A CHALLENGE TO BAN MEMBERS 12,000 IN 2000!
By: Sandy Seibert, Statewide Directory Chairperson

Another bluebird season has come and is almost gone. It seems like we were just eagerly awaiting the first nesting of the season and, in a flash, our time with the bluebirds is over. Many have had a successful season, fledging more bluebirds than ever before on their trails. Some have had problems with raccoons, wrens and, the ever abundant, house sparrow. Others may have put up bluebird boxes that were not used by the birds. All of this is important information that needs to be recorded, compiled and studied. Enclosed with this newsletter is BAN's Annual Bluebird Report Form, which is the vehicle for you to present your statistics. The information gleaned from the report forms is vital to the success of this organization and, more importantly, the continued growth of our bluebird population. Once compiled, the statistics will be printed and a copy of the Statewide Directory will be mailed to all that have submitted reports.

Before putting away your bluebird paraphernalia for the year, get out your notes and complete the form. If you fill out the form while the season is fresh in your memory, it is much easier to complete and will take less time. Remember, everybody's information is important. It doesn't matter if you fledged 500 bluebirds or none; we need your statistics. It is just as important to know the areas where more work needs to be done, as it is to know where we have been successful. If you know someone who has a trail and is not a BAN member, we would like to hear about their bluebirds too. Please give them a copy of your form to fill out or take a minute, give them a call, and fill out the form for them. They will also be sent a copy of the Directory.

All of the questions on the form are important. Please complete the entire form as accurately as possible. Many of you have trails that are in two counties. A separate form should be completed for each county. One last request, PLEASE write legibly.

This year we have a new and exciting reason for everyone to complete their report forms. The famous (or should I say infamous) Steve Gilbertson, designer of the PVC and Gilwood boxes and BAN member from Minnesota, has offered BAN members a challenge. Two years ago at the Kearney conference, Steve made the promise to write a song about Nebraska's bluebirds, learn to play the banjo, and perform at the BAN 2001 Conference in Norfolk if we were able to fledge 12,000 bluebirds in 2000! (I hope you're practicing, Steve, because we are up to this challenge!)

Having bluebirds take up housekeeping in boxes we provide makes us feel good about ourselves. It is wonderful to know that we are helping them in a world that has become very tough for them to survive. Send in your report and let it be recorded that you have been involved in one of Nebraska's greatest conservation success stories of all times.

Last spring, we distributed a large number of Bluebird nesting boxes to be used in pairs to provide research information on the Bluebird~s preference for nesting box types. We indicated that we wanted information on Gilwood vs Troyer and Peterson vs Troyer houses. We could also use information on Peterson vs Gilwood or on the Gilbertson PVC box paired with any of the three above. In addition, we distributed several Bitner houses which were designed to be Tree Swallow resistant. We would like information on your experiences with that house whether paired or not. Later in the season, we distributed a few pairs of houses, which were modifications of the Gilwood and Troyer type houses. One had a deep set front and entry; the other had a shallower set front and entry. Any information that you have on those pairs will be appreciated.

Now that the Bluebird nesting season is coming to a close, I would like to remind County Coordinators and other research participants to get their research reports to me as soon as convenient. The amount of information that I need is minimal. Without your participation we will have no way of determining whether Bluebirds do have preferences for nesting box types when they have a clear choice of a pair of boxes. Anyone who used paired nesting boxes on their trails in the year 2000 can participate.

The most important question is did the Bluebirds have a clear choice of one of two nesting boxes? If they did not have a choice, and merely took what was left, that data would be useless. Hence you only need to report the cases where Bluebirds had a choice.

For each pair of nesting boxes where Bluebirds made a choice, we would appreciate a report on:
1) Which boxes were paired? 2) Which box did the Bluebirds choose? 3) How many eggs were laid? 4) How many eggs were hatched? 5) How many Bluebirds were fledged?

We hope to have sufficient data where Bluebirds did have a choice to do a statistical analysis that will lead to valid conclusions. Hence your reports will be very Important to our research study.

A report form will be available at the August BAN meeting, or contact Charlie Gardner via the information listed under officers/directors.

As Stanton County Coordinator, Gene keeps in touch with the bluebirders in his area with correspondence on a regular basis. From time to time, the BAN Newsletter will share just bits and pieces of what Gene shares with the bluebirders in his area.

I figure that we have four chances each year to get bluebirds in our boxes. The first is when the first wave of migrants return -- apparently older birds, possibly six or seven years old. Some banding research shows that these males often return to the same box they used previous years, but usually have a different female each year. This may be to keep a healthy gene pool. Apparently, the early, older females usually mate up with a different male, but within a few miles of their home box. To get these birds into our boxes this year, we need to have them up and cleaned out by mid-February.

Our second chance is with the arrival of the later wave of migrants, which includes most of the birds that hatched last year. They must pick boxes left after the older birds get the best choices. It seems to me that this wave can come several weeks after the first ones. Perhaps it only seems that way to me and it is really one continuous migration, with peaks and valleys in the number of arrivals in any week, with weather being at least one factor. To get these birds into our boxes, they should have been up by mid-March this year (by April most years in Stanton County) These two are your best chances of success with bluebirds, especially if it is your first year trying to attract bluebirds to your property.

Your last two chances are much reduced, especially if it is your first year. The third chance is when bluebirds in your neighborhood, in either boxes or natural cavities lose their nest, eggs or hatchlings to bad weather or predators. The very next day, they will be looking for a new nesting site and begin mating again. This could happen during either the first or second nesting of the season.

Our fourth chance of the season is after they have successfully fledged their first batch. They will sometimes look around for a "better site" to raise their second hatch. If they don't find any thing better, they will return to the same box, especially if their first (used) nest has been removed from the box quickly after the first fledging. Otherwise they will make their second nest on top of the first nest, raising it dangerously close to the hole or slot -- much easier pickings for predators. They will not use an old nest to start a new hatch.

So, even if you missed the best chances this year, you can get your boxes up and be all ready for real good chances next year (and you won't have to go out in February weather to install them). In the meantime, you can be reading your membership booklet, last year's directory, all the excellent newsletters and much other reading material provided to members. You can be looking at the videos County Coordinators have to loan and, if you are a handyman (or woman), you can start studying box plans for the five boxes approved by BAN (and the bluebirds). You can also be making more of your own boxes, even more easily, using the kits as templates, perhaps for gifts.

As the lazy, hazy days of summer come upon us, it's easy to hide inside the house where the air conditioning keeps us cool. The temperature is high and the humidity is often its equal. This is the time of the year when it seems like monitoring a bluebird trail can be a major task. It's also the time of year that it can be easy to forget about the commitment we made when we put up our first bluebird box - to monitor throughout the entire nesting season. Every spring when I make that unspoken pledge to the bluebirds, it's usually on a cool day in April and I'm anxious to have my first encounter with them. By the time July rolls around walking my trail can be drudgery; the excitement of the first nestings has abated, I'm sick of seeing sparrow and wren nests and the time that was easy to find at the beginning of the season is not so available. The end of the bluebird season is when we need to renew our commitment.

Along with watching over the bluebirds, we need to be vigilant about allowing sparrows or wrens from nesting in bluebird boxes. This is very important for next year's successes.

Don't forget – no job is done until the paperwork is complete. Filling out the enclosed report form, in a timely fashion, is part of monitoring a trail. (See "A Challenge To BAN Members – 12,000 in 2000" on the front page.)

As we wind down this year's bluebird activities, I encourage all of you to renew your commitment to the remaining tasks at hand.

The 2001 Annual NABS Convention will be held June 21-24, 2001 at the Radisson Inn and Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio and will be hosted by the Ohio Bluebird Society with assistance form the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Bird Watchers Digest. Many BAN members will remember Dean Sheldon who spoke at the Waverly conference. Dean personally guaranteed that all BAN members attending the conference will have a GREAT time. They have a great line-up of speakers scheduled and various field trips planned. Details about the convention will be covered in upcoming newsletters, but the information is available TODAY. Several BAN members now make the NABS convention an annual event and wouldn't miss it. The conventions are fun and educational with the added benefit of meeting and talking to bluebirders from all over North America. For information on NABS 2001, call, write, or e-mail Steve Eno, 2500 W. James Dr., Raymond, NE 68428, (402) 783-3011, cleno@aol.com.

1. Cleaning out old nests.* NABS recommends the removal of nesting material after the young have fledged. Although bluebirds will readily nest in boxes containing old nests, removal of used nesting material will ensure that the nesting material does not build up inside the box, placing the nest occupants dangerously close to the entrance hole.

2. Using grease on nestbox poles. To deter climbing predators, NABS recommends the application of silicone spray, high quality axle grease or carnauba wax.

3. Roosting boxes. Until field testing proves that they work, NABS does not recommend the use of specialized roosting boxes of the design that includes an entrance hole at the bottom and interior roosting perches. Adequate roosting sites are provided through natural cavities, or by modifying existing nestboxes (sealing ventilation holes).

Background: The previous statement on not taking a stand on cleaning out old nests was modified because of the following report from Keith Kridler of Texas:

I really disagree with leaving the old nest in the box as this is "preferred" by a returning bluebird. I wrote to the ones doing the research and they are not doing a thorough test! They are comparing a nestbox that has a nesting pair using it to a box as far as a half mile away that does not have a nesting pair. If successful, all bluebirds tend to reuse the same box whether a nest is there or not. When they did pair boxes I wanted them to remove the nest from the original box and place it in the unused box in the pair and see if the bird would actually change locations for the ability to nest over this old nest. They refused to add this dimension to the tests..... The tests I have read on blowflies show that many DO NOT winter over in the nests but leave and winter over as adults. So it depends on who is doing this research.... In the south we have huge populations of lice and mites that swarm the boxes making them unusable if old nests are left in the boxes.

If NABS adopts this position, people will say YOU NEVER NEED TO CLEAN A NESTBOX OUT BECAUSE NABS SAYS BLUEBIRDS PREFER A DIRTY OLD NEST. Yea! I will never have to clean another box or ever check one. How can this possibly save more bluebirds. I raised 1235 bluebirds in 1978 out of boxes that were cleaned between every nesting. Do you or anyone else think that had I left all the old nests in the boxes that I would have raised any more than this???? Even if they did prefer to build a nest over the old one, you will end up losing more birds due to predators and parasites. What about the Pinkowski and other research that shows that blowflies lay more eggs in larger nests.....This is the main reasoning of the Peterson box -- that less nesting material leads to less blowflies.... A lot of this research is being done by graduate students in dire need of a doctoral paper and not because of a desire to help our bluebirds. -- Keith Kridler

(Reprinted with Permission from the Summer 2000 Bluebird Trails and Tales -- Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania).

Here is some information that may be helpful to new nestbox monitors when checking your nestboxes. For more thorough information, refer to your new member packets, or purchase a good bluebirding book, such as Bluebird Trails: A Guide to Success by Dorene Scriven.

Nest building: The female builds the nest with a little assistance, mainly in the form of encouragement, from the male. The nest building can take anywhere from a day to a week or more to complete.

There is usually a delay of several days, up to several weeks between the completion of nest building and egg laying.

Egg laying: A typical clutch consists of 3 - 5 eggs. The female will lay One egg a day until her clutch is complete.

Incubation begins once the final egg is laid, and lasts 12 - 14 days. The weather can have an impact on hatching. During cold spells, the eggs may take several days longer before hatching. During hot days, eggs may hatch over a period of several days, rather than all on the same day, as they typically do. Take the weather into account when observing your nests.

Brooding period lasts 5 - 6 days. Because the nestlings hatch almost completely naked, the female will brood them for the first 5 - 6 days and nights of their life. The male cannot help with this duty, as he has no brooding patch. If the female is killed or disappears during the first 5 - 6 days, there is little chance that the nestlings will survive without her.

Nestling stage lasts 16 - 21 days. Again, weather can have an impact on this; but if all goes well, one can usually expect the nestlings to fledge on day 17 or 18.

Fledgling stage lasts for 2 - 3 weeks after leaving the nest. During this time the male takes the primary responsibility for teaching the young to hunt for insects and become aware of the dangers that await nestlings outside of the nestbox. The female will usually start building her second or third nest to begin the nesting cycle all over again.

If the male does not drive away the fledglings from earlier broods, they sometimes help with the feeding of the next set of nestlings. If you are fortunate enough to have this situation, you are in for a real treat! Let us know if you observe this behavior with any of your Bluebirds, we enjoy your reports from the field.

If you have never attended the Festival of Color held at UNL's Agricultural Research & Development Center near Mead, Nebraska, this is the year to do so. The talks, demonstrations, and guided tours teach people how to protect their community's water quality and quantity as they design, plant, and maintain their landscape. Over the last three years, 27,000 people have attended Festival of Color.

BAN will again have a table in the red-and-white-topped organization tent to provide information on the bluebird recovery efforts in Nebraska & Iowa, and Gene Gaddie will present a talk on attracting bluebirds at 10:50 and 1:50. In addition, BAN will have a space in "vendor's alley." Look for us -- or better yet, volunteer to spend some time in one of BAN's booths.

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