The Tennessee Bluebird Society is leading an effort to expand the number of bluebird nesting boxes across local parks to support native cavity-nesting birds.
Cookeville Chapter Coordinator Lynn Maddux said the organization recently installed four additional boxes at the new Cowan addition of Cane Creek Park. Maddux said the space provides open terrain that bluebirds prefer for hunting insects.
“It’s been a fun project and we submit the data for the bluebirds and tree swallows and Carolina chickadees to the state Tennessee Bluebird Society,” Maddux said. “So we can kind of track how many bluebird eggs, how many actually hatch and how many fledge from the nest boxes.”
Maddux said the initiative was born out of a necessity to replace natural nesting cavities lost to urban growth and the removal of old trees. Maddux said while bluebirds account for roughly 80 percent of the box usage, the structures also provide critical shelter for tree swallows and Carolina chickadees.
“Well the bluebirds, you know, in the environment the bluebirds would choose a cavity, so that would be like a hole in a tree, things like that and over the years the with expanded growth, you know, for cities, the trees have been chopped down and so they they needed more cavity nesting places and so we’ve kind of learned that they they need a nest box,” Maddux said. “And so that’s what we’ve been trying to provide so that we have more bluebirds in our area, which is really they’re just a beautiful bird and like I said they do eat insects and we’re just wanting to encourage their reproduction.”
Maddux said the project has grown steadily since 2020 and now includes nesting sites in every city and county park throughout Putnam County.
Maddux said the boxes are built with specific one-and-a-half-inch entry holes designed to allow bluebirds in while keeping larger, predatory birds out. Maddux said the dimensions are based on research from the Tennessee Bluebird Society to ensure the highest possible success rate for fledglings.
“We think a lot because as soon as you put one up there’s a bird that that chooses it to use,” Maddux said. “And so, you know, they’re obviously needing more more places to raise their young and so if there’s not a hole in a tree that they can use, then they they are looking for a place and and we we build the boxes with a one and a half inch hole so and that’s the size for bluebirds to use but it also keeps the larger birds out of the box.”
Maddux said the project currently relies on 22 volunteers to monitor the boxes weekly from late March through August to record nesting data. Maddux said there are now 14 boxes located at Cane Creek Park and four at Dogwood Park, creating a visible presence that often draws questions from curious park visitors.
“Well, I think the city’s just willing for us to place them in there to encourage the, um, the the native birds to use it and for the enjoyment,” Maddux said. “And the people I think the people, there’s a lot of bird bird people in the community that enjoy walking the trails and hearing the birds and seeing them and I think they’re just really interested in creating a an environment that encourages all species of birds to come to the park.”