Well, that’s a wrap. Our 2023 Bluebird nesting season is officially over. Our dedicated volunteers worked diligently to maintain our nest boxes and collect as much data as possible.
Our annual fall meeting is scheduled for October 6 at 11 a.m. If you’re in the area and want to know more, please contact us for more information.
So, how did our Bluebirds do this year? The cooler temperatures early in the season didn’t seem to deter the birds from nesting too much. We experienced a mild drought that concerned us, but the insect population held strong. If Bluebirds have enough food, water, and shelter, they go about their merry business.
Let’s take a look at some of our data:
LAMBT Nest Box Data 2023 Erie
LAMBT Nest Box Data 2023 Niagara
Our 40 boxes are split between multiple sites in the Clarence area of Erie County and the Niagara County Golf Course. We helped fledge 138 baby birds, 61 of them were Bluebirds, 47 were Tree Swallows, and 30 were House Wrens.
Our Bluebirds attempted 28 nests this season. They laid 100 eggs, hatched 68 nestlings, and fledged 61 young. Fifteen of our Bluebird nests produced at least one fledgling.
Our hard work in cooperation with the towns and golf course resulted not just in the fledging of birds but also in educating the public on being good stewards, increasing natural habitat for other species like Bobolinks and Meadowlarks, and keeping the insect population under control.
We’ve been monitoring our Erie County boxes for ten years, and we are in the process of looking at trends in each of the individual boxes. The data we collected can help us determine if a particular style of box does better than another or if a box needs to be moved to a better location.
Various species that use our nest boxes and a comparison of their nests and eggs.
For more information on this year’s data, you can view our complete report on our Annual Nest Box Data Page along with the previous years’ data, as well.
We will perform general maintenance on some of the boxes over the winter months, but our resident Bluebird Ambassador is available for presentations. The presentations are a great fit for schools and local organizations that want to learn more about New York’s state bird and maintaining their own nest boxes. You can use our Contact Page to find out more.
Thanks to all our helpful volunteers this year. Without them, we wouldn’t be successful in our mission of Bluebird conservation. Enjoy the cooler months, and see you all next spring.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article stated: “Our Bluebirds attempted 28 nests this season. They laid 95 eggs, hatched 53 nestlings, and fledged 61 young. Fifteen of our Bluebird nests produced at least one fledgling.” This data was incorrect, and the new accurate data is listed with an updated image for the LAMBT Nest Box Data 2023 Erie.