Recently, Cody and I attended a meeting with PACT, a local chapter of the NC Wildlife Federation. The weekend following our first meeting was met with an opportunity to help build bluebird houses for a project that an ASU professor is conducting. The boxes will be placed in various locations so that she may gather information regarding reproductive behaviors. Current experiments indicate that the more colorful males are the ones who, to put it plainly, "get the girl". How the bluebird chooses a mate is one of the primary research interests. By taking them into a controlled environment they can manipulate the birds' colorings so they can gauge reactions to those changes. It's a little more in depth, but that was one major point I found quite interesting.
There were approximately 20 helpful people who came to the event despite the unfavorable, wintry weather conditions.
In three hours we built a little over 100 bluebird boxes!
As scary as it sounds, I used some power tools! Once Cody and I found our groove we were able to finish the boxes pretty quickly. I manned the drill while Cody held the pieces in place. We made for a great team and completed somewhere between 15-20 boxes. It was fun to help out and share, we enjoyed ourselves.
Being involved with PACT is something we look forward to continue doing.They are a group of likeminded people who can potentially raise awarness about issues affecting our environment. Those are definitely the types of induviduals I want to be associated with.
PACT stands for Protecting, Advocating, and Conserving Together.
Providing places for birds to raise their little ones will bring your yard one step closer to becoming a an environmentally friendly habitat. If you are interested in providing shelter for your birds to nest in there are many plans on the internet available for download. I found this bluebird nesting box plan by doing a google search. We're going to build some, too!
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24 Comments:
100% bird friendly. Kudos.
What a great project! Are you planning to build for yourself now?
great project I dont think I have ever seen as many bird houses in one place before .
That's a lot of bird houses. Great job!
a great project - plus, I love blue birds. Blue birds make me think of my mom and how she always told me the blue bird of happiness is going to sit on my shoulder. great shots too.
Fun project! Our various vines and patio cover is the host to many nesting birds in the spring & fall. It's great to watch them come and go, and then hear the chirping of their babies when they hatch:)
sounds like a very interesting project/study. great work you guys!
we have at least 5 bluebird houses in our yard that my dad or brother built for me. we're all about the birds, keeping them fed and with a place to live.
wow - look at that
ah, you are two of the good guys for sure. thanks for doing that!!
What a fun project, and for a good cause, too. I love the bit of info about the brighter colored males getting the girls. Maybe that explains why my husband wore a blue leisure suit on our first date. (First thing that got tossed after we married!)
Thanks for sharing!
Cass
Yey!! So awesome! Amazing pics too. :)
I have to say though, there's one pic where I really want to straighten out two of the birdhouses. lol My OCD side came out and was all, "Fix them! They're messing up the rows! They're crooked!" GAAH! lol
*blushes and runs away*
Oh what fun and great pictures too!
what a great project. i love the picture with all of the houses lined up on the ground!
love them all in a row ..cool shot...great idea! I was working on a bird house too...more Saturday!
that is so cool!! i love that pic of them all lined up on the ground!! so cute!!
Great shots! What a neat project! Blue birds are so fun to watch.
You and Cody, now you can make more at home.thinking about making one long one about 72" with 12 boxes and with holes 1" Up to 2". i will call it the steet.i'll let you know how it is used.
wonderful project--I laughed right out loud at the first picture because I thought it was a den meeting for cub scouts. Let's see how many birdhouses have we built?
LOL that looks like a mild spring day, in Montreal terms :-D
Lovely to see people so devoted to helping the wee ones - bravo!!
What a great project - it must have been a good feeling when you were done.
Good work! Will be fun if you keep us updated on the birds as they nest and raise their young.
hi.
this looks fun, as i love power tools.
i grew up with these kind of bird houses in the yard, but they had hinged tops so you could peek in at the eggs and the babies.
~beatrix
very cool project!
there were bird houses along one of the trails I used to walk on in CA, though I don't know if they were specific to bluebirds.
what a cute project. I hope lots of birdies are nesting soon.
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