April 10, 2009

Easter grass alert!

According to Dick Purvis, the guy who single-handedly brought bluebirds back from the brink some 30 years ago before a group was formed to help him out, Easter grass is a disaster for Western Bluebirds and other cavity nesters.

His group, the Southern California Bluebird Club, spend countless hours building, installing and monitoring bluebird boxes in Southern California. It’s a labor of love. Bluebirds had been kicked out of their natural nesting spots by aggressive English starlings and house sparrows. Since they had no where to nest, their numbers declined. Purvis solved the problem by building nesting boxes that the bluebirds can use, but other birds can’t. And it worked. The group figures it has fledged tens of thousands of bluebirds over the years.

But here’s the glitch - Easter grass and other plastics that the bluebirds pick up to line their box strangles the babies on occassion and will catch the foot of a mother causing her and her brood to starve.

Solution: Don’t leave Easter grass in the yard. Not even a single string (strand?).

How desperate are bluebirds? While Purvis was performing a demo for a group of school kids, he held his bluebird box up high in the sky to show the group how to hang it. A bluebird flew into the box. He didn’t even know there was one nearby. Get a bluebird box here. Make your own here.

Blogging buddies: Feel free to link to this post to help get the word out.