Female coloration, sexual selection, and male mate choice in eastern bluebirds, Sialia sialis
BLUEBIRD BOXES. The Eastern Bluebird: Cavity nesters Perchers- hunt for insects from above Will eat...
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Transcript of BLUEBIRD BOXES. The Eastern Bluebird: Cavity nesters Perchers- hunt for insects from above Will eat...
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: [email protected] Handzo: [email protected] Brenner: [email protected]
RESOURCES