On April 22, Dean Rust, president of the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania, visited Fairmount to share a presentation detailing the care and feeding of bluebirds coupled with interesting facts about these native birds.

Both Fairmount residents and nonresidents visited the Wheat Ridge Gathering Room for the presentation, which included information about native plants and predators, as well as a warning about the dangers of ticks.

"Observing bluebirds in the nest box is a celebration of life," announced Rust, who attends to 450 nest boxes on 22 trails. A few years ago, Rust gave up five of his trails, but he still finds himself heavily involved from April through August, overseeing trails in both York and Lancaster counties, including a 50-box trail at the Lancaster Country Club.

"When you see your first male bluebird in sunlight, it's special," Rust noted. "You say, 'Wow!'" Rust explained that while male bluebirds are known for their bright color, the females always have a gray head. "The juveniles are speckled with a white eye ring," said Rust, who pointed out that during the fall molt, the males lose the white eye ring. He shared that more feathers are also added in the fall to keep the birds warmer in winter. "I love to see bluebirds in the snow," said Rust, who noted that birds in Lancaster County have been staying during the winter. "They have to change their diet entirely," he pointed out, stating that when insects are not present, the birds will eat suet, nuts, and berries.

Bluebirds may build nests as early as January. "They do a love dance," stated, Rust, who described the birds' prancing and twitching motions. Bluebird eggs vary in color from very light blue green to white. "During the brood season - April, May, June, July - the female pulls feathers off her belly to create a brood patch," Rust explained. By putting the brood patch against the eggs, the female can get them to the proper temperature to develop and hatch. The male cannot hatch the eggs alone. The female turns the eggs regularly to keep the yolk from sticking to one side. The turning and oils from her body will give the eggs a healthy sheen.

Rust noted that while both parents build the nest, the female tends to be the master builder, bringing more material from which to fashion a home that will be flat toward the back and have a front ledge where the parents stand to feed the babies. "The parents feed the babies every five to 10 minutes from sunup to sundown," said Rust, who explained that the babies hatch with only a small amount of down and lay still for about three days. After 18 days of being constantly fed a diet of crickets, grasshoppers, and other proteins, the fledglings are ready to leave the nest. At that point, the parents take them away from the nest to teach them how to forage for food.

According to Rust, bluebirds favor native plants along with insects. "Native plants benefit bluebirds," he stated. "They love dogwood berries, holly berries, and juniper berries."

Unfortunately, bluebirds also fall prey to native predators. "Male sparrows will kill bluebirds in the box," Rust said, adding that rat snakes will destroy eggs, and squirrels will move into the boxes. Raccoons are a special issue, and Rust recommended that those who tend bluebird boxes put up a mechanism to keep raccoons out. "Raccoons come at night when you're asleep and the mother is asleep," he said, noting the nocturnal predators can clean out a bluebird box. "They know it's worth climbing up there."

As part of the presentation, Rust discussed the first recorded sightings of bluebirds in Jamestown, Va., in 1607. "Bluebirds are only found in North America. It's our bird," he stated, noting that the three types of bluebirds are the Eastern bluebird, found in Lancaster County, along with the Western bluebird on the West Coast and the mountain bluebird, found in the Rockies.

Fairmount, a nonprofit retirement community founded in 1968, is located on two adjoining campuses in Ephrata. Readers who would like to know more about the organization may visit https://fairmounthomes.org.