Bluebird shortage

Dear Editor:It is well that bluebirds raise two or three broods each season because the number of these birds in the world has grown smaller. Bird men say that there is a serious shortage of bluebird houses. People seem to be chopping down all the dead trees and as a result the snug nesting holes are cut down too. In some places bluebirds have actually been forced to build their nests in rural mail boxes. To make up for this house shortage, people are now building thousands of bluebird nest boxes each year. They are rent-free to the bird "with the sky on his back and the red earth on his breast." No birds are finer guests than bluebirds as they help clean up garden pests. Their voices are never harsh and their blue feathers are like flowers in the garden. They seem to enjoy every minute of their stay as they are among the first birds to arrive and the last to leave. They never will be windowsill birds like sparrows or chickadees as they are half wild, half tame creatures; the blue forget-me-nots of the air. Now we try for more broods with new nests for our bluebird friends. Randy Renner Downey

********** Published: June 21, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 10