Advanced General Science, Biology II & FAMS Classes Present…

“THE BLUEBIRD PROJECT”

WE STARTED WITH TREES...

THEN WE LEARNED THE BIOLOGY...

Breeding range includes all states and providence (except Newfoundland) east of the Rocky Mountains.

Physical Characteristics Slightly larger than a sparrow. 1. Male has a head, back, wings, and tail that are strikingly blue. Throat, breast and sides are rusty red. Belly is white. 2. Female resembles the male, but is much duller and grayer. 3. Immature is speckled all over (except belly) until first fall molt.

. Feeding..Diet is primarily insects..Grasshoppers are favored food when available.Wild berries are eaten in late summer, autumn and winter..Food gathering behavior can be field characteristics..Sites on exposed perch and scans ground. Spots prey and darts to ground to capture it. Then returns to perch with meal..Occasionally captures insects on the wing. Flutters in air when perches aren’t available.

.Courtship centers around the nesting cavity (sometime in late March or early April in Pennsylvania..Male courts female by showing a selected nest site and offering food..Female accepts by inspecting the nest site..Male displays excitement with song.

.Nesting and Care of the Young..Nest building may occur one hour to six weeks after site selection..Female usually takes five to six days to build the nest with encouragement from the male..Nest locate din cavity or box..Usually made of one material (dry grass favored)..Three to four inches deep. Cup of nest is approximately 2-3/8 inches in diameter and 2 or 2-1/2 inches deep when first constructed.

.Egg laying occurs soon after the nest is built..Female lays a single egg each day, usually in the morning. This is done until the clutch is complete..Clutch size is usually three to five eggs (sometimes six)..Eggs are usually 21mm long and 16mm wide at broadest point..Eggs are clear blue with no markings. Occasionally white eggs are laid.

.Incubation Duties..Female starts incubation when the last egg is laid. a. She obtains most of her own food during thirteen- to fourteen-day incubation period..She carries away broken egg shells from hatched young, presumably to avoid attracting predators..Male defends the nest against all intruders and sometimes offers food to the female..Young hatch close together. All are approximately the same age.

.Care of young is shared equally by the parents..Soft-shelled insects, such as caterpillars, are fed at first..Food is brought to the nest approximately every five minutes..If there are four hatchlings, each is fed every twenty minutes..Parents deposit fecal sacs away from the nest, presumably to avoid attracting predators..Brooding takes place almost exclusively by female..Young are ready to leave the nest at fifteen to twenty days..Young fly in treetops until they become strong flyers..Newly fledged birds remain close together at night and during inclement weather..Parents stop feeding the young seven to ten days after fledging.

Migration occurs in loose flocks in the fall..Flock size is usually twenty to thirty birds..Movement south is governed by food supply and weather.

THEN WE TAUGHT THE BIOLOGY TO ELEMENTARY STUDENTS...

THEN THE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS BUILT THE BLUEBIRD BOXES WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM US...

NEXT, WE PAINTED THE BLUEBIRD BOXES AND GOT A LITTLE MESSY...

WE ALSO LEARNED HOW THE BLUEBIRDS MIGRATE BY PLAYING MIGRATORY HOP- SCOTCH...

IN THE SPRING WE ARE GOING TO CANOE CREEK STATE PARK TO PUT UP OUR BLUEBIRD BOXES AND TO LOOK FOR BLUEBIRDS…

SPECIAL THANKS TO: THE PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES MR. FABER ECKENRODE

ICI DULUX PAINTS MR. FABER ECKENRODE THE HOLLIDAYSBURG AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

AND MANY SPECIAL THANKS TO THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WHO MADE THIS PROJECT WORK.

THE END!