BACKGROUND

The Eastern bluebird is a secondary cavity nester that for years was in decline due to loss of habitat. Rotting snags are often removed for safety and aesthetic reasons – these are the very places that bluebirds have traditionally nested in the abandoned holes of woodpeckers.

Fortunately, bluebirds adapt readily to nest boxes and the North American Bluebird Society encouraged a movement to install nest boxes and bluebird trails in neighborhoods with suitable habitat. Suitable habitat includes fields and open spaces; golf courses offer ideal habitat to place nest boxes.

In 2015, the Conservation Committee partnered with an Eagle Scout candidate to construct 20 boxes, and install them in the backyards of residents who signed up to adopt a blue bird box. 

Twenty sites were selected and the scout and his troop installed the boxes in November of 2015.

In 2018 five additional boxes were added, and in 2024 ten boxes were installed on Freedom Plaza property at their request.

The Sun City Center Bluebird Trail has consistently fledged over 100 bluebirds each year.  The first year of the Freedom Plaza Trail has produced over 24 fledglings.