Friday, January 20, 2017

Audubon Society meeting 12.12.16

Immediately following committee review was a meeting with South Tacoma Neighborhood Councilmember Beverly Bowen-Bennett, Tacoma Parks representative Mary Anderson and Executive Director Emily Kalnicky and Jerry Broadus of Tahoma Audobon Society.  This was an opportunity to receive technical background on bluebirds and explore the feasibility of pursuing the bluebird box project.

A potential environmental education tie-in with Arlington Elementary partnering with Audobon was floated…along with mention of a docent program with Parks.  Possible projects included habitat study, youth bird drawing, bird/nature hikes, birdbox design and an ongoing docent/stewardship program.  There was also the possibility of surveillance cameras in the boxes so students could observe bird behavior.

Jerry provided a font of information about bluebirds and their habits and habitat.  Apparently they prefer the open meadows and prairie that typically surround groves of Garry Oak.  They are insect-eaters that pounce and require a steady supply of easily-seen prey.  To bring a bluebird population to a new area requires creating a habitat corridor that provides a migration path.  Bird banders ‘seeded’ a new population on South Vancouver Island that’s been highly successful.

Setting up a bluebird box program involves a number of parameters being met.  The first is the aforestated open meadow or prairie conditions.  The birds really prefer an open area where they can look down and hunt insects below while being able to see any predators (like raccoons) in their immediate surroundings.  They really dislike dense foliage typical of evergreen stands and thick groundcover for these reasons. 

The boxes that they live in should be 4-8 ft off the ground (a box on a pole or fence post typically works).  Wood, plastic or metal will work as a material, though metal would require some insulation from cold.  Entry hole size, location of hole,  size of box and orientation of box in relation to the sun are all critical.  Boxes should not crowd each other, allowing the birds to have their own area without significant competition for food from other birds.  Tree swallows, sparrows, chicadees, starlings and grey squirrels often compete for bird boxes.


While it can be a challenge to get bluebirds to nest in a new area, there are several successful programs in the area.  There’s 35 boxes at Nisqually Refuge, another program in Cle Elum and a very successful bluebird box program at Eagles Pride Golf Course near Joint Base Lewis McChord.  We make a plan to meet in January with Christa Legrande who manages that program.

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