Trail Master’s Fall Report
Newsletter Content Steven Shumborski Newsletter Content Steven Shumborski

Trail Master’s Fall Report

We have about 2,623 MBT nest boxes. There are 101 monitors on record. The number of monitors is slowly increasing as the size of trails is being decreased. When someone retires, the large trails are split into trails of 25 -35 nest boxes. The trail size has been decreased to 20 or 30 to make looking after the nest boxes more of an outing than a chore.

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About Parasites found in Mountain Bluebird Nest Boxes
Newsletter Content, Research Steven Shumborski Newsletter Content, Research Steven Shumborski

About Parasites found in Mountain Bluebird Nest Boxes

The fly larvae that feed on the young bluebirds are common flies. I collected a number of the larvae and pupae from bluebird nest boxes this summer and put them in a jar. Then I left them for a couple weeks until the adults emerged from their cocoons, and what came out? Common flies, nothing special, just the everyday flies you see everywhere in fields and around cattle.

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