N AT U R E C O N N E CT I O N
celebrating bluebirds’ beauty WORDS BY LYDIA THOMPSON
and sings its sweet song. These bluebirds are real comeback kids. In the 1960s, people became alarmed. We were losing bluebirds. Would we just let these birds fade away? Bluebird clubs formed and created rows of wooden bluebird boxes. They were monitoring the bluebird boxes during the nesting season to ensure nesting success. And the bluebirds came back. Jekyll Island has a unique bluebird trail. To receive the label of Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification for the golf courses, Jekyll residents built and put up red bluebird houses as a marker on each tee. Every year, hardworking volunteers go out to each tee and check the boxes. They record blue-
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birds’ successes or failures and send the data to the director of conservation. I am happy to report the bluebirds are doing great! Farmers had started replacing old
The standard bluebird house is five
fence posts with metal ones. It made
and a half inches wide and at least
sense to them. However, bluebirds are
11 inches deep. It must open on one
cavity nesters. Where were these sweet
side so it can be cleaned out between
birds to nest and raise a family?
nesting seasons. The entrance hole is to be an inch and a half wide. The house
Three species of bluebirds nest in the
is to be white or natural wood. These
United States. There are two that live
are placed on poles about six feet off
in the west. There is a Western Bluebird
the ground with a baffle to keep out
that lives from California up to Wash-
snakes. These are standards, but blue-
ington state. It is a bit darker blue. This
birds don’t care. I had a friend who did
blue is a hood over the head spilling
everything according to the standards,
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay,
down its back. It does have a beautiful
but her bluebirds chose a tiny, brightly
My oh my, what a wonderful day,
peachy-rose breast with a lovely white
colored box to nest. They did fine. So,
Plenty of sunshine headed my way
belly. The true bluebird of the west is
when the idea of a trail of red bluebird
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay,
the Mountain Bluebird. This bluebird
houses on Jekyll’s three golf courses
Mr. Bluebird’s on my shoulder.
lacks a peachy breast. It is a uniformly
came up, I thought, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-
powdered bluebird.
Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay, My oh my, what a wonderful day, Plenty of sunshine
When this song was penned in 1946,
headed my way.”
bluebirds were in danger. Insecticides
But in the song, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,”
and housing were the main reasons.
it is our Eastern bluebird. It is sky blue on
The ban on DDT was a big help. But
its head, neck, and back. The throat,
Why? Because we have bluebirds in
for now, let’s stay on bluebirds and
breast, and belly are the peachy-rose.
the Golden Isles.
housing.
It sits proudly upright on the powerlines MARC H/A P RI L 2021
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