In collaboration with Bronx River Sound Shore Audubon Society of Westchester County, and with the help and guidance of BRSS Audubon president Sandy Morrissey, we installed five bluebird nest boxes throughout the Conservancy, becoming part of the BRSS Audubon Bluebird Trail. The Trail includes bluebird nesting boxes placed throughout Westchester.
While bluebirds are New York’s state bird, many of us have never had the opportunity to see one. The birds require a good degree of open land near their nesting sites and were nearly wiped out by the 1960s due to encroaching development. The population is now at recovering levels, primarily due to volunteers like Ms. Morrissey placing and monitoring nest boxes.
Ms. Morrissey is researching whether bluebirds born on Westchester golf courses – many of which use hundreds of gallons of chemicals and pesticides – have the same survival rates as bluebirds born elsewhere.
The Conservancy and its volunteers are honored and excited to be a part of Ms. Morrissey’s bluebird project, and hope to have some bluebirds of happiness move in shortly.
To learn more about the Bluebird Trails, click here.
Sandy Morrissey (left) and Ghada Jabbour (right) set up bluebird boxes.
