Classroom

Eastern Box Turtle

Friday, March 14

This Friday, I was finally back after a fairly long hiatus. We started our bird research today by checking the bluebird boxes for the first time. Erin was nice enough to refresh our memories about facts that she had found out about the Eastern Bluebird, and then I talked a little about the projects that Dr. Stanback is working on through the Davidson biology department

The two main questions he is trying to answer is if there is a preference between high and low boxes when the bluebirds are choosing their first and second nesting sites as well as if there is a difference between the chicks raised in boxes on golf courses and those that aren't. The first question adresses predator avoidance vs. desire for a clean nest when choosing nesting sites. Birds generally chose the higher nest for their first nesting site because they percieve it to be safer than lower nests. For the second nesting site, the higher box has usually already been used and is dirty (filled with all kinds of bugs and things that make the baby birds unhealthy). Dr. Stanback wants to know if they'd rather have a safe nest that is dirty or a dangerous nest that is clean. We are helping him figure it out!

The second question (golf vs. non-golf boxes) deals with the effects of chemicals on the environment. Golf courses generally are full of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to make the green stay nice and... well, green! These chemicals sometimes have been found to have effects on the animals that are exposed to them. Dr. Stanback has put bluebird boxes on golf courses and kept some off golf courses to create environments that are exposed to chemicals and those that aren't. By comparing the health of the baby birds raised in each environment, he is hoping to find something out about whether or not the chemicals have an effect on the bluebirds. Once again, we're a part of this study!

When we checked the nests, we found some pine needles and white web-masses. When I asked Dr. Stanback more about what these might be, he says pine needles are the start of bluebird nests, and the white masses are spider nests (not to worry about). Next time I come (in two weeks), we will talk about data collection more in detail and go check the bird boxes again. See you on Friday the 28th!