Check out this recent story from Nutley News:
In the late 1700s, you would have seen an abundance of bluebirds throughout the Virginia countryside. As settlers cleared forests to plant orchards and crops, the perfect habitat for the Eastern Bluebird was created. Bluebirds nest in cavities. Wooden fence poles, built on farm land, rotted over time creating natural cavities for nesting. Thomas Jefferson declared the Eastern Bluebird a treasured neighbor, because every day they ate thousands of crop-damaging insects. By 1900, the Eastern Bluebird population was at its peak.
The bluebird’s decline began in the mid-1900s. Their ideal nesting host, the rotting wooden fence posts, were replaced by metal stakes. People also started removing dead trees, a vital nesting spot for all cavity-dwelling birds, for safety and aesthetics. Chemical pesticides, like DDT, were introduced which poisoned food sources and caused the birds to lay thin shelled eggs.
In addition, human-introduced invasive species, such as European Starlings and House Sparrows, began to aggressively take over the remaining nesting cavities, often killing the much smaller and less aggressive bluebirds. By the 1970s, Virginia’s bluebird population had decreased by 90%.
What happened next is one of the greatest grassroots conservation victories in North American history. Once bird lovers realized that because bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, meaning they don’t care if a hole is natural or manmade, Virginia bird lovers began building simple, wooden nesting boxes and installing them along country roads, parks, and backyards. In 1996, the Virginia Bluebird Society (VBS) was formed, standardizing box designs and creating a network of managed “bluebird trails.” Thanks to thousands of dedicated volunteers monitoring these boxes, the Eastern Bluebird is back! Today, they are a common sight on our backyard feeders and splashing around in our birdbaths.
As a wildlife community, we can continue to preserve the bluebird habitat by taking a few simple steps:
- Eliminate chemical pesticides: Avoid using insecticides in your yard, as bluebirds rely heavily on live, healthy insects to feed their hungry chicks.
- Plant native berry bushes: Cultivate native plants like sumac, elderberry, dogwood, and cedar to provide crucial food when insects disappear in the winter.
- Avoid mounting boxes on trees: Never nail a birdhouse directly to a tree or fence post, as this gives raccoons, cats, and snakes an easy climbing path directly to the nest.
- Invasive management: Actively monitor your boxes and deter invasive House Sparrows and Starlings from taking over.
Resources:
Virginia Bluebird Society (VBS)
Thomas Jefferson’s Climate and Nature Observations, Eastern Bluebirds
Written by Pam Fulmer
Pam Fulmer is the Nutley News Editor and occasional columnist. She is passionate about creating native plant wildlife habitats in her yard on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Redmond, a long time supporter of WRL, is a well known DC Metro area musician and fellow bluebird lover.
