Members of the West Kootenay Naturalist Association take care of 4 bluebird nestbox trails in the Castlegar area and others in the WKNA catch area such as in Rossland. Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, most often using holes made by woodpeckers. When dead trees with cavities are not available, they readily accept nestboxes. Nestboxes can increase their local numbers, help with their conservation and may have an advantage over natural cavities in decreasing predators due to the specific size of entrance hole or slot. Websites to check out for more information on bluebirds are https://www.bluebirds.org and https://www.sialis.org/monitoring.htm 2021 was a difficult year for bluebirds and other birds. First, fewer bluebirds arrived than usual. This was experienced on trails in a widespread area of Western Canada and United States. It is speculated that this was likely related to extreme weather conditions in their southern wintering grounds, such as in Texas and possibly due to food shortage. Nestling mortality was another huge issue. On my small trail of 12 nestboxes I experienced this in 2 out of 4 active Mountain Bluebird nests, although one pair went on to successfully fledge a second brood. Abandonment of nests with unhatched eggs and death of young birds was a common thread in reports from elsewhere, almost certainly because of the heat and drought. One report out of 100 Mile House stated that the first broods of bluebirds did well, fledging before the heat wave but many Tree Swallow nests were lost since the swallows fledge later. On the 4 trails around Castlegar we also had nests of Black-capped Chickadees, Tree Swallows and one pair of Violet-green Swallows. In the Champion Flats nestbox area, along with bluebirds and swallows, 4 boxes were occupied by Northern Flying Squirrels, up from 1 last year and 6 boxes were broken and /or raided by bears. This increase in bear activity and co-existence of flying squirrels, who are carnivorous, may well be a grave concern for the birds, but, as naturalists, we generally accept the ways of nature. The WKNA members involved with the bluebird trails believe that the provision, repair and maintenance of the nestboxes, plus cleaning out the old nests, is our most important concern. Monitoring involves closer, weekly or bi-weekly, checks on the progress of nesting birds and young. Detailed information such as number of eggs laid, young hatched and fledged of several species can be submitted at the end of the season to The British Columbia Nest Record Scheme, operating out of the Biodiversity Center for Wildlife Studies in Victoria. WKNA has a membership in the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society / SIBTS who forward our information onward. This membership also supplies us with much information via their newsletter The Nestbox, which our membership receives by email. Much of the material that I have shared came from there. Our local trails are maintained and checked with some frequency. We welcome anyone interested in doing more formal monitoring of the boxes on the Champion Flats trail. If this inspires you, please contact Paula Neilson at [email protected] - Paula Neilson, West Kootenay Naturalist
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West Kootenay Naturalists' AssociationTo know nature and keep it worth knowing. Archives
June 2023
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