

Volume 6, Number 2 67 Eastern Bluebirds Nest in Boot

Bluebirds do not always choose boxes or wooden natural cavities in which to nest. Photographer Norman Dean of Mobile, AL. put his boots outside to dry after a late spring fishing trip in 1983. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds promptly claimed a boot and built a nest. Two eggs are visible in the first photograph (Fig. 1). One egg hatched. The pair continued to feed the nestling at the time the second picture (Fig . 2) was taken in June 1983. Photographs reprinted with permission of Norman Dean and The Baxter Bulletin.

Figure 1.

3 f , , ! f I J

Norman Oean- The Bexter Bull e/In

68 Sialia, Spring 1984 Figure 2. Improved Design for Experimental Nesting Box Ira L. Campbell

In the article "Experimental Nesting Box Designed to Reduce Blowfly Parasitism," Sia/ia 4(2):49-51, I indicated initial success in reducing blow­ f ly parasitism for the 1981 breeding season in a limited trial.

During the 1982 season I placed platforms in 25 nesting boxes with no fledgling loss due to blowfly larvae. That success encouraged me to add platforms to even more boxes for 1983. For that breeding season I equipped 53 boxes with the platform and again experien ced no fledgling loss due to blowfly parasitism. Not onl y am I convinced of the value of the platform, but now I can offer a simpl ified method of construction. Miss Fran Hanes of Utica, NY, wrote to me with th e suggestion which is illustrated below. •

236 Churc h Str eet Timberville, VA 22853

Figure 1. Improved de sign of exp erimental nesting bo x to redu ce blow fly parasitism.

1" 1" ~ --L

3/8" Hardware Cloth (3-3/4" x 5-314" flat ) 1:17 Jack and Marykaye Weinmann

Ach ieving a rati o of one bluebird Ano ther week or two passed; the brood to seventeen Tree Swal low swallows had either been devoured by fam ili es is somewhat disappointing to predators, driven off by sparrows or bluebird ent husiasts, but we' ll take it. simp ly abandoned our bo xes for more Managing a succ ess ful nest ing and hospit able nesting locations. The last subsequent fledging by either species pair of swal lows vacat ed an ex­ has been a continuous st ruggle perim ent al screened, open-top box aga inst every pos sible pr eda to r. wh ich the raccoons had prie d open . Skun ks , opossums, raccoons, snakes, Dis couraged by our initial effort of do mestic cats and Hous e Sparrows housing construct ion, we read an arti­ frequent our ten acres located in a fair­ cle in Siet!« whi ch mentioned the ly wooded, wild fa rmland area of utilization of PCV pipe as a deterrent to southern Michigan. climbing adve rsaries. Too late fo r the Having noticed several years ago 1981 nesting season, we impl emented that sma ll flocks of bluebirds visited t he idea in 1982. Nine ten -foot sections our property dur ing autumn migra­ of black srnooth-fi nis h 4-inc h diameter tio ns, we bega n our nesti ng program in PCV pipe were purchased , cut in half 1981. The pos sibility of enticing Tree and used to sheath the bases of our old Swal lows also pleas ed us. A profusion mo unting poles. All pos ts were buried of Box Elder sap lings on our land pro­ one and a half to two feet deep , vided an adequate supply of two to resulting in an above ground elevation three inch mounting pole s for houses. of six to eight feet. Houses were at­ Seven st andard four by four-inc h tached with one-quarter inch bolts bluebird boxes were erected at heights above the plastic pipe . In addi tion, of five to eight feet in so mewhat open some houses were fitted with three ­ hab itat. quarter inc h predator blo cks , a precau­ Our beginn ing eff ort s were re­ tion which later proved unne cessary. warded : five pairs of Tree Swa ll ows Twelve new bo xe s were also showed definite interest in tho se fab ricated, sheathed in PCV and pro­ bo xes situated near ou r five acre pond. vided with hook-and-eye, top-opening Unfortun atel y, House Sparrows als o lids for easy observati on and c leani ng desired the waterfront dwellings. Dail y access. removal of the sparrows' nest s re­ sulted in their subsequent recon ­ Every dwelling was vis ible from struction . Shooling the sparrows pro­ our house, arranged in a semi-circle vided tem porary respite, though they covering tw o to three acres adjace nt to soo n became too war y for t his method our pond. Several houses were of control. For every sparrow di s­ situated twenty feet or less apart, an patch ed, two or three more material­ expe riment invol ving compatibi lit y of ized to battle the Tree Swa llows fo r Tree Swallows and bluebirds. The control of the bo xes. Freq uent armed eagerly ant icipated first pai r of patro ls of the nesting area enabled the blueb irds had arr ived late in th e spring Tree Swallows to secu re five homes of 1982, appeared interest ed and re­ and they bega n nest ing. Within a week mained in the vici nit y, leisurely In­ we noticed building mat erials scat­ vesti gating eac h box every da y. Seven tered below the nesting boxes and fre­ pairs of Tree Swallows arrived later, quently heard agitated swallows chirp­ did not co ntest the bluebirds' ch ose n ing during the early morning hours. hou se and immediately were locked in Racco ons and possibly cats were mak­ co mbat with sparrows for th e mo st ing no cturnal visits for an easy desirable waterside houses. Although swall ow meal. we continued to erad icate sparrows with firearms whenever possible, they against nightfall. Sixty-two sparrows proved to be plentiful and tenacious. were disposed of in 1982 usi ng the Obviously, shooting sparrows barely Huber trap, repeat ing sparrow trap, kept them at bay , alternate solutions to and rifle. Moreover, seventy to eighty their abundant replacements were re­ percent of the sparrows were elim­ qui red. Sia lia provided the answer: the inated in the winter, nullifying the ir Huber bo x trap. After setting the trap in tremendous potentia l to reproduce a sparrow-infested home, we observed throughout the warm summer mon ths . the entrapment from our picture win ­ Ou r sparrow control methods dow or suitable vantage point in the resulted in a tremendously su ccessful yard. To avoid any possibility of a 1983 nesting season for our cavity trapped sparrow escapi ng and nesting birds. As of this Writing in simultaneously deter injuring a November, 75 House Sparrows have desirable bird unwittingly enticed by been destroyed this year . Weeks go by the boxes, we use a large clear plastic without our seeing or hear ing one . Due bag to envelope the house bef ore free ­ to the PCV protective collars, zero ing the catch. The bag is fitted securely predation has resulted from raccoons, over the nesting bo x and closed snugly opossums, cats or othe r enemies. at the base; the top is then opened and Although only one pa ir of bluebirds the sparrow flies into the bag. nested, a condition probably at­ Desirab le birds inad vertently in ­ tr ibutable to the close prox imity of ou r carcerated can be released unharmed nesting bo xes , they fledged seven by opening the enclosure. young in two differen t broods. seven­ Incorporating the Huber trap and teen pairs of Tree Swallows and one PCV pipe resulted in immediate pair of Black-capped Chickadees su e­ positive results; all seven pai rs of Tree cessfu !ly reared fam il ies. We have Swallows fledged fami li es without incl­ deri ved immense sat isfact ion from dent by predation. The initial bluebird seeing more bluebirds each year. nest ended in failure caused by our ig· Knowing the 100 yard minimum norance of blowfly infestation. A se· d istance between bo xes, we plan to ex­ cone bluebird nest in the bo x was pand OUf trail onto an adjoining dusted with rotenone cu lminating in neighbor's land in the spring of the subsequent maturation of fi ve 1984. • healthy young . Encouraged by our suc cess in 17321 Ely Road 1982, that fall we began a cont inuous Man Cheste r, MI 48158 sparrow eradication program . As winter approached, new hordes of sparrows moved into the territory of their dispatched ancestors. We pur­ chased a repeating sparrow trap available from most seed catalogues and trapped and disposed of approx­ imatel y 20 undesirables. Hourly monitoring of the trap assured the release of friendly spe cies ; usually the same pair of ch ic kadees trapped repeatedly. By January the sparrows avoided the trap; 40 or so were then shot from the bird feeder using a .22 ri­ fle with number 12 shot. Sparrows shot from the feeder resulted in the displacement of no desirable birds; great care was pra cticed to avoid harming friendly birds. Adequate un­ disturbed feeding time was allocated for the birds to fortify themselves

72 Sialia, Spring 1984 My Bluebird Story

Frederick W. Com stock

I first became interested in mal e, then I leave th e nest and tr y blueb ird s in 1951 while living on a very again , and usually get the female also. small farm in Bea ver Falls, Penn­ I then remove the nes t and any eggs. sylv ania. How ever , I subsequently The trail now has 11 boxes around moved to an urb an area , wh ere I lived my home, 16 boxe s on our Land Trust, until my move to Bethlehem, Connec­ and 13 new ones that a friend and I put ti cut, in J anuary 1979. up around his house and the homes of I put up four bluebird nesting six neighbors. Addition all y, individual boxes that spring. In Au gust an townspeople have put up ten box es Eastern Bluebird visited one box f or a about whi ch the y keep me informed. few minutes. Thi s gave me hope that I might get lucky in th e spring of 1980. In 1983 we fledged 18 blu ebirds, 24 Spring came and my wife and I Tree Sw allows, and 64 Hou se Wren s were delighted when a pair of bluebirds from the above-mentioned boxes. took up housekeeping in on e of our I had no blu eb ird s in any of the 16 bo xes. Four birds fledged and I bo xes on the Land Trust. I did have ten cleaned out th e bo x right awa y. Thr ee occupanc ies, all wrens. One chi ckadee weeks later, tw o bluebirds returned (I nested, but I bel ieve a wr en to ok over think it was the sa me pair) but decided during my two week vacat ion. I may to nest in a different bo x. This pair paint 1 1/Z·inch holes on these boxes fledged fi ve more bi rds . this year, as suggested in a recent In th e spr ing ot 1981, a pair came Sialia, to tr y to get better bluebird oc­ to one of th e boxes on 22 March . That cupancy. year we fled ged nine birds. With the During the breeding season , I ag reement of my neighbors, I put up 11 monitor the boxes between two and boxes in my area. five times a week. Two items are worth Early on 22 Mar ch 1982, a male noting. First, I found my first case of and female bluebird returned once blowfly infestat ion. As per th e ag ai n to ou r yard. As I was leavi ng for literature, I pur chased 1% rotenone work I saw only the female, so I pow de r. My wife suggested applying it checked the bo x. Inside were a male w ith her nylon baster to avoi d disturb­ House Spar row and a badly wounded ing th e nest. I reduced the si ze of the male blueb ird that could not fly. bast er hole by melting the nylon in a Despite a tr ip to our vet, the male flame. Then I filled the bulb wi th bluebird d ied two days later. Unt il that rotenone. By carefully insert ing the time, my wife would not allow me to baster tip under and in th e middle of destroy any bi rds, but from then on, it the nest , I applied the rot enone without wa s op en wa r on Hou se Sparrows . disturbing the nest and w ithout getting I have a Havahart repeating trap the powder on the yo ung. Fiv e healthy from whi ch I have " permanently re­ birds fledged. moved " one male and seven female The second interesting item was House Sparrows to date . I ha ve als o that four small bab ies disappeared el iminated 15 House Sparrows and 60 from their nest overnight, but th e nest eggs from bo xes on my trail las t year. I was not disturbed. All four young were do this by slipping up to th e bo x, cover­ on the ground: two dead, one active, in g the hole with one hand , opening the an d on e barely rnovlnq. I pick ed up th e fr ont carefully with my other hand, and two live ones and put them back in the cat c hing the bird on the nest . If I get a nest . The parents retu rned , and both

Volume 6, Number 2 73 babies Fl edged 16 day s later. Had the Swallo ws; and Hou se Wrens . The big­ adul ts not returned, I wo uld have ges t chal lenge wa s ju stifyin g the add ed these two nestl ings to a second el imi nation of Ho use Spa rrows . box abou t 500 feet awa y th at had four As a resu lt of thi s lecture, I was nest ling s th at we re on e day younger. asked to give a full-day sess ion at the We have raccoons, snakes, and Flanders Nature Center . There I pas sed squirrels in our area, but so Far I have out bluebi rd house pl ans, one of whic h had no probl em s wit h them (the big­ went t o a Girl Sc out lead er who hop es gest probl em is th e Hou se Sparro w). to st art a tra il. All box es are mounted on 6-foo l steel Ju st th ought I'd let you know that garden fen ce post s. the bluebirds have many friends in At our annual Bethlehem Land Bethlehem, Connecti cut. • Trus t meeting I ga ve a lecture ab out blueb irds and displ ayed nes ts of Route 2, Box 332B-1 Ho use Sparr ow s, blue birds, Tr ee Bet hlehem. CT 06751

Television Commercial Avai lab le for Loan

A 30 second public service an­ must be delivered to th e st at io n in per­ no uncement (PSA) TV co m rnerc ra! pro­ so n. An appo in tme nt with a speci Fic mot ing blu ebi rd conse rvation has been reporter or so meo ne on th e station produced by NAB S and co pies of the man agem ent st af f is advisa ble. Ju st tape are ava ila ble f or loan to NA BS explai n who you are and what you are memb ers. doing fo r bluebirds. Yo u may be sur­ The com merc ial wa s produced pris ed by the interest it wi ll create . Be w it h the help of Holden Arbo retum in prepar ed to s uggest som e f ollow-up Ment or, Ohi o, wh o graci ously gav e per­ acti vit y, suc h as nest bo x bu ild ing, trail mi ssi on to use foot age fro m their ex­ mo nit ori ng, or bird banding for a fi lm cellent movie," A Fl ying Piece of the cr ew to shoo t. You ma y I end th e tap e Sky," and Dr. M ike Dumonceau of the to the studio for co pying; tru s wo uld Univers ity of Mary land's Communica­ of te n be done on th e spo t in a matter of tion Arts department. minutes. Feel Free to go to seve ral local Six copie s of the 314· inch video st at io ns ai l of who m ma y express in· tape cassette are avail ab le for f ree t erest. Write us abo ut yo ur ex­ loan, although posta ge and packaging peri ences. We wi ll publish the best must be covered. In order to ob tain th e techniques in a Future is sue of Sialia. co mme rci al, w rite Richa rd J. Dol esh, 17800 Cr oom Road , Brandywine, Maryland, 20613. Enclose a chec k payable to NAB S fo r $2.50. The tape sho uld be returned in th e enc losed se lf-addressed ma il er w ithin 10 days . Loa n is on a first-com e, first- served basi s. If yo ur co mmunity has a bl uebird ce leb rat io n or yo ur c lub is doin g so me thi ng to prom ot e blu eb ird con­ se rvatio n, thi s co mmerc ial is ideal to help obtai n pu bli city. Not on ly wil l it be show n by local TV statio ns as a public se rvice announcement, but it also may be pic ked up as a news it em, ofte n as a feature story. To have th e co mmerc ial aired ta kes a little in itiative. Generally, it

Sialia, Sprin g 1984 ON THE TRAIL

"On the Trail " is intended to provide su ccinct information about bluebird and ca vit y nester trails. Let us know what is happening on your trail. Send trail repo rts, unusual observations , publicity efforts, etc., to the editor, 10617 Graeloch Rd., Laurel, MD 20707.

NORTH HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA- Emil Klan char writes th at he gave a bluebird program for 150 AARP members in earl y January. The middle of that month he spoke to 30 DAR wo men and had two programs scheduled for Mar ch.

DUTCHESS COUNTY, NEW YORK- This trai l had just over 200 boxes during 1983 of which 103 were used by bluebirds and the rest by wrens and Tree Swallows. Al­ though 423 bluebrrds fledged, egg loss and nest abandonment were high. Factors contribut ing to thes e lo sses wer e the wet , late spring, four-footed predators , and human interference. Fl oren ce Germ ond banded 320 nestlings and had her first band return: a male blueb ird found dead in a box in Orange County, NY, which she had banded in July of 1982.

BELLVUE, COLORADO- Cheri and Ste ve Den, founders of th e Cher okee Park Blue­ bird Trail, CO llected 15 Mountain Bl uebird eggs for organochlo rine analysis during the 1983 nesting season. They are happ y to report only DOE wa s dete cte d and th at at a very low level of co nce ntratio n at 0.06 ppm. They not e that their trail has fledged 322 Mountain Bluebirds over the past four years.

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Reber Layt on, Chairman of the Jackson Bluebird Proje ct , cont inues with his vigorous publ icity eff orts. In addition to th e annual sal e of boxes whi ch the Jackson Audubon Society cond uct s, on 21 May, 1983, they sponsored a stat ew ide invitational drive-in bluebird conference whi ch included presentation s and fie ld trips.

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO - Joseph A. Zwenger is promoting the return of th e bluebird in the mountain resort areas within 50 miles of Fort Collins, Dur ing 1983 he maintained 58 nesti ng boxes, 52 of which were used by Mountain Bluebirds wh ich fledged 271. The remaini ng 6 boxes were used by Tree Swallows and House Wrens.

KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA - Edith Miller, " the bluebird lady" in Shelb y, NC, writes t hat a junior high school scien ce teacher gets the better of House Spar­ rows by building a box w ith a rem oval bottom. When the sparrows start bUild ing a nest, he removes t he bottom and leaves it out until the sp arr ows leave. •

Vo lume 6, Number 2 75 BLUEBIRD EXPRESS

SIA L IA w elcomes / he co rrespond ence 01 Its me m bership Bl ueb lld i cot ess shou ld become a io turn lor a ll w ho are In rereslf' d In co m municatin g rhe ir Id eas and aCi/ons concerni ng bluebird conset­ \,ario n We w il l a l lem p! 10 oubhsb a w ide range 01 Views In a resp onsib le manner Keep vout le tters co rning!

My next-door neighbor also bor­ rowed th e tr aps afte r Mr. Hae hner. She caught eight sparrows, bu t it was Dear Edit or: evid entl y too late in th e season as she Eric For sm an read the art icle ab out had no blueb irds (as she had had ot her the vis it to th e Spott ed Owl in Sia lia years be fore th e sparrow s took over). 5(4):154-156 when he dropped in last We all fee l th at the EA RLY use of th e week. Although he ma y have been the two sparrow trap s (in co mbi natio n) ri ng master of the t hree-owl circus that real ly ca n rid the are a of sparrow s in you folks watc hed , he said th at he wo uld like to give cred it to Gary Mil ler, abou t a wee k of dili gence. Ki tty Ackerma n a research assistant in the Fish and Wildlife Department at Oregon St ate As hton, Maryland Uni versity who actually led th e fi eld Dear Editor : tr ip and who origin al ly found the owls When setting out Wood Duc k boxes th at were observed. it is recommended th at predato r Elsie Eltzroth Corval li s, Orego n gua rds also be included on each. However, the cost of al uminum or sheet metal to co nstruct the coni cal guards is very expensi ve. An alter­ Dear Editor: native sou rce of metal that is relatively I attribute our success last year to in expensive is the used thin aluminum the use of the two spar row tr aps-the sheets (2 '12 x 3 feet) used in th e one for the nesting box [Huber] and the newspape r pr inting process. I pur­ large holding trap as a decoy. We used chase th ese thi n met al sheets with th em the first tw o wee ks in April and newspaper print st il l on th em from a caught seven spa rrows. The day afte r local sm all town newspaper. I wrap the the last spa rrow wa s caught, the trun ks of trees or stubs on whic h I put bluebirds looked ove r th e house and my Wood Duc k bo xes w ith these started to build. They see med to sens e sheets for a le ngth of 4 to 5 fee l. Thi s that the coast was clear. We di dn't has proven to be eff ective in keeping have any trouble the rest of th e season, away raccoons. and th ey successfuly raised three Ma rk Gretch broo ds for a to tal of 11. Champlain, New York Mr. Haehn er (Howard Cou nty) bor­ row ed my traps afte r I wa s fin ishe d and Dear Mark Gre tch: exc ept fo r so me ini tial probl ems with This sugge st ion has been made pre­ sparrows ki lling the fledgli ngs, he viously for use on blu ebird nesting box raised several brood s [of blu ebirds] posts. No t every newspape r appears to aft er trapping more th an a dozen spar­ hav e the se sheet s available, but it is rows. (He has a lin e of hou ses on his worth an inq uiry. and a neighbor's f arm.) The following two items were ta ken from The daily mail delivery in th e " up­ longer letters written to the Toronto Star stairs" s lot didn't seem to wo rry them during December 1983 in support of nam ing at all. We have a lot of sta rli ngs the Eastern Bluebird as Onta rio's off icial nest ing aro und the hous e, in the vents bir d. and und er th e eaves so perhaps there Dear Editor: isn 't competitio n for th e mai lbox. I While I don 't want to end up on some do n' t know whet her thi s is common, baseba ll nut's hit list , I canno t but but it see ms enco urag ing. I cer tainly agr ee that th e Blue Ja y is a lous y enjoyed wa tc hing th eir growth as I col­ c ho ice f or O nt a r io 's o f f ic i al lect ed the mai l. bird-apar t fr om the fact that Prince Angela Mern one Edward Island so c la imed Cyano citta Pot om ac, Maryl and cristata s ix yea rs ago. We should do nothing to re vi ve the Hogtown di spa rag ement our la rgest city already su ff ers.... But if our official bird mu st be Tory blue , w hy not get beh ind superb naturali st s li ke Leo Smith who for years now has bee n touinq to bring back the blu ebird after its near exline­ ti on fr om pesticides som e years ago? H.W. Som erville Toron to, Onta rio nest in Dear Edit or: th e far Blu eb irds wo uld be a good symbol .j co rner for Ontario . They are here fo r ei ght months of th e yea r and will oc c asl ona l­ if «; •• \ . -./"v Iy stay th e winte r. They never bully other birds . Farmers like them because the y eat harmful insects and, th ough Dear Angela Mem one: they eat so me small wi ld fr uit, do not Your mailbox nesting in dica tes the tou ch the lar ger cash crops. adap tability of bluebirds . Perhap s The so ng is definitely thru sh-li ke but before the nesting season is too far has a harshness to it , so me thing like a along, you could make an effort to gu rg le, and appea rs to trail off as If place wire screening over vents and they suffered fr om mind -wa ndering. cov er holes in eaves to preven t s tar­ East ern Blu ebirds a re co lo rf ul, lin gs from multiplying. cheerf ul and in need of help i n the way of nesting boxes. Let's all pres sur e the M in is try of Natural Reso urces to Dear Edi tor: rem ove th e Blue J ay and in stall th e Ju st a not e to t ell yo u I reall y ap­ blu eb ird of happiness on th e list of of­ preci ated the bluebird material Execu ­ ficial symbo ls . tive Dir ec tor Mary Janetatos sen t for L.A. Smith our Ohio Associa ti on of Gar den Clubs Toronto, Onta rio Co nventio n at Wes ter nvill e. There were so me left so our regul ar di rec tor Dear Edit or: pl aced one at eac h pla te for our regular We have a larg e maiibox which at­ rneetl nq : they we re all taken home ex­ tracted th e bluebird s, and I watc hed cept a few . So I have some left to ta ke three yo ung grow and fl yawa y. The when I give a bluebird ta lk . " nest" was me rely a pile of grass in the Our North Liberty Gard en C lub far corner, bu t it see med like an ideal Bluebird Trail raised 226 this yea r and nest ing pla ce: airy, cool and protected, 20 Tree Swal lows. I rai sed 154 in my 47 and predat ors wo uld be unable to hou ses. c limb the post and get into suc h a Arlen e Kunk el larg e mal Ibox. Frede ric kt own , Oh io

Volume 6, Num ber 2 77 BLUEBIRD TALES Mary D. Janetatos If the dearth of blueb irds in the do ldrums of winter do es not enco urage op­ timi sm , on so me days my teleph on e messag es do. George Dye of Takom a Park , MD, reported see ing a flock of SIX blu ebirds at the Dicke rson , MD, PEPCO pow er pl ant ; Gerry Hartley sa w a fl ock of about 100 near his Ent er pri se, Al, home; Fran Hanes of Utica, NY, said that four blueb irds were ,, I see n on a Chris tmas co un t nearb y; and 'I!,l· Mart y Chestem sa w seven late In December , 'I on a busy park ing lot In Columbia, MD. So, if blue birds are ab sent in this suburban (Was hingto n, DC) backyard at th e time of go al was " gett ing bluebird nes t ing bo xes writing thi s piece, surely th ey'll be on loca­ place d In every ce me tery In the co unty." tion by the time yo u read thi s. She began lining up the nes ting box supply Th ere has been a very fine response to with the help of a friend in the public sc hoo l the membershi p appeal whi ch wa s Issued syst em who arranged lor the box es to be to all members w ith the Autumn '83 issue of built by high sc hoo l woodwor king c las ses. Sialia. Carol Collett of Xenia, OH , mailed us She obtained the help of a lo cal hi st orian In a large number 01 address lab els from an ar­ finding a list of al l cemeteries , pl us the boretum. George O'Neill o f Sewickley, PA, nam e o f an individ ua l for eac h cemeter y sent us pag es from the Sewickl ey phon e who would be hel pful In placing the boxes. book with the name s of likely members Carl Schindler writes that his long m­ starred. John Findlay, III mail ed in the vo lvement with blueb irds had to be cut member ship dire ctory of the Birmin gh am, short thi s year because of ca r Irouble and Al , Audubon cha pter. Linda Phillips of illness in th e fa mily. Stili, he ma nag ed to Greensbo ro, NC, sent address label s of all ge1118 nestin g boxes up In Phelps, NY, and public libraries in North Carolina. Man y fledg ed 36 blu ebird s a nd many Tree ot her memb ers furni shed us with smal ler Swa llows. He report s t hat he lo st 14 boxes numbers of names. o f nestlings to blow fl ies. He says he gave Another NABS app eal that br ought away 82 boxes and keeps In touch With all good results wa s th e 1983 Nesting Survey. the bluebird people 10 whom he gave box es See those results reported by Chu ck Dupree or pl ans. elsewhere In thi s Issue. Sur vey resp on ses Tom Outerbrldge of Bermu da is mar­ whi ch came in after the deadline were shalling bluebird helpers o n the vac atio n noted and filed. Lat e resp onders: next year Island. David Wingate, the chief co nserva­ PLEASE get th em in on time! tion officer on the island , to ld the st ory of Ther e have been man y ambitiou s pro­ Bermuda 's blu ebirds at the Fourth Annual jects begun and carrie d through by Meeting of NABS at Gun ston Hall, VA. blueblrdar s across the continent. Some of David 's prot essronat duties prevent ed in­ those brought to my attention have been depth work on behal f of the bluebirds. Ente r spearhead ed b y Lind a Phillips of rock singer Tom my Outerbridge, who cham­ Green sboro, NC; Augusta Eiders of Clax ­ pioned the cause with fervor. Sin ce he had ton , GA;Carl Sch indler of Phelps, NY; and contacts in the media, he immediately ar· Thomas Outerbridge of Bermuda. Her e are ran ged a video taping of blu ebird events on some details on each. hi s newl y in stalled trail. Thi s video With soft Lin da Phillips, a student at Green sboro ro ck background beat was seen at the Sixth Co llege, headed a " Loca l Commit tee of th e Annual Meeting. North Americ an Blu ebird Soci ety" whi ch Meanwhile, back on th e continent, et­ published a first rate 32-page " Blueblrd forts abound to 1. See bluebirds (they' re Dire ctory of Guilfo rd County" (NC). Lind a mos tl y ab sent exce pt in the South); 2. Feed utilized man y resource s in her co mmunity bluebirds-Mrs. Mil dred G. Marcell Of for both input and funding. Morganton, GA, saw them on her feeder; An oth er prodigious eff ort on beh alf of Gay Duncan of Sout hern Pine s, NC, and bluebird s was made by Augusta Elders of Jack Fi nch, Bailey, NC, spent much tim e Claxton, GA. While she was president of the last autumn collecti ng dogwood berri es Claxt on Gard en Club from 1979 to 1981 she then during the winter placing th em on began a blu ebird cons ervati on proje ct. Her f eeders wh ere, tture bii! dic tu, bluebirds are

78 Sial ia, Spring 1984 eating thernl; 3. Tell others about bluebird s; ter es ted people and we'll send th em the 4. Build mor e bluebird nestin g boxes. best advert ising we have-a co mp lime nt ary In or de r to tell o thers about blu ebirds , issue of Sia lia ! NABS' sli de presenta tions are being made In the bui ld ing and refurbishing depa rt­ in ma ny places. Th ere are numerous ment, Major Donald R. Packard, of Pinkney. speakers out o n th e " c irc uit" te lling all who MI, found a commerc ial fore stry co mp any w ill liste n about the joys and pitfalls of that " would gi ve me 3/4 inch pine but the blue birding . Charlott e Jernigan, NABS man ager kiddingly sai d, 'You're goin g to Board Member from Wa goner , OK, wh o has use thi s In your garage for shelves.' so I gi ven man y bluebird talks, received a letter went lookin g for my blueb ird membershi p from a vet eran blueb irder, Don Yockey of ca rd-bu t couldn't find it. Wou ld yo u Onag a, KS. She says Don IS" act ive w ith the please mail me out a dup lic ate membership Kans as non -carne prog ram. Besid es 100 card so I can spend my w inte r in cr easing new bluebird houses he c ut out , he also my trail f ro m 27 box es to at lea st 100." bu rtt 30 sc reec h ow l or kest rel bo xes." George Waller, Roy, WA , mu st have been Sherry Ullius of Wes t Bend , WI, wr ites .....our doing a lo t of bUilding beca us e his nesting Botany Club at th e University of w tscoosm­ survey return shows that in 1981 he main­ Wa shington County ce nter sys tem had the tained 5 nesti ng boxes, 18 In 1982, and in NAB S slide prog ram. W ith everyon e's 1983 th e numbe r wa s listed as 87, From varied sc hedules I decid ed to show the pro­ th ese, 93 Western Blu ebirds fl edg ed , as gram fo ur d if ferent tim es. Stud ents and we ll as so me Tr ee and Viol et-G reen fac ulty st opped In w it h t heir lunches in SwallOWS. hand and sat back. re laxed and enjoye d 30 Sam Patten, of Boy ce , VA, wh o is mi nutes of spr ingt ime. Th anks for ma king new slett er ed itor for th e Northern Shenan­ thi s prog ram possible" doah Valley Audubo n Soc iety. says, " We are thinking of pro mo ting bluebirds in the Wi nches te r-Fro nt Royal- Berr yvi lie area by A.L.(Bert) Powell sa w th e blu ebird pro­ buying and seil in g blu ebird box es." And gra m at a Kentucky Orn i tho lo gica l Soc iet y J.M. Garrett o f Hayne sville , LA, wri te s th at (KOS) mee ting. He report s, " 1 was so Im­ "This week 1have been clea ning and paint­ pressed With th e program t hat I told a ing 12 boxes whic h are sp read over a fel low member of our state KOS ab out t he distance of 9 mil es and in a varie ty of loca­ program.Thi s person , w ho is a member of tion s such as hospital law n, ci ty golf the Audubon gr oup in Paducah, KY, asked course, telep ho ne po les on rem ot e street s me to send her inf orm ation about the slide and ce me teries ." show so she could use it for a program. " It IS altoget her heart ening to tra vel Carolyn Jarnagan o f Corinth, MS. tel ls us about t he co un try and exper ience the tha t their co mpany has a sub sidr ary heigh tened inte rest In blueb irds every­ business called The Ho bby Shop " which where. Bob Bodine of Media, PA, had in· tiles to sausfy al l the hobby, arts and cr aft s vited a fi ne group 01 about 20 people whe n needs o f t he co mmunity. One of these pro­ Larry Zeleny and I vis ited the Philad elphia ject s is to hel p the Girl Scouts, Boy Sco uts , area. YMCA and other gro ups With proj ects an d teac h the m how to do these projec ts. One Thi s weekend visit was part of a trip to o f the majo r undertakings t his year is the Philadelphi a to attend a Camp Fire Co n­ project of mak ing blu ebi rd houses and then gres s banquet wh ere a Bluebird Co nserva­ I w ish to rent the slide prog ram and make a tion Aw ard was prese nted to Camp Fire by pres entatio n to t he Cub Sco uts before they th e Na ti ona l W ildl ife Federation. The award place th eir bluebird houses." turn ed ou t to be an original paint in g by Louise C.Lumpkin, a rea lto r from No r­ Wild lif e arti st Ed Bierly (NAB S member) fol k, VA, says that she saved the art ic le in from Lort on, VA, w ho wa s in attendance Parad e magazine, Nov. 25, 1979. She asked w ith his w ife Edie. I kno w all of you enjo yed fo r sev er al in f o rm a ti o na l pa m ph let s receiving the beautiful br och ure in th e bec ause •·...the pa ren ts will secur e the w inter issue of Sietie w hic h of fe red the set boxes and help the childr en place the m." o f t hree bluebird prints numbered and David Boo th of Lake Cha rles, LA, arra nged sig ned by Ed. Rece ipts from t he sa le of to show th e NABS slide progra m in th ese prints wi ll benefit NA BS and the January, 1984, to his club, Gulf Coast Camp Fire organization. Birders, and then sent us mai ling labels so And so. amid all th e wonde rf ul talk we could send com plimen tary cop ies of about blue birds, may Ja nua ry's main c ues­ siette to all of them. So, dea r readers, why tl on, "vv he re have all the blu ebirds go ne?" not do th e sa me- dec ide w hether to give or gi ve way to April's cheerful "cher·wh ee" ­ not to give the NA BS slid e program, but do " Here we are!" May it be so on your trai l, in send us names (we reall y love lab els) of in· you r garden. and in mi ne! •

Vo lume 6, Num ber 2 79 -A NOT~E~ fvtOTU~

,HAT EARLy BIRD -.JHO GETS WE WOf?N\ I wlm M09i ~M tJON-lWU. SlOttES Sl£RJUND.. AAS eU(LT" U€5T'm RE-l\F;"Il

H£I? LlTT"LE ""ME. I IN WAYS 50 STILL, ~E. ~ G~ Uf'O~ OUR WINDOWS \ L L .

AlJD ~W , WfTl-l BUSY LOVE ,TO RA\ se:­ .J:"aJR. ROBIN£Tre.S TOO YOUJ.lG "TO S \N G-; 9-1£ WOR'f(5 W~T A ~U;HT""F PRAISE AND Q.

'''-' A..E. M.f:Tf LMA~

Art Credits Jon E. Boone: 42, 76 Suzanne Pennell Turner: 52, 54, 64,78 Richard L. Woodward: 47 Spring Beauty, 56 Marbled Salarnan­ der, 62, 72 Trout LiIy, 74 Speedwell, 75.

80 Sialia, Spring 1984

Founded in 1978, THE NORTH AMERICAN BLUEBIRD SOCIETY is an incorporated non-profit organization determined to increase the populations of the three species of bluebirds on this continent. Inasmuch as the populations of these birds have diminished due to the maladroit actions of human beings, as well as other natural disasters, the primary objective of the SOCI ETY is to educate all who will listen about the importance of preserving these singular creatures in their native environment. Toward this end , the SOCIETY will work, within the bounds of effective conservation , to study those obstacles impeding bluebird recovery; to publish results of those studies; to promote ideas and actions which might reduce the effect of those obstacles; and to obtain a more complete knowledge about bluebird ecology, in the hope of learning more about the ecology of humankind.

Membership: Students (under 21) and Senior (over 60), $7.50; Regular, $10: Sustaining, $30; Supporting, $50; Contributing, $100 ; Corporate, $100; Donor, $250 . Amounts over $5 are tax deductible.

Address: North American Bluebird Society Box 6295 Silver Spring, MD 20906-0295