Summer Time Blues

For me, the summer time blues show up in mid March. I’m not talking about the doldrums of late summer, I’m talking about the cheerful and sweet Bluebird. The first scouts show up to our area around mid March. The males are scouting for a suitable nesting sites. The females will start showing up in April, with nesting activities starting after a brief courtship. Bluebirds are cavity nesters, so they are looking for nest sites, either natural or man made. That’s where I come in. I have four Bluebird trails of which I have provided 50+ nest boxes for them to use. There are 10 nest boxes at Drewiske Preserve, and I have another 15 nest boxes at Kelly Creek Preserve. I have more nest boxes in Highview Meadows, and another trail on a friend's farm, along with a few in my yard. I monitor these nest boxes and check them once a week during the nesting season, checking for nesting activity and to keep track of eggs laid, eggs hatched and birds fledged.

Bluebirds in our area will usually nest two times during the nesting season, which is late April into early August. Bluebirds will usually lay 4-6 eggs on the first nesting and 2-4 eggs on the second nesting. They form their nest using fine grass and weave it into a circular shape. Once the eggs are laid, it takes 12-14 days for them to hatch. Once the baby birds show up, it takes another 12-14 days for them to grow big enough to leave the nest and be on their own. Once the baby birds have fledged the nest, I come in and clean out the old nest and get the nest box ready for another pair, or even the same pair to nest once again.

Along with my fellow Bluebirders, our goal is to help Bluebirds by giving them a secure nest box and an opportunity to hatch every egg and fledge every chick. However, Mother Nature has a way of doing things her way. But nonetheless our goal is to help the Bluebirds increase in numbers. There was a time in Wisconsin that the Bluebirds were in dire straits because of pesticide use and loss of nesting sites. I belong to the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin, and at the end of the nesting season, I submit my data of the number of eggs laid, how many hatched and birds fledged. In 2024, it was recorded that those members of BRAW tallied up over 17,660 Bluebirds fledged. That’s amazing! And that isn’t counting all the other folks who have Bluebird nest boxes in their backyards or along fence rows. We are making a difference one nest box at a time.

Henry David Thoreau called the Bluebird; “The little bird that carries the sky on its back”.

 Jim Higgins

St. Croix Valley Bird Club