Hope knocks at a woodpecker’s old front door

Mark the date. March 5, 2016.  The day photographer, Peggy Honda, captured something rarely seen in Southern California.  She knew it would thrill us.  This home-hunting  pair of Western Bluebirds paused to examine an abandoned woodpecker nest site as a possible nursery.  To the average passer-by, this sight might have been unremarkable.  To the Cavity Conservation Initiative it is akin to a gallon of water in the middle of the Sahara!

Nest boxes for bluebirds abound in our urban parks, golf courses and neighborhoods thanks to 18 years of work by volunteers of the Southern California Bluebird Club.  This was a project designed to stem their decline due to the widespread removal of dead trees in which they historically nested.  However, now that bluebirds are no longer in decline and in fact exist in robust numbers, the goal of the CCI is to gradually reduce reliance on nest boxes.  Safely retaining dead trees  has required the cooperation of land managers such as Orange County Parks; and we applaud them!  It’s a bold dream, but by attempting to re-establish conditions that more closely resemble historical ones, bluebird populations have a chance of reaching sustainable numbers naturally, while many other birds and wildlife will benefit from the insects and other services provided by dead trees.

The CCI is deeply grateful to Peggy for her faithful and insightful observations of wildlife and for always putting a “do not disturb ethic” before her photographic interests.  Peggy has donated to the CCI countless images that document otherwise unseen stories of  wildlife.  This one supports our hopes for a more natural future for bluebirds.   Please safely retain a dead tree whenever possible.