There are many signs of spring that I look forward to each year. I enjoy hearing the two note “spring-time” call of the Black-capped Chickadee. It’s hard to beat seeing a big old Tom turkey displaying for a hen. The emergence of the Eastern Chipmunk and Woodchuck is something I always look forward to. But it is hard to beat my favorite sign of spring—the return of the Eastern Bluebird.
I am not the only one who has a soft spot in their heart for bluebirds. Throughout history the bluebird has played a large roll in stories, poems, art and even movies. In 1859, Henry David Thoreau wrote “His soft warble melts the ear, as the snow is melting in the valleys.” In 1909 Maurice Maeterlinck published his book, The Blue Bird, a fairy tale about the bluebird of happiness. The tenor, Jan Peerce made the song “Bluebird of Happiness” a nationwide hit in 1934.

Shortly after that in 1939 the movie, The Wizard of Oz, staring Judy Garland sang “Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly……”. Frank Sinatra sang, “I wish you bluebirds in the spring…..” in his song I Wish You Love.

The nineteenth-century American naturalist John Burroughs described a bluebird as having a “disembodied voice; a rumor in the air before it takes visible shape before you,”. He goes on to say about the bird blue plumage “one of the primary hues, and the divinest of them all.” Most certainly he was enamored with this bird as I am.

The first settlers to America from England were greeted with a healthy population of Bluebirds. From the mid 1700 to mid 1800’s much of the eastern half of the country was extensively logged and farms replaced the forests. Despite a changing landscape Bluebird populations remained stable and in many cases thrived. In the days before pesticides farmers put up nest boxes for bluebirds to control insect pests since the main diet of these birds are insects. In 1825, Alexander Wilson’s American Ornithology noted “…few farmers neglect to provide for him, in some suitable place, a snug little summer house, ready fitted and rent free….And all that he asks is, in summer a shelter.”

In 1842, the American naturalist Henry David Thoreau, wrote in his diary “Today… the bluebirds, old and young, have revisited their box, as if they would fain repeat the summer without intervention of winter, if nature would let them.” In 1884 the Peoples Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge, noted that “Few American farmers fail to provide a box for the bluebird nest.”

Staring in the early 1900’s several factors lead to the decline of the Bluebird. Introduction of the House Sparrow and European Starling which also uses cavities and nest boxes for nesting started to take a toll. Also at that time wooden fence posts that often had natural cavities for nesting were replaced with metal posts that offered no nesting. Field borders and fence rows which historically were used for Bluebird nesting were cleared to increase cropland acreage. During this time the chainsaw was invented which allowed farmers an easy and efficient way to clear dead trees and branches contributed greatly to the decline of nesting habitat. A dramatic increased in free roaming domestic cats also hit the Bluebirds hard.

In the 1940’s and 50’s Bluebirds were delivered a final devastating blow. DDT an agricultural pesticide which was seen as a miracle chemical because of its amazing ability to kill huge amounts of insects was used in massive quantities by farmers across the United States. The chemicals effectiveness killed the Bluebirds main source of food and in addition poisoned the bluebirds reproductive tract. It didn’t take long. By the 1960’s and 70’s Bluebird populations were at an all time low and in some areas they had become extinct.

In 1962, Rachel Carson’s book entitled Silent Spring was published. She said “Who has decided – who has the right to decide – for the countless regions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight?” “Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.” It is believed that this book stimulated the modern environmental movement.

In response, laws were passed to ban the use of DDT. Also, thousands of volunteers began working to bring back the Bluebird by putting up nest boxes. It took over 20 years but today the bluebird population is doing well but still recovering.

To conclude, John Burroughs wrote, “With the earth tinge on his breast and the sky tinge on his back, it is surely enough attainable happiness for one small bird to deliver.” And it delivers that happiness to me each spring. I hope it can do the same for you. Until next time…