[birdky] Re: Bluebirds
- From: "Marsh, Scott" <smarsh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2015 14:46:53 +0000
The 23 dead birds may be a higher percentage than the 69 from the previous
year. Life is tough
Scott
From: birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Bob Peak
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2015 10:37 AM
To: Gary.Ritchison@xxxxxxx; birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [birdky] Re: Bluebirds
For the past three days, Judy and I have been monitoring the bluebird nest
boxes at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (170 boxes) and Lake
Barkley State Resort Park (60 boxes). We found a total of 23 dead adult
bluebirds in the nest boxes. (We found 6 birds in a single box at the state
park.) Last year, we found 69 winter-killed bluebirds in the boxes of the
combined areas. (In the previous 24 years, we typically found two or three
dead bluebirds when we did our field work in March.) Like last year, there was
a preponderance of dead male bluebirds in the nest boxes (17 males, 6 females).
Although it is only speculative, one possible explanation is the male
bluebirds had already bonded to a nesting territory in late February/early
March and were therefore less likely to migrate to more hospitable environs at
that point in time. (Like the stock market, high return for early-nesting
bluebirds usually involves high risk.)
The number of bluebird fledglings in 2014 was the lowest we had recorded since
1999, and we think the 2015 nesting season is going to be a challenge for the
surviving bluebirds. In September, we will make an electronic copy (WORD) of
our 2015 bluebird report available for anyone who might be interested. (If you
would like to see the 2014 report, please send me a message.)
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Peak
Trigg County, KY
On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 3:57 PM, "Ritchison, Gary"
<Gary.Ritchison@xxxxxxx<mailto:Gary.Ritchison@xxxxxxx>> wrote:
I cleaned out and moved some bluebird boxes today at our study area on the Blue
Grass Army Depot in Madison County. The bad news is that I cleaned out and
moved 9 boxes and in those boxes I found 5 dead Eastern Bluebirds (3 males and
2 females) that apparently starved during our recent snowstorms. The breeding
population may be down a bit in our area this year.
Gary Ritchison
Richmond, KY.
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