Building Bluebird Houses
In 2018, the Colebrook Land Conservancy received a gift of bluebird boxes from Les Bluestone, who built and donated them for the CLC to sell at Colebrook’s annual Labor Day Fair. Because the boxes were so popular, the CLC decided to try to build more for the 2019 Fair. After a generous gift of rough sawn pine planks from Jody Bronson, Forest Manager at Great Mountain Forest, CLC members, trustees and friends got to work during the summer building a set of new boxes for the 2019 Labor Day Fair. (CLC Summer 2019 Newsletter)
Building Bluebird Houses
In 2018, the Colebrook Land Conservancy received a gift of bluebird boxes from Les Bluestone, who built and donated them for the CLC to sell at Colebrook’s annual Labor Day Fair. Because the boxes were so popular, the CLC decided to try to build more for the 2019 Fair. After a generous gift of rough sawn pine planks from Jody Bronson, Forest Manager at Great Mountain Forest, CLC members, trustees and friends got to work during the summer building a set of new boxes for the 2019 Labor Day Fair. (CLC Summer 2019 Newsletter)
Eastern Bluebirds were common in CT in the early to mid-1800s, but declined in numbers from the late 1800s through the 1980s, largely due to a decline in suitable nesting cavities. A number of factors led to this decline, including changing land use patterns, increasing urbanization. competition for nesting cavities from introduced European starlings and house sparrows, the loss of open field habitats, pesticide use, and severe weather conditions. The construction of Bluebird nest boxes in appropriate habitat is helping the bluebird make a comeback. Proper construction and placement of nest boxes encourages bluebirds and not their alien competitors.
The CLC Booth was a great success at the annual Colebrook Labor Day Fair. All the Bluebird boxes that were made were sold.
Next up: For the 2020 Fair, we may try building bat houses.
For more information on how to build, place and maintain Eastern Bluebird houses visit CT Department of Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division
The Colebrook Land Conservancy
Post Office Box 90
Colebrook, Connecticut 06021
info@colebrooklandconservancy.org
Our Mission
Preserve and conserve the special and unique characteristics of Colebrook—rural, historic and scenic—using accepted land conservation techniques and education in cooperation with the Town, the community and other groups.