Albee-Ukiah Bluebird Trail

Many club members recall that the Pendleton Bird Club monitors two bluebird nesting box trails in Umatilla County — one is 20 minutes from downtown Pendleton at Poverty Flats, the other one is approximately 40 to 50 miles south of Pendleton on the Albee–Ukiah Road between Battle Mountain State Park and the town of Ukiah.

Annual monitoring of the Albee – Ukiah Trail has occurred consistently over the past several years by club members, including Jenny Barnett (and her young daughter) and more recently by June and Duane Whitten. In 2009, Jack and Sharon Simons volunteered to monitor the trail and asked Aaron for advise on how to monitor nesting success to gather information that could be used to benefit bluebirds using the site.

In the past 6 years the club has constructed and hung 32 nest boxes on this trail. One box is located at Battle Mountain State Park; 3 boxes are on Hwy 395 at Battle Mountain Summit; one box is approximately 1 mile south of the Albee Road – Hwy 395 intersection; and the remaining 27 boxes are located on Albee–Ukiah Road north of Ukiah. All 32 nest boxes now have GPS coordinates to insure no box is over-looked on the survey.

So far vandalism has been minimal, possibly because local residents have come to appreciate the large number of nesting bluebirds in their neighborhood. Weather and wildlife do take their annual toll, however, requiring some boxes to be replaced or restored. Duane has taken on the annual maintenance chores and can take credit for the excellent condition of the boxes on the trail.

History

The purpose of creating a bluebird nesting box trail was 1) to increase secondary nesting sites for the local bluebird population, 2) to stabilize or increase declining bluebird populations in selected areas and 3) increase public awareness of the importance of maintaining natural habitat for healthy bird populations. Unlike woodpeckers, bluebirds cannot excavate a nesting hole; however, they will readily nest in a woodpecker hole or nesting box. Up until recently, these secondary nesting sites were most often found in dead or decaying trees. However, the cutting of dead trees by the public for firewood has significantly reduced nesting tree sites thus making it difficult for bluebirds to successfully reproduce.

Club members have generously donated their time to make the trail a success. In addition, Kelly Lumber Supply here in Pendleton has regularly supplied price-discounted Tight Knot Grade Red Cedar needed for box construction. Boxes are maintained annually as needed with weather and critters taking their toll. Sometimes a new roof needs replacing or, more often, a woodpecker has enlarged the original hole requiring a front panel be installed with the original 1 9/16 inch diameter hole necessary for bluebird nesting success.

Bluebirds have to out-compete more aggressive bird species such as starlings (or chipmunks) when the entry hole is too large. Even when the boxes are in prime condition, House Wrens and Tree Swallows compete for nesting box accommodations. With competition so high, this may be why bluebirds start to set up their nesting territories in early spring before other migrant species arrive. This year 11 bluebird pairs were observed near nesting boxes as early as March 21. And yes, it was snowing at the time.

Nesting Conditions

2009 was an excellent year for bluebird nesting conditions. There was a deep winter snow pack which melted off slowly into the spring season. This allowed spring runoff to percolate deep into the soil which provided perfect conditions for grasses and broad leaf plants to establish in areas adjacent to nesting boxes. The abundant plant life provided a rich source of nutrition for insects, the primary food source for bluebirds and a rich source of protein for chicks. With abundant water and food nearby, it was no surprise the nesting boxes were in use for the majority of the summer breeding period.

It should be noted that 2009 was a “La Nina” year which is generally characterized by high moisture levels in winter and spring. In contrast, 2010 is forecast to be a “El Nino” year which is generally drier with a reduced snow pack and spring rain. It will be interesting to see how the weather plays a role in next season’s effects on bluebird nesting.

2009 Observations

We tried to set an observation schedule to visit the trail every two weeks; however, that was not always possible. A more rigorous scientific schedule would have used daily observations but that was not practical for us, thus we had to make some assumptions when counting and analyzing the data. Nonetheless, we did make enough observations to record the type of species in each box; count the number of eggs and chicks in each box; and, make an educated guess on the number of chicks presumed fledged from each box.

Observations were made on the following dates: Mar 21; May 10 and 25; Jun 14; Jul 1 and19; and Aug 8 and 24. The raw data is contained in a Word file that is available for the asking. Since it is 9 pages long it would not be practical to insert it into the Newsletter. The file has a page that summarizes the totals for the 5 categories we recorded. Feel free to email me (styletoil@eoni.com) if you would like to have a copy of the raw data.

For the Newsletter I’ve compiled numbers that compare the First Hatch to the Second Hatch, which provides a good comparison between the two brood periods. There were two bluebird species in the study area, Western Bluebird and Mountain Bluebird. Here is a quick summary comparing results of the First Hatch to the Second Hatch:

Type of Bluebird Species Nesting in a Box (out of 32 boxes)

First Hatch = 31 W. Bluebirds and 0 Mt. Bluebirds
Second Hatch = 18 W. Bluebirds and 1 Mt. Bluebird

Nest Building Success (out of 32 boxes)

First Hatch = 30 W. Bluebirds and 0 Mt. Bluebirds
Second Hatch = 18 W. Bluebirds and 1 Mt. Bluebird

Eggs Counted

First Hatch = 124
Second Hatch = 68

Chicks Counted

First Hatch = 117
Second Hatch = 46

Chicks Presumed Fledged

First Hatch = 110
Second Hatch = 44

Totals for the study period included counting 192 eggs, 163 chicks and 154 chicks presumed fledged. There were 3.7 fledglings per box from the First Hatch and 2.3 fledglings per box from the Second Hatch. I’ve never seen a flock of 154 bluebirds but that would be quite a sight, wouldn’t it?

Wooded Area Vs. Open Area

Over the course of the monitoring period we noticed what we thought was a distinct difference in the number of eggs laid, chicks hatched and chicks presumed fledged in two different locations on the trail. After turning off Hwy 395, Albee Road runs roughly east - west for approximately 4 miles before turning due south for about 5.5 miles.

The east-west section of the trail is bordered by coniferous forest on the north and a wide, grassy meadow on the south. In contrast, the stretch of trail that runs north-south is mainly bordered by open grassy stretches. When we compared the first 9 boxes on the wooded section vs. the first 9 boxes on the open section of the trail, there were some significant differences in the number of eggs, chicks, and presumed chicks fledged, particularly for the second hatch.

Wooded Area

                        Eggs     Chicks   Fledged

First Hatch        40         28         22
Second Hatch     8           5           5

Open Area

                            Eggs     Chicks   Fledged

First Hatch        41         40         38
Second Hatch    37         22         25

We aren’t certain why the second hatch numbers were reduced in the wooded area but predation by birds or animals may have been a factor. Food availability should have been the same for both areas. If more boxes are added to the trail in the future, we may want to consider adding boxes to the open area rather than the wooded area. Another year of observations will be needed before any conclusions can be drawn.

Conclusions

The inside of a box after two hatches...eleven chicks fledged
from this box. All of the boxes are cleaned out and scrapped
with a putty knife at the end of the nesting season.

These five Mountain Bluebird eggs died during the second hatch period.
We don't know why they died but either the parents abandoned
them or were perhaps killed by predators.