There they were, bluebird houses on top of many of the fence posts that lined the road just west of Bickleton, the self-proclaimed Bluebird Capital of the World.
It’s spring, and thousands of bluebirds far outnumber the 125 residents, thanks to human dedication to building and cleaning bluebird nesting boxes, an effort honored by the North American Bluebird Society in 1983.
Bluebird mania started when Jess and Elva Brinkerhoff were picnicking near Bickleton in the mid-’60s. They spotted a bluebird searching for a home, a tough assignment in the near-treeless wheat country north of the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
Operating on the theory that if you build it, they will come, Jess nailed a gallon can to a tree; the bird moved in. The next year he built nine birdhouses and nailed them to appropriate vertical objects.
Eventually the Brinkerhoffs built as many as 2,000 blue-and-white houses and set them out in a 150-square-mile area around the town.
The Bickleton area provides open land and thus insects for bluebirds, but fewer bluebirds were arriving because the woods had been replaced by farmlands. Fence posts replaced traditional perch-and-look-and-swoop positions in trees but the posts couldn’t replace trees suitable for nesting, those with cavities and old woodpecker holes.
Thus the boxes.
Around Valentine’s Day, the bright blue mountain bluebirds start to trickle in and vie for their favorite birdhouses. Females arrive in March, and by late spring, everyone is in connubial bliss. Then it’s baby time and, in the fall, the trip south.
About 250 new bluebird boxes were put out last month, thanks to a Bickleton School project. The residents have long ago taken over from the Brinkerhoffs, making it their community project to clean the boxes each spring and replace them when necessary.
Mountain bluebird boxes are very specific in that the diameter of the hole is 1.6 inches to keep out larger predators, such as starlings. The box is perchless because a perch would encourage house wrens (protected migratory species) and house sparrows (pest species).
Wrens have been known to poke holes in the eggs; sparrows can peck a baby bird to death. Swallows, mainly violet-green in this area, can also vie for nesting rights.
The hole is set way from prevailing winds and direct sun, and if it’s along a road, the hole should face parallel to the road or directly away from it. Otherwise the birds are likely to fly out into the path of a vehicle.
The bluebird members of the thrush family come in three types in the U.S.: Eastern, Western and mountain. They were once very common but loss of habitat and pesticides have lowered their numbers. They eat many types of field insects that damage crops (and your garden).
While Western bluebird males have a bright blue back and much of the head ,and a red breast, mountain bluebird males are bright blue and somewhat lighter blue underneath.
Because of the nesting boxes, there are more bluebirds here than any other location in the western U.S., which might prove the adage, “Build it and they will come.”
Bike swap: The Sharing Wheels Kids Bike Swap, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, will be held at Sharing Wheels, 2531 Broadway Ave., Everett, in the parking lot behind the Broadway Mall.
The swap is a chance for kids to trade in a bike they’ve outgrown for a refurbished bike. They’ll get credit based on their bikes’ value, and use the credit to “buy” their upgraded bikes, sometimes with a $5-25 fee.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. Free helmets are available with every bike thanks to a donation from the B.I.K.E.S. Club of Snohomish County. Information: 425-252-6952.
Mountain bikers: The Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail 1003 is open to mountain bike use on odd-numbered calendar days through Oct. 31. The biking section of the trail starts at the Middle Fork trailhead and ends at Dutch Miller Gap trailhead, about 15 miles one-way. Information: 425-888-1421.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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