The beauty and vitality of Eastern Bluebirds depends on the efforts of a dedicated team of volunteers who monitor and protect their nesting sites. In this blog, we shine a spotlight on these unsung heroes who play a crucial role in conserving Eastern Bluebirds and share their inspiring stories.
Our Eastern Bluebird Trails on Seabrook Island are located on Ocean Winds golf course, Crooked Oaks golf course and the Lakehouse. We have 71 nesting boxes strategically placed in suitable habitats. Our nesting season runs from March through August, with up to 3 cycles per season from one Eastern Bluebird pair. It is important to monitor these bluebird nesting boxes to see how our bluebirds are doing during the season. A lot can happen to a bluebird box, as our volunteers know.
They have a lot of stories to tell during the monitoring season. We can find many things inside the boxes when we open to check on the bluebirds. We also find other critters inside. Our volunteers are passionate about all species of birds and nature.
Our maintenance volunteers, Val and Pat Luzadder have been a great help, since in the past year we will have replaced all 71 of our nesting boxes with new ones, thanks to donations from the Seabrook Island Club and Seabrook Island Birders.
We do have great success stories to tell.
Out of 71 nesting boxes, we had 126 Eastern Bluebird nest attempts, 564 eggs, 516 hatched and 214 fledged. We do often, at the beginning of the year, have Carolina Chickadee nests also. They really like our bluebird boxes and often beat the bluebirds to it. We had 18 Carolina Chickadee nests, 81 eggs, 72 hatched and 69 fledged. I also noticed that we had more ant problems this year. All Stats are reported to the SC Bluebird Society (Cornell), Seabrook Island Club and the Environmental Committee.
If you are interested in being a Bluebird Volunteer for 2026, please contact Seabrookislandbirders@gmail.com. This was my last year but I’m happy to announce I am handing the baton over to Carole Heilman. She loves bluebirds like me.
Submitted by Melanie Jerome
Feature Photo by Jan Couch, from her backyard feeders.