Cavity Nesters Recovery Program

In 1997 SCVAS initiated a program to help restore local bluebird populations as part of the California Bluebird Recovery Program, which is jointly sponsored by Audubon California and the North American Bluebird Society. Volunteers built, placed and monitored nest boxes in local parks and open spaces to provide safe nest sites for bluebirds. Bluebirds and other cavity-nesting birds have suffered population decline because of habitat loss and nest-site competition from aggressive non-native birds. The program proved to be immensely successful, and was expeanded to help other native species such as the Chestnut-backed Chicadee, Ash-throated Flycatcher and Violet-green Swallow.

Western Bluebird
©Peter LaTourrette

Since then over sixty volunteers in Santa Clara County have devoted countless hours establishing and monitoring nest box trails. During the breeding season the boxes are checked weekly for parasitism, predation, number of eggs, nestlings, and number of young fledged. At the end of the nesting season results are reported to county coordinators and the state coordinator for the California Bluebird Recovery Program.

Volunteers are also helping cavity-nesting birds of prey such as Barn Owls, American Kestrels and Western Screech Owls. To support these important raptors, Eagle Scouts and other volunteers have been building raptor boxes and even bat boxes.

More Information

• Building Barn Owl Boxes
• Building Nest Boxes and Kits as a Group Activity
• Mapping Nest Box Locations with "Google Earth"
• Using a Video Camera to Monitor Nest Boxes

How You can Help

The links on the left will help you learn more about our program and tell you how to participate.

Join our Cavity Nesters Recovery Program! A Monitoring Starter Packet is available at our headquarters. This packet contains a Welcome Letter with important contact information, a monitoring guidebook, a nest box record-keeping form, reporting forms, and sample reporting forms. Contact us to pick one up.

Join our Conservation Action Alert Network, by simply filling out this online form.

Last modified in February 2010.