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Field Log

Fall 2007 - Blues at BIG BLUE: Bluebird Banding at IBM

Working for IBM has always been a pleasure and when the software group moved from the main plant site in San Jose down to the IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory (SVL), it was almost perfect. Here one is working for the best company in the world, in a very relaxing and peaceful environment. For most of my years here, I took the opportunity to just walk the grounds and see some of the wildlife. Then a couple years ago, after having replaced my redwood fence at home, I figured that the mile long perimeter fence that circumnavigated the frontage road would be perfect for mounting nesting boxes made from my scrap redwood. Since I like to do wood working and hate to see anything go to waste, it seemed like a worthwhile project.

Setting about designing a couple different mounting styles, I quickly made my first 16 houses, installing them along the fence at IBM SVL and also where I might see any activity from my ground level office. At the same time, I noticed there were a few other houses hanging in the nut orchard that is off to one end, but thought no more about it until I found notes pinned to some of my houses. The notes were from the ecology club asking if my boxes could become part of an SVL BLUE BIRD restoration trail registered with the National Audubon society. Suddenly, I was part of something that has progressed from my desire to not waste scrap redwood fencing, to helping the Western Bluebird population recover in our area. That first year was a phenomenal success with over 80% of the 30 some houses occupied with either bluebirds or Tree Swallows. I along with a half dozen other volunteers monitored the two trails most of the summer, charting the outcome of each house, sometimes for multiple clutches.

Winter 2006, I made another 30+ houses and in the early spring 2007, we mounted those around the lab, hoping for an even better occupancy rate. We were almost into the nesting season, when Clint Snyder, a retired IBMer, thought it would be interesting to get a banding project going as well as the National Audubon Restoration trails. We contacted the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. They were happy to participate since they had not done bluebird trail banding. With many houses in close proximity, this was an opportunity not to pass up.

Because of their size, Western Bluebird chicks are not banded until they are at least 12 days old. Eventually, the first brood of chicks was old enough to be banded. Roy Churchwell, the Landbird Director for the Observatory, and Gina Barton, Banding Station Manager for the Observatory’s Coyote Creek Banding Field Station showed up with their equipment. After introductions, a small group of IBM trail monitors and the two biologists walked to the first house. As they were setting up their small scale, bands and record sheets, Gina and Roy explained their methodology and provided some facts concerning the Western Bluebird. We watched as they gently removed each chick from the box and placed it into a small sack. Holding each small chick, with its neck between two fingers and body cradled in the palm, we watched as they took the very tiny aluminum band, recorded its number on their log and carefully applied it to the right leg. Then slipping the tiny chick head first into a drug store pill bottle, they took the weight. We were surprised to learn these little guys weighed more than the parents. Roy and Gina described how the young bird’s feathers actually grow out from the pin. We were able to see the various stages of feather development according to the ages of chicks. Since the boxes along the two trails cover quite a distance, we also benefited from our guest scientists both observing and identifying various birds, such as White-tailed Kites or Red-tailed Hawks, as we walked from one occupied house to the next.

In the weeks following, we were able to band some Tree Swallow chicks and a couple of broods of Ash-throated Flycatchers. We also had some success capturing and banding adult Tree Swallow and Western Bluebirds. As the season draws to a close with just one box of Western Bluebirds and one box of Tree Swallows left occupied, we proudly look at the results: 26 clutches of chicks and 9 adults were banded. Also, we talk of what we might expect next season. Will some of the chicks that we banded return to lay clutches of their own? Will it be just the males, returning to build nests in the area they were born or will some of the females also find mates in the area? Will we find banded pairs?

We hope this partnering with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory will produce some interesting and informative results as we try to replace the lost habitat for our cavity-nesting friends. We already know it has fostered a friendship with some of the people who are looking out for them.

Jerry is a DB2 for z/OS Senior Software Developer at IBM