BLUEBIRD BOXES

The Eastern Bluebird:

• 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

BLUEBIRD BASICS

MATING BEHAVIORS TO LOOK FOR

1. Males attract females to their nest by carrying materials in and out of the nest (early March)

2. Pairs mate for several seasons

3. In one season a pair can raise 1-3 families

4. Look for hatchlings in April and July

5. Hatchlings take 17-21 days to leave the nest

BLUEBIRD NESTING CYCLEMarch 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 3 4 5 6

Nest Construction (2-6 days)

Incubation (12-14 days)

Eggs laid (5-7 days)

Raising of young (17-18 days)

Eggs hatch

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

1. Build your bluebird box (with us)

2. Place your bluebird box at your school site

3. Become a certified NestWatch monitor

4. Enter your bluebird box as a site on the website

5. Begin monitoring your bluebird box!

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?BLUEBIRD BOXES IN 5 EASY STEPS:

• 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

WHERE TO PLACE YOUR BLUEBIRD BOX?

• 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

PROJECT NESTWATCH

YOUR NEST SITE

1.Visit the nest once or twice a week2.Approach nest;

1.Make presence known2.Give birds time to leave nest (if they are sitting

outside their nest and don’t leave, don’t visit)3.Open nest and make observations of nest (keep it fast)

– Date and time– Nest status– Young status– Adult status– Habitat observations

4.Minimize disturbance to the nest

MONITORING YOUR BLUEBIRD BOX

REVIEW THE NESTWATCH “CODE OF CONDUCT”

BEFORE DOING ANY

OBSERVATIONS!

COLLECTING YOUR DATA

YOUR NEST SITE

ENTERING YOUR DATA

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

• 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: 301-924-3123Bill Kraegel: William_Kraegel@mcpsmd.orgJay Handzo: Jay_Handzo@mcpsmd.orgKiri Brenner: Kiri_M_Brenner@mcpsmd.org

RESOURCES