Eastern Bluebirds rebounded from near extinction in the mid-20th Century thanks in large part to grassroots conservation efforts dedicated to the birds’ survival.
 
     Those efforts included educational campaigns against pesticides, which were killing the katydids, worms, slugs, moths, mosquitoes and grasshoppers bluebirds feed on.
 
     Other work was done to create habitat for bluebirds, including providing the native trees and shrubs these largely non-migrating birds need to get through cold winters.
 
     These trees and shrubs -- White Flowering Dogwood, Black Cherry, Blackgum, Blackhaw Viburnum and others -- provide nutritious fruits to help these largely non-migratory birds get through cold winters.
 
     Native evergreens like Eastern Redcedar and American Holly not only provide food but also shelter and protection from wind and cold.  Other tasty shrubs ideal for Bluebirds include Elderberry, Aronia, Winterberry and Arrowwood.
 
     Other efforts were placed on building birdhouses with openings too small for European Starlings, which were taking over bluebird nesting cavities, and monitoring for another exotic, House Sparrows, and evicting them from nesting in houses intended for Bluebirds.
 
    Since efforts to preserve Bluebirds were launched in the 1970s, Bluebirds have gone from facing extinction to being identified as a species of low concern -- one species' story of how habitat creation can protect biodiversity.
 
     For more on creating a Bluebird Sanctuary, read our blog here.