Bluebird Boxes

The Eastern Bluebird: Relatively small body with a large head, and large eye. Long wings. Can be found perching on wires, etc. Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast. The juveniles have a browner chest with hints of blue on their wings, but overall probably resemble a sparrow more than a bluebird at first.

Bluebird Basics Cavity nesters Perchers- hunt for insects from above Will eat fruits/nuts in the winter Eastern bluebirds can be found in Montgomery County year-round Cavity nesters: the find openings to live in i.e. bluebird boxes, abandoned woodpecker nests- places they can build nests in that will offer them some protection. Because these spots are rare bluebirds are territorial- other birds like swallows and starlings compete for the same living spaces. Despite this even when they defend their territory other birds have been known to take over their nests- you’ve been warned! Perchers- the perch on brances, wires, open posts near cleared land so that they can scan the ground for prey- their favorite food is insects They also eat berries and fruits in the colder months.

Mating behaviors to look for Males attract females to their nest by carrying materials in and out of the nest (early March) Pairs mate for several seasons In one season a pair can raise 1-3 families Look for hatchlings in April and July Hatchlings take 17-21 days to leave the nest The males try to attract females to their nest by putting on a display that includes carrying bits of material in and out of the nest. Once a female enters the nest hole the pair typically bond for several seasons, and produce several families of hatchlings (1-3 per season). Male and female share in the feeding of the brood until they are ready to leave the nest

Bluebird nesting cycle March April Su M Tu W Th F Sa 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 Nest Construction (2-6 days) Eggs laid (5-7 days) Incubation (12-14 days) 1- scouting- in mild winters this process will probably begin earlier rather than later. During this period the male will start showing off his nest and his territory to females If the bird aleady had a pair (bluebirds can mate for multiple seasons) the female has the final say in the location of their nest. Single birds could show up later, and some birds might not start looking for a nest site until July so it is never too late to put up a nestbox! 2.Nest construction Females usually construct the nests, males will sometimes provide some materials as a “nesting demonstration display”. The nest will be neat, cup shaped, "woven" (by tucking in stray needles) nest typically 100% fine grass or pine needles, sometimes including some stray fur or feathers. 3.Eggs laid Usually lay 1 egg per day after the nest is completed. It will be delayed in cold weather. The eggs are a powdered blue color. Each cache is usually between 3-7 eggs total. 4. incubation- Begins the day the last egg is laid. Only the female incubates, and she spends a little more than half the day doing it. If the weather is colder she will spend more time with them but a good time to check the nest when the eggs have been laid would be during the afternoon. 5. hatching- Female broods young until they are 5-7 days old, when they are better able to regulate their own body temperature. 6. fledging- Leaving the nest! Bluebirds will do this 2-3 times in a season, so this usually happens around March and July. When you are monitoring your bluebird box visiting it once a week should be enough to see each stage of the process. Eggs hatch Raising of young (17-18 days)

Why is this important? CONSERVATION Bluebirds are no longer threatened, thanks to the development of bluebird trails and boxes since the 1970s. It is important to continue this effort Bluebirds are known to consistently return to the same nesting site year after year (their offspring will find other sites to nest at)

What will you be doing? Bluebird Boxes in 5 Easy steps: Build your bluebird box (with us) Place your bluebird box at your school site Become a certified NestWatch monitor Enter your bluebird box as a site on the website Begin monitoring your bluebird box!

Where to place your bluebird box? Open field or lawn Scattered trees Low ground cover Entrance hole should face open field, preferring east, north, south, and then west-facing directions Place your box in early March

Project Nestwatch A national bird monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds. Run through Cornell Lab of Ornithology Brings together separate nest watching activities across the country to create a comprehensive data collection center Our database is intended to be used to study the current condition of breeding bird populations and how they may be changing over time as a result of climate change, habitat degradation and loss, expansion of urban areas, and the introduction of non-native plants and animals.

18701 bluebird nests recorded in the Nestwatch program

The certification process includes creating a Citizen Science account- reading over the Code of Conduct, and taking a short quiz on the codes of conduct. This whole process should take less than 20 minutes. The code of conduct includes guidelines on how to collect data, visit the nest, and make as minimal a disturbance as possible when visiting the nest.

Your nest site Enter the location of your bluebird box on the website- select the area your box is in, the computer will give you the GPS coordinates. Information you will need: What habitat is the nest placed in, what habitat is it nearest too, what habitat is within a football field of it (all observations your students can do when you install the nest). Cavity orientation Nest height above ground

Monitoring your bluebird box Visit the nest once or twice a week Approach nest; Make presence known Give birds time to leave nest (if they are sitting outside their nest and don’t leave, don’t visit) Open nest and make observations of nest (keep it fast) Date and time Nest status Young status Adult status Habitat observations Minimize disturbance to the nest REVIEW THE NESTWATCH “CODE OF CONDUCT” BEFORE DOING ANY OBSERVATIONS! The monitoring period should last 10 weeks and should be enough time to see every stage of blue bird nesting hatching, and raising previously mentioned. Initially observe the nest from afar to see if any birds might have moved in. Allow them some “settling in” time to build their nest and settle in. Visit the nest once a week in the afternoon. Make this a regularly scheduled routine. When approaching the nest be sure to make your presence known (not a problem with elementary schoolers). Nest boxes should be tapped first, then tapped again when open to allow the parent to slip away before you stare directly into the box. Give the birds time to leave the nest if they want to. Keep each visit brief- don’t record the information until you have left the box. These guidelines are things you should go over with your students. The biggest point to emphasize is that you are trying to be as unobtrusive as possible! This probably means taking smaller groups to the nest at a time, staying for as little time as possible (keep it close to 1 minute). Suggestions: approach the nest with only one group of students, leave the other groups to make observations about the surrounding habitat. Assign the students in your observation group specific roles: one to look for adults, one to look for young, one to look for eggs, one to observe the status of the actual nest, etc.

Collecting your data I have given each of you this sheet in your packet, it can also be found on the NestWatch website.

Your nest site In order to enter your data to the website return to your nestbox, and select the blue notebook icon

Entering your Data Nest status: existent, in progress, completed, flattened, destroyed, etc/ Adult status: are they there, building nest, nesting, breeding, etc Young status: same as above Management activity: as observers you should not be managing your nestbox unless is needs some kinds of repair. You and your classes Once you have entered a few observations the website will be able to estimate the first egg date, first hatch date, and first fledge date (first day when the fledglings leave the nest)

How to Explore Data The point of using NestWatch is so that the data you collect can be a part of a larger bluebird monitoring program. You have access to the information from other nests across the country through this website.

NestWatch Map Room Shows you the distribution of blue bird nests across the country

NestWatch Project Wide Data Downloads Allows you to download Excel spreadsheets with information on Species summary: total number of nesting attempts, eggs, nestlings, and fledglings Reproductive success Raw Nesting Attempt Data- shows all of the data that has been reported for every nesting attempt submitted

Resources http://nestwatch.org/ http://www.allaboutbirds.org- bluebird facts http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/eastern-bluebird/- bluebird facts http://www.sialis.org/basics.htm- bluebird nesting cycle NestWatch Monitoring Manual (I can email this to you all or you can google it, it is the first link to come up) As always feel free to contact any of us with questions or concerns: Smith Center: 301-924-3123 Bill Kraegel: William_Kraegel@mcpsmd.org Jay Handzo: Jay_Handzo@mcpsmd.org Kiri Brenner: Kiri_M_Brenner@mcpsmd.org