Landscape Management Improving Habitat for Eastern Bluebirds, Bats

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Landscape Management and partners are installing six bluebird nesting boxes and six bat houses as part of continuing efforts to improve wildlife habitat on campus.

A popular and beneficial species, the eastern bluebird experienced a drastic decline in numbers during the late 1800s through the 1980s. Populations have been challenged largely by habitat loss and competition with non-native, invasive species. With modernization, their preferred open, rural habitat and natural nesting cavities quickly disappeared. Competition with introduced species, namely the European starling and house sparrow, made things worse.

Conservation efforts have focused on providing more nesting opportunities for bluebirds by installing nest boxes, and these efforts have been successful in helping to stabilize populations.

Easter bluebird nest box locations on campus include the campus pond, the pollinator garden on Governor’s Drive, behind McGuirk Alumni Stadium, and along the walkway from Eastman Lane to Orchard Hill Residential Area.

Landscape Management will monitor the boxes against invasive species and will submit data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program.

Also, Landscape Management and Pest Control will be installing six bat houses in a two-fold mission: mitigate bats in buildings and offer alternative homes for species experiencing global decline.

Bats play an important role in natural and human-dominated ecosystems; they are major contributors to pollination, seed dispersal, and insect control. They also produce guano, which drives the assemblage of organisms in cave communities and serves as a natural fertilizer.

Sadly, bat populations are declining rapidly across the globe, largely due to habitat destruction, wind turbines, disease (i.e., white nose syndrome), climate change and pesticides, among other threats.

Paired bat houses will be installed near locations that are notorious for pest complaints. The house types, referred to as bachelor pads and nurseries, will provide alternative sites for male bats and females with litters, respectively.

The bat houses will be painted black to absorb sunlight, mounted on poles, and placed according to recommendations from bat conservation organizations.

The bluebird and bat boxes follow the pollinator garden and pond restoration projects to improve wildlife habitat opn campus.

Future plans include the addition of America kestrel nest boxes. Like the eastern bluebird, kestrels have experienced declines in numbers due to loss of habitat and nesting sites.

Also, as a follow-up to the campus pond restoration efforts, basking platforms for turtles will be added this summer.

Other projects on deck include identifying reduced mowing areas on campus to encourage meadow habitat and affiliated species – in addition to reducing gas and exhaust emissions from lawnmowers – and the identification of a “snag” demonstration site to educate the campus community about the value of standing dead trees as wildlife habitat.