Hot Springs students build birdhouses for Bluebirds

Hot Springs - Hot Springs Elementary’s fifth grade teacher, Bart Granlund, is leading his class on a noble cause to help one of Montana’s smallest creatures, the Mountain Bluebird.

The Mountain Bluebird is one of three species of bluebird found in North America. It gets it name because it nests in high altitudes. They can be seen as far north as the Yukon and all the way down to Central Mexico and as far east to the Prairies. What makes them unique is that unlike the other two species of bluebird, they lack any red coloration. Their calls are a warble, which is heard in the morning, and a chortle, which is heard during the day.

The Mountain Bluebird is a secondary nester, which means they find homes in pre-existing holes, often created by woodpeckers. In the wild, they can be found nesting in cliffs and in clay banks. People find them in mailboxes, chimneys and other man-made structures with holes. This characteristic is one of the major reasons why the Mountain Bluebird numbers decreased around the turn of the century. Stated in the “Montana Bluebird Trail Monitoring Guide”, written by Myrna Pearman,” the Mountain Bluebird was negatively effected by the introduction of the House Sparrow and European Starling, which are also secondary nesters. The two bird types did not find much competition and took over. Pearman also writes decreasing numbers are due to cleared habitat for agricultural purposes and deforestation.

Started around 30 years ago, the Bluebird Society of Northwest Montana began placing bird homes near natural land where bluebirds could nest to help reintroduce them to parts of Montana. This is where Mr. Granlund’s fifth grade class comes into play.

Mr. Granlund said, “During the first part of the school year... I had the students brainstorm with their parents different things we could do to help our school, community or mother nature. This is one of the ideas we came up with.”

Starting this past Tuesday, the fifth grade class, as part of their yearly service project, began building Mountain Bluebird houses. Mr. Granlund is part of the Bluebird Society and has experience in the restoration of the Mountain Bluebird and places bird house routes near Hot Springs, and helps monitor the population.

Mr. Brown, the shop teacher, and his 1:15 shop class have been assisting the students in building and painting their houses, 17 in total. “It has been a fun collaboration,” said Mr. Granlund.

Mr. Granlund’s students, under the supervision of Mr. Brown and his high school students, have been sanding, using a drill press, nail/staple guns and a scroll saw to assemble their houses. The students have also been given the option to paint their houses.

“I think one of the things we need to do better in education is to get the kids moving and hands on stuff,” Mr. Granlund said.

Once the houses are completed, Mr. Granlund will be taking his class out to place the houses in Camas. “I’m hoping some of the houses will have residents, so they actually see the whole process...” said Mr. Granlund. He plans on taking a group of students out every week to collect data on the Mountain Bluebirds in the homes. His students will then send the data in to researchers.

Mr. Granlund says his class loves the project and that they care a lot about mother nature. He believes the houses will work and like his other two sets of houses, they will help increase the bluebird population in the area.