Bluebird Trail

You may have noticed nesting boxes with blue roofs and initials in a heart around the Preserve. This is our Bluebird Trail sponsored by the Louisville Audubon Society. Click for a printable version of this map. When the boxes were installed, people who made donations got their names or initials painted on the box. Although the boxes are all posted in prime Bluebird habitat, other cavity nesters use them too, such as Tree Swallows, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, House Wrens, and (unfortunately) House Sparrows.

The female Bluebird makes a cup-shaped nest in the box, using pine needles or dried grass, whichever is closer to the box. A Chickadee put a soft layer of moss at the bottom of the box before building her nest.  The blue eggs take 12-14 days to hatch, the the young will fledge (leave the nest) when they are 18-21 days old. The parents will then start another brood if there is a good food supply in the area. This winter was very hard on the Bluebirds, who do not migrate to warmer locations in the winter, and there aren’t as many this year as last year. Enjoy watching our Bluebirds as they enter the nest boxes, but try to resist the urge to open them. We don’t want the young chicks to jump out prematurely, nor do we want predators to be attracted to the boxes. Learn more about Bluebirds here. Learn more about Bluebirds here .