Bluebird Count
Bluebird Box Monitoring, Spring 2025
John & Jeanne Flickinger
Here we are entering our fifth season of monitoring the bluebird boxes at the MacKenzie Center! It’s always an adventure!
Following the guidance from the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin, BRAW, we try to monitor the boxes every 7-10 days to promote the recovery of bluebirds and other cavity nesters. Monitoring duties include identifying the type of nest, counting eggs and chicks, removing old nests and pests. Ants were a nuisance last year, maybe because of so much rain.
Our Bluebird count was up from last year with many pairs having a second brood. This number surprised us because we had 8 incidents of discovering dead bluebird chicks and bluebird adults in the nest. You will notice the number of fledglings is less than the number of eggs laid. Many times other aggressive birds, like the house wrens or house sparrows, destroy the eggs and
proceed to build their nest on top of the bluebird nest.
Our season begins in March, with some repairs and replacements. Bluebirds arrived in our backyard on March 9 this year so we’re off and running! We are looking for a few volunteers to help monitor the bluebird boxes. This is fascinating work and not strenuous. The schedule can be arranged around your schedule. Contact Jeanne at
jeanne_freer@yahoo.com, 608-206-0896.
