Summer Blues
Male Eastern Bluebird
Early summer is time for baby birds. And the baby birds you are very likely to see
at Warner Parks are Eastern Bluebirds.
Thanks to a very special group of volunteers and staff, Warner Parks have
a special relationship with bluebirds and their babies.
Eastern Bluebird Box
Eastern Bluebirds are cavity nesters. A cavity nester is a bird that builds is nest
inside a hole, usually of a tree.
Because of habitat loss, competing species, and the fact that bluebirds
cannot make their own cavities, the Bluebird population was declining. Bluebird nest boxes provided an effective
solution. These boxes give bluebirds a
place to nest and scientist a way to study the birds. When several of the boxes are installed
within a particular area, they are considered to be a bluebird nest box trail,
and Warner Parks is home to one of the oldest.
Amelia R Laskey
According to Sandy Bivens, Warner Park Nature
Center’s BIRD Program founder, The Eastern Bluebird Nest Box Project in the
Warner Parks is the oldest continually monitored nest box program in the United
States. Started in 1936 by Amelia Laskey, it was supported by the
Nashville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Peabody University
faculty and students, Boy Scouts, Works Progress Administration, and the Nashville
Parks & Recreation Department. Mrs. Laskey monitored fifty nest boxes
regularly for 40 years, kept detailed records, and published results in
journals. Later, Mrs. Virginia Price, one of Laskey’s volunteers and helpers,
managed the boxes and passed the project on to the "new nature
center" in 1973 - when the nature center opened.
Bluebird Box
Coordinator Diana McLusky
Now,
fifty years later, a team of dedicated nature center volunteers and staff
monitor the boxes and assist with this ongoing project. Volunteer BIRD Team
member Diana McLusky has coordinated the nest box project for over 20 years and
has maintained the partnership with volunteers, scouts, and Metro Parks. Through this important bird research project, we
have learned a bit about Eastern Bluebird mating habits and their young.
Male Bl
uebird on a box
The
mating ritual starts in the early spring when the male establishes his
territory. Once his territory is
established, he performs a nest-building display which involves bringing some
nesting material into the box, which lures a female to his site.
Male (right) and Female (Left) Bluebirds
on a Box
Bluebirds do not share the nesting activities. Despite his early nesting displays, the male
drops out and the nest is built by the female. She completes her task in about
5 days. Nests in our
area and generally grass with finer grass inside with an occasional 1 feather.
If there are pine trees around (like Percy Warner golf courses) they like pine
needles. Usually a very neat nest. If they are nesting at the steeplechase,
they will add horse hair.
Bluebird box with feeder
Courting, nest building
and egg laying take a lot of energy. Bluebirds
eat a lot of insects in the spring, summer, and fall. Meal worms are a favorite. In the winter they eat wild berries and
fruit. The male will feed the female
while she is sitting on the eggs. Both
parents feed the babies.
Baby bluebirds and an egg
Once the nest is
completed the female begins to lay eggs.
She usually lays four or five eggs.
She usually lays one blue egg a day.
The incubation period is 12 – 18 days.
Baby Bluebirds in the
nest.
The eggs hatch in the order in which they were laid. They fledge in 17 – 20 days. Once they have fledged the parents will feed
the babies for 3 or 4 more weeks.
.
Baby Birds waiting to
be banded
The Warner Parks BIRD Team monitors the bluebird boxes and when
the babies are 10 – 12 days old they are banded. By banding these birds, we learn how long
they live, if and to where they migrate, and whether they return to the same
box each year.
