State College Bird Club Zoom Meeting
December 8, 2021


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito

Attendance: 53

Meeting Format: Zoom (due to Covid)

Treasurer’s report: (Jean Miller): Expenses: $50 for last month’s speaker. Deposits: $65 in dues. If you haven’t already done so, dues can be paid. For instructions, see our website www.scbirdcl.org.

Activities:

A reminder: Christmas Bird Counts in the area are coming up soon. For more information, see Audubon’s website or contact the circle compilers.
•    December 18 Penns Creek (including Penns Valley) (Cathy Pierce)
•    December 19 State College (Jen Lee and Bob Fowles)
•    December 19 Huntingdon (Deb Grove)
•    December 28 Bald Eagle State Park (Bob Snyder)
•    December 28 Lake Raystown (Jon Kauffman)

Activities in the planning stage for later this winter and next spring include:
•       A mid-winter bird walk led by one of our members will be held in February, as part of the Penn State Arboretum avian outreach.
•       Jon Kauffman of Shaver’s Creek will lead a waterfowl walk.
•       Susan Smith is working on plans for our bird club walks in the spring.

Project Feederwatch is in full swing and Shaver’s Creek count days are Friday and Saturday until the end of April 2022. Contact Doug if you would like to help observe and record birds at the center’s feeders.

Announcements:

Khaki baseball hats, with the new club logo are still not available (supply chains wows), but Susan Smith will notify everyone on the listserv as soon as they are. Contact Susan with any questions.

On the listserv there has been a discussion about the merlin seen on Penn State’s Blue Course golf course and the fact that the trees this bird has been using are slated to be removed by Penn State landscape crew. Doug Wentzel discussed this with Penn State maintenance. The trees are dead or dying and need to be removed due to safety concerns.
 
Hawk Watches:

Our official counters, Caroline Fegley and Des O’Donovan gave reports. The predominant species migrating at this time of year are golden eagles (GE), bald eagles (BE) and a few lagging red-tailed hawks. True to its name, Bald Eagle mtn. has the highest counts of both BE and GE among the three local hawk watches. To date, Tussey mtn. has received considerably fewer GE (87) than Stone mtn. (167) and Bald Eagle mtn. (286). Total numbers of BE at all three sites are good; Tussey (175), Stone (181) and Bald Eagle (249). Compared with past counts, the GE flight is late this year. Nick Bolgiano is still hoping to reach a count of 300 GE at Bald Eagle mtn. during the second week of December.

Speaker: Joanna Taylor: "Lessons on Bluebirds”

 The recording of this Zoom presentation can be viewed at: https://psu.zoom.us/rec/share/YTTngVLqsfZFWoR2qFeFttjAnG1XpxayIzI4Rjn0RxWwXUlLsmFGHR0HsrZiG4lN.wR4y-vrUqzVv5W13

Joanna gave us a wonderful overview of the lives of bluebirds and lots of good information about helping this beautiful species thrive. From her first experience in the 1990’s when she monitored bluebird nest boxes at the long-established Beltsville, MD bluebird trail to the present where she maintains 14 bluebird nest boxes on her 200-acre farm in Port Matilda, Joanna has a lot of experience and understanding of this bird.

There are 3 species of bluebirds in the US; Mountain and Western Bluebirds are found in the western US. Joanna focused her discussion on the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) which is found throughout the eastern half of the country and into southern Canada.
The Eastern bluebird (BB) is either a year-round resident or mid-distance migrant. PA is the northernmost state where BB can be found year-round. It is an obligate cavity nester that has adapted well to nesting in human made nest boxes. Their preferred habitat is open short, mowed grass and meadows with widely scattered trees and perches with open water nearby. As an omnivore, its diet is 70-90% insects and 20% berries (they do not eat seeds).

Though BB populations initially increased in our region with the arrival of Old World colonizers who cleared forested land for agriculture, BB populations declined by 90% from 1920 to1970 due to factors such as loss of natural nesting cavities, loss of open space, competition for nest cavities from introduced species and pesticides.  Interventions such as providing nest boxes helped increase BB populations. An early and well-known BB trail was established in 1967 by Larry Zelany on the grounds of USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in MD to not only help species recovery but also to raise awareness and encourage others to get involved.

Joanna discussed design requirements for safe and successful nest boxes which are important not only for nesting but provide roost sites to aid in winter survival during cold weather. Nest box essential elements include:
•    An entrance hole of 1 ½ “(inch) diameter
•    Facing east or southeast away from prevailing winds
•    Internal cavity of not less than 4”x4” and not more than 5”x5”
•    Ventilation holes in the sides and floor
•    A drop-down front panel to allow easy nest monitoring
•    To deter predators such as snakes, racoons and cats:
- Nest box mounted 4-5 ft above the ground on top of a free standing ¾”-1” diameter metal conduit pipe
- An 8” diameter stove pipe baffle mounted below the nest box on the conduit
- A wire mesh Noel guard around the entrance hole.

Boxes can be installed any time from now through early February so that weekly monitoring of nest activity can begin in March. Placement of nest boxes is critical for their success and recommendations are given to avoid other cavity nesting competitors. Nest boxes should be:
•    50-300 ft away from transitional habitats with shrubs and young tress to avoid house wrens.
•    Avoid barn areas and feed lots occupied by house sparrows 
•    40-100 ft away from single trees.
•    Space multiple boxes for BB 375-450 ft apart
•    If tree swallows are in the area, boxes can be paired, placed 5-20 ft apart, to provide one box for each species since they tolerate each other’s presence.

Joanna described the courtship, nest building and rearing of young. In late Feb/early March, males begin claiming nest boxes, enticing a female with displays and by feeding her. A nest of fine grass is built solely by the female where she lays 2-6 blue eggs (though some may be white) and incubates them for 11-20 days. During the first week after hatching, chicks are naked and blind and kept warm by the female who stays in the nest with the chicks. It is the responsibility of the male to feed the female and chicks, ideally delivering food every 15 minutes.

Nests should be monitored by gently opening the front of the nest box to determine hatching date and health status of chicks. Once the chicks have reached 12-13 day, it is extremely important to stop opening the nest box for monitoring. Nestlings are large and may fall from the opened box. At that point they are likely too young and underdeveloped to survive out in the world and they will not return to the nest. Fledging occurs 16-21 days after hatching and fledglings continue to be fed by parents for about 3 weeks.

With this relatively short duration nesting cycle, BB are able, under ideal circumstances, to have 3 broods/season. Members of the first brood often stay with the parents to help raise the next brood and the last brood stays with the parents through the winter.

A number of other cavity nesters may use BB boxes especially if boxes are in less-than-ideal BB habitat. It is important to be familiar with the nesting materials and eggs of these other species to determine the best course of action. Native species that may use BB nest boxes, but will not otherwise harm BB include tree swallow, chickadees, titmice and occasionally white breasted nuthatches.

House wrens, another native species that competes with BB for nest boxes can be aggressive and deadly to BB. To take over a nest box, house wrens will remove BB eggs and young from the nest, then build their twiggy nest on top of the existing BB nest. This is why it is important to place nest boxes well away from the shrubby transitional habitats favored by house wrens. And remember, all native birds are protected by federal wildlife laws and cannot be tampered with.

House sparrows and starlings are cavity nesting introduced species that compete with BB for nesting sites. These two species are not protected by federal wildlife laws and can be legally killed. Starlings can be deterred from BB boxes simply by ensuring the entrance hole is no more than 1 ½” diameter; too small for starlings to enter.

By far, the house sparrow is the most difficult to deter and the most deadly to BB. They take over BB nests by evicting and killing eggs, nestlings and even adult BB. To remove house sparrows, Van Ert traps can be used in nest boxes to trap then dispatch these invasive birds.

Other non-avian threats to BB in nest boxes include snakes, racoons and cats. Metal mounting poles, baffles and noel guards can all help deter these predators. Diatomaceous earth on the nest box floor deters ants and wax or bar-soap rubbed on the nest box ceiling deters wasps. Blow fly larvae, which are harder to control, are deadly to nestling, feeding on their blood.

The following websites are sources of excellent information on bluebirds, nest box construction, monitoring, predator and competitor control and much more.
•    North American Bluebird Society: www.nabluebirdsociety.org (‘Fact Sheets & Plans’ are especially informative)
•    Bluebird Society of PA: www.thebsp.org
•    www.sialis.org

As volunteer Centre county coordinator of the Bluebird Society of PA, Joanna is happy to help establish nest boxes or replace old boxes in local parks; contact Joanna.