Songbird Nest Box Program Seeks Volunteer Monitors

Songbird Nest Box Volunteer training will occur on Saturday, March 23, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the A. B. Ceder Classroom.  Please bring a lunch, paper, and pencil. Dress for the weather.!

Eastern Bluebird
Photo By Bob Stanowski

All wildlife populations are regulated by many things in their habitat. One factor that limits cavity nesting songbirds is the availability of appropriate nest sites. Certain species like woodpeckers create their own nest site by excavating wood with their chisel-like beaks. However, there are several cavity nesting birds that do not create their own cavities but use ones that are already present in their habitat. Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows are a couple species that require pre-existing cavities before they can reproduce. Eastern Bluebirds experienced severe declines in Connecticut starting over 40 years ago. This was due in large part to ecological changes that succeeded open fields to forests and due to a lack of nest sites. A statewide program was coordinated by CT DEEP, Wildlife Division to restore Eastern Bluebird populations by installing nest boxes throughout the state. White Memorial has been part of this initiative since it’s inception by installing nest boxes throughout the property since approximately 1989. Since then the Bluebird population has responded to this conservation strategy quite well by steadily increasing in abundance (Figure 1). This year starts a new phase of White Memorial’s Songbird Nest Box Program. Volunteers are needed to monitor 75 nest boxes for success and productivity.

Figure 1:  Eastern Bluebirds Counted on USGS Breeding Bird Survey Routes 

that Traverse WMF (1967 - 2008), Trend-line Added.

Figure 2:  Eastern Bluebird Summer Distribution Map  from USGS Breeding Bird Survey (2006 - 2010).  Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, J. E. Fallon, K. L. Pardieck, D. J. Ziolkowski, Jr., and W. A. Link. 2011. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2010. Version 12.07.2011 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.

The Songbird Nest Box Program has proven a success for helping to restore Eastern Bluebirds to WMF but it only helps the birds a little. Eastern Bluebirds are not consistently successful at fledging young every year. Connecticut is found in the more northern portion of Eastern Bluebird distribution and southern populations are more abundant than northern populations (Figure 2). This suggests that Eastern Bluebirds are better adapted to a slightly warmer climate. Yet, Connecticut offers enough habitats to make it worth a Bluebird’s effort to still attempt to reproduce because some birds are successful at producing young even though some seasons do not offer the best conditions.  Bluebirds migrate as early as they can from winter habitats (April) so that they can locate a nest site, reproduce, incubate eggs, and raise young. This gives the young enough time to develop so they are physically capable of migrating to warmer climates by the next winter. Connecticut’s breeding Bluebird population is vulnerable to early spring weather conditions that could kill young birds due to exposure. Late frosts, extended cold rain, and freezing temperatures contribute to young birds dying. The nest boxes are designed to meet the needs of the birds while they need a nest site by providing as dry a micro-habitat as possible and protecting the birds from predators and non-native species.  The habitat around each nest box is managed by mowing and controlling the vegetation so that Bluebirds can find enough food for their chicks.  Check the map at the bottom of this page to see the Songbird Nest Box locations.  The boxes must be visited to collect data and to assess how the box is functioning. We have designed a program that provides the volunteers with the option of deciding how much time they can commit to the program. Each nest box must be visited at least twice a year but more frequent visits allow us to learn more about the population. If you have only a little bit of time then you can meet the minimum requirements, but if you have more time to commit then the program will benefit. There are several important things to learn about nest boxes and the birds that use them prior to volunteering with the program. Therefore, we require that if someone wishes to volunteer their time, they must attend a training session offered by WMCC Staff.

Summary of Results from the 2011 Woodbury Route Breeding Bird Survey

Eastern Towhee photo by Bob Nicks

from www.carolinabirdclub.org

Savannah Sparrow photo by Paul Fusco

from www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

Blue-winged Warbler photo by Brian Zweibel

from www.carolinabirdclub.org

Brown Thrasher photo by Paul Fusco

from www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

As a follow-up to my last posting about the results of last summer's Breeding Bird Survey of the Warren-to-Northfield route, here are the results of the survey of the Woodbury-to-Goshen route that I conducted on July 4th. I thought that by doing this on this date I would avoid a lot of the annoyances caused by vehicular traffic on weekdays. Wrong! Actually, I was right that there would be very little traffic during the early morning, but it picked up considerably after 8:30 a.m. This was especially true on State Routes 109 and 202. Despite the traffic, this survey produced 3 more species and 582 more individual birds than last year. The 72 species found this year is a little above average and the 1,910 individual birds recorded is about 400 more than average. It certainly helped that weather conditions were absolutely gorgeous this day. Besides sunshine, there was only a light breeze and low humidity. It also helped that the destruction of land for housing and other developments ground to a halt along this route 3 years ago and hasn't resumed. We can be cautiously optimistic that Brown Thrashers (3), a Blue-winged Warbler, 17 Eastern Towhees, and a Savannah Sparrow were found along this route this year. All 4 of these grassland/shrubland species are hurting across much of their range. A fifth member of this habitat group, the Indigo Bunting, was found along this route this year in the form of 10 individuals, but this marks the second year of a decline in their numbers. Species noticeably less common this year than last year included Tree Swallow (probably due to June being so cold and wet) and Ovenbird (maybe because they sing a lot less in July than in June). Only 9 other species were less numerous this year than last year. By contrast, 56 species were found to be in higher numbers this year than last year. This tracks with the findings from the Summer Bird Counts that were held in June. However, as I said in the last blog posting, it is impossible to detect all of the birds at each of the 50 stops because the standardized protocol has us spending only 3 minutes at each stop. As it is, some people think that I'm hallucinating because I get so many birds at many of these spots in such a short time. It is simply a matter of having excellent hearing and knowing what I'm hearing. Very few of the birds on these surveys are actually seen. Getting back to the birds, themselves, the species showing the biggest increases over last year were Chipping Sparrow, Gray Catbird, American Goldfinch, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Veery, Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, and House Sparrow. Most of these species are highly adaptable. The 5 most abundant species this year, in decreasing order of abundance, were American Robin, Gray Catbird, Chipping Sparrow, American Goldfinch, and Tufted Titmouse.

Summary of Results of the 2011 Warren Breeding Bird Survey Route

American Bittern photo by Sallie Gentry

from www.fws.gov

Black-throated Green Warbler photo by

Jacob Spendelow from www.tringa.org

Veery photo by Darlene Knox

Pileated Woodpecker photo by Leo Kulinski

from www.whalesandwolves.com

Gray Catbird photo by Leo Kulinski from

www.whalesandwolves.com

Downy Woodpecker photo from

www.wikimedia.org

Cedar Waxwing photo by Bob Stanowski

The U.S. Geological Survey's Breeding Bird Survey of the Warren-to-Northfield route was conducted by Dave Rosgen on Sunday, June 19, 2011. This is an annual event that is always undertaken in June or early July on a day with sunny skies and little or no wind. White Memorial has assisted with this survey and the one that runs from Woodbury to Goshen every year since 1965. I've been doing it since 1998. So, why did I wait until December 8th to post the results on this blog? Simple. Even though I sent the field data sheets to the U.S.G.S. in late September, I haven't had time until now to tally-up all the numbers for our analysis purposes. Nicole Morin was an invaluable assistant with this effort. The photos above illustrate some of the species that highlighted this year's survey. Tops among them was our first-ever American Bittern at Hart Pond Wildlife Management Area in Cornwall. Otherwise, this year's survey produced an average total of 75 species and an above-average total of 2,081 individual birds. More species were found in higher numbers this year than in lower numbers. Since this standardized survey involves spending only 3 minutes at each of 50 stops, it is actually very hard to compare the numbers of birds found from one year to the next due to the variables of weather and other things that affect the detectablity of birds. However, it is interesting to note that almost all of the birds found in higher-than-average or lower-than-average numbers on this survey were also found in similar situations on the Litchfield Hills Summer Bird Count and on White Memorial's Breeding Bird Censuses. Species which were found to be much more numerous this year than last year included Red-bellied, Downy, and Pileated Woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebe, Veery, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow, Black-throated Green, and Black & White Warblers, Ovenbird, Red-winged Blackbird, and American Goldfinch. Less numerous species included Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and Common Yellowthroat. The top 5 most abundant species this year were Veery, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Red-eyed Vireo, and American Goldfinch.