Cumberland County Edition
May 2014
Vol. 15 No. 5
Build a Suitable Nest and They Will Come By Lori Van Ingen
Birder Cletus Benjamin loves watching the bluebirds that now nest in the birdhouses that he and his fellow Green Ridge Village residents built and maintain. “Bluebirds are an attractive bird to have around,” Benjamin said. Eastern bluebirds are known for their vibrant colors and sweet songs. The males are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look. But by the last half of the 20th century, the numbers of bluebirds had seriously declined. According to Wildlife Habitat Management Institute, the decline was due to factors such as the proliferation of the European starling and English house sparrow, the increased use of harmful pesticides, replacement of wooden fence posts with metal posts, clearing of field borders and fence rows to increase cropland acreage, and a growing human population. Now with the help of nest boxes and bluebird trails, eastern bluebirds are a more common sight. For the last four years, 20 Green Ridge Village residents have been involved in maintaining a bluebird trail in Newville — from building the birdhouses in the woodshop, to driving in the stakes and putting the birdhouses up, to monitoring the trail for bluebird fledglings and keeping records. please see NEST page 21 Cletus Benjamin in the Green Ridge Village workshop where he and fellow birders build their bluebird houses.
Inside:
Special Focus: Better Hearing & Speech pages 11–13
Tips for Pocket Watch Collectors page 22