Bluebird Nest Box Trail
Dave Misterek, Trail Monitor
Photo courtesy of Patrick Ready.
For those of you who are not familiar with this effort, a brief background summary is in order. This bluebird trail is sponsored by Winnebago Audubon and the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin (BRAW). Following guidelines of BRAW, we monitor the trail weekly and report the results to BRAW annually when nesting is complete. We initiated this trail several years ago at Utica Golf Club with the approval of the golf club owner, Greg Johnson and his wife Christine. I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to them for the support that they and their grounds keeping staff give us in providing a safe environment for the bluebird houses. We have found Utica Golf Club to be a great option to attract bluebirds and other native cavity nesting songbirds who depend on bird houses for safe nesting sites. Without the assistance of native bird enthusiasts who install and monitor bluebird houses on appropriate habitat, these beautiful birds would be dependent on natural tree cavities for nest sites. Unfortunately, natural cavities are declining due to changing land uses and deadly competition from aggressive non-native birds such as starlings and house sparrows (English sparrows). The semi-open grass habitat found at golf courses provides ample volumes of insect larva and insects for bluebirds to eat and feed their young.
For those of you who may be interested in placing one or more bluebird houses in your back yard or other appropriate habitat, we strongly encourage you to do so to promote bluebirds and other cavity nesting native song birds. I advise you to follow the guidelines provided by BRAW at www.braw.org. This guidance includes birdhouse plans, birdhouse placement and monitoring recommendations. Please also consider joining BRAW to receive additional guidance in promoting this important songbird. So, for now, so long and good luck in your bluebird monitoring experience. We hope to report to you again next year.
2024 Summary of the Bluebird Nest Box Trail
It was a great year for breeding bluebirds at Utica Golf Club located just west of Oshkosh. The trail is sponsored by the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin (BRAW) and Winnebago Audubon. I would like to thank Greg and Christine Johnson, owners of Utica Golf Club, for their assistance in allowing us to install and monitor 39 bluebird houses at this golf course which provides excellent habitat for nesting bluebirds. Thanks also to Winnebago Audubon for providing the initial bluebird houses. In addition to Utica Golf Club, I also monitor three bluebird houses in my yard and two houses in my daughter Ella Seering’s yard. This year I have received assistance from my granddaughters Ella Seering and Mekenzie Christensen and my grandson Ben Seering in weekly monitoring, and recording the progression of nesting bluebirds from April to August.
The bluebird houses at Utica Golf Club are shared by not only bluebirds but also tree swallows, another very beneficial songbird species prevalent in this part of the state. Of the 44 bluebird houses available, these two species occupied all but two of them and produced a total of 230 fledged young. In total, bluebirds fledged 114 young and tree swallows fledged 116 for the most successful breeding season thus far at this location.
House sparrows (English sparrows) pose a very serious threat to bluebirds and tree swallows by competing for nest sites and even killing other bird species while they are on their nests laying or incubating eggs. One very important reason we selected Utica Golf Club as a bluebird monitoring site is that it is located away from residential areas and farms where house sparrows are more prevalent. In addition, we were able to control house sparrows who attempted to occupy bluebird houses by setting Van Ert traps in the houses and removing these predator birds. Another serious predator to bluebirds are raccoons who climb up onto the birdhouse posts and rob the nests of eggs, young or adults. We were able to control most raccoon predation this year through the use of special metal post guards placed over the fence posts that hold the bird houses. These guards are actually aluminum dryer vent pipes that are simply slipped over the birdhouse post and fixed to the post below the birdhouse to prevent raccoons from climbing up the post. In addition, we are progressing to use 3/4 inch diameter conduit metal posts that are more difficult for raccoons to climb.
Another year of bluebird nesting is complete and we look forward to continuing our bluebird trail at Utica Golf Club next year. So remember, you too can help bluebirds by providing a bluebird house in suitable habitat and monitoring it regularly to reduce problems such as house sparrows or raccoons. For guidance in bluebird preservation please visit the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin web site: braw.org.