I am so sorry to hear this disheartening news. It must have been awful to open the boxes and find so many birds. On a better note, we have the pleasure of observing a nesting pair and associated “helpers” using a cavity in a dead white oak in our back yard. Joyce Bender, Northern Franklin County 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.