How toUse

Virginia Bluebird Society’s DataForms

Thedatayoucollectontheseformsisimportantbecauseithelpsusknowhowhealthyourtrailsare,whereweneedtomakeimprovements,andhowmuchprogresswehavemadeinboostingthebluebirdpopulation.Theseinstructionsareintendedtomakeyourdatacollectionassimpleaspossible.

GeneralAdvice

Weeklymonitoring.Ourbluebirdtrailsshouldbemonitoredonceaweek.Ifmonitoringbecomes less frequent, the data is far lessaccurate.

Record Keeping. All of our forms are now available for either paper or electronic record keeping.WesuggestthattheTrailMonitororTrailLeadereitherassemblea loose-leaf notebook or create a computer file folder for each trail containing the Weekly Trail Summary Sheet, and a divider (for notebook) or individual file (for computer) for each nest box and its Weekly Nest Box Monitor Form. Alsoincludepicturesanddescriptionsaboutwhattolookforinguessingachick’sage.

For Bluebird TrailMonitors

WeeklyNestBoxMonitor’sForm.Thisisthebasicformforallofourdata.It’stherecordofactivityatasingleboxforthewholenestingseason.Useonelineoftheform foreachweekly visit to the box. On each visit,recordwhat you can see in thebox.

Accuracyisessential.Pleasekeepinmindthatweneedanaccuratecountofthemaximum:

  • Number ofeggs
  • Number ofchicks
  • Number offledglings

Here are some pointers for filling out theform.

  • MonthandDay. ItmaybeusefultoaddthedayoftheweekintheCommentscolumn.
  • Species Seen. Always fill this in eachweek.
  • EmptyBoxorPartialNest.Besuretocheck(✔)theappropriatecolumn.
  • CompleteNest.Check(✔)thecolumnifappropriate,andnotethedateofthefirstnestingactivity in the Commentscolumn.
  • No. of Eggs. If you can estimate the date the first egg was laid, please note it inthe Commentscolumn.

  • No.ofYoung.Ifthehatchingprocessisunderway,theremaybebothchicksandeggsinthenest; if so, this is hatch day! Note the number of eggs and the number of chicks intheappropriatecolumns.
  • Age of Young. This may be difficult to estimate. Review the pictures and descriptionsin yourTrailNotebook.Orconsultanyofseveralnewbooksthathaveexcellentpicturesanddescriptions of bluebirds from hatching day throughhatching-day-plus-14.1
  • No.Fledged.Youwillalmostcertainlyneedtoestimate(sinceit’sunlikelythatyou’ll actuallyseethefledging).Forinstance,ifthenestisempty,andatthelastvisitthereweresay, three chicks, then the best guess is that three birds werefledged.
  • Comments.Besidestheinformationmentionedabove,pleasenoteanyproblemsorunusualcircumstances you see in the Comments column. Here are someexamples:
  • This box should not be opened next time (for instance, because chicks may be nearfledging age, 13-18 daysold).
  • The presence of parasites like ants, mites, orblowflies.
  • Evident competition from bees or wasps, House Wrens, House Sparrows, orTree Swallows. If there are Tree Swallows, the nest box will need to be paired with another.If there are House Sparrows, the male sparrow will have to be dealtwith.
  • Predation by cats, raccoons, snakes, mice, or an unknownagent.
  • Squirrel at the box, or hole or side of box gnawed around ventilationholes.
  • Bat or flying squirrel in thebox.
  • Evidence ofvandalism.
  • Excessive heat, cold, orrain.
  • Infertile or missingeggs.
  • White eggs (about one in ten female bluebirds lay whiteeggs).
  • Albino chicks, or chicks with unusually many whitefeathers.
  • Feathers on any birds (for ageestimation).
  • Chemical or pesticide spraying in thearea.

Ingeneral,ifthere’saproblemyoucan’tfigureout,makeanoteunderCommentstoalertthe othermonitors.

WeeklyTrailSummarySheet.Thisformisnotessentialunlessyouhaveateamofpeopletakingturnsmonitoringthetrail.It’sameansofcommunicationamongtheteammembersthroughout the nesting season.It canalsobeusedtocrosscheckthesummarynumbersoffledglingsyourecordedontheIndividualTrailSummaryFormattheendofthenestingseason.Fillthisformoutassoonasyou’vecompletedyourweeklyvisittothetrail.

For TrailLeaders

It’sthetrailleader’sjobtofillouttheIndividualTrailSummaryFormattheendofthenesting season.Ifyou’remonitoringthetrailallbyyourself,you’rethetrailleader.

IndividualTrailSummaryForm, 2 Pages.Thisformisusedtopassthedataonyourindividualtrailtoyourcountycoordinatorandthentothestatecompilerattheendofthenestingseason.On page 1 of thisform,useonerowpernestboxonyourtrail.(Thisformisdifferentfromprioryearsprimarily

1 The Bluebird Book by Donald & Lillian Stokes, 1991 Little, Brown & Co.; and, The Bluebird Monitor's GuidebyCynthia Berger, Keith Kridler, and Jack Griggs; 2001, Harper Collins PublishersInc.

inthattherowsandcolumnshavebeeninterchangedsothatthespeciesarelistedacrossthetopoftheform—ratherthandowntheleft-handsidetobeconsistentwiththeotherforms.)

YougetthedataformostofthesecolumnsfromtheWeeklyNestBox MonitorFormforeachbox.It’seasiestifyoutakeeachbox’sformandatthebottom,toteup,insequence:

  • The number of nest attempts (in which a new nest has been built and at least one egghas beenlaid).
  • The number of eggslaid.
  • The number of eggs hatched, and the number of chicksfledged.

Notethenumberofoccasionsinwhichpredationoccurred,thenumbersofeggsand/orchickslostthroughpredation,andthenumberofdeadadults,ifany.ThisdataonpredationwillhavetobeinferredfromthecommentssectionoftheWeeklyNestBoxMonitorForm.Withthisdone,it’sstraightforwardtotransferthesenumbers,byspecies,tothesummaryform.

In thesectioncalledNo.InstancesofPredation,foreachbox,indicatethenumberofoccasionsinwhichtherewaspredationtothebox.Weoftendon’tknowwhichpredatorwasatfault;ifyoudon’tknow,check“UnknownAgent.”Iftherewasvandalism,check“Vandalism.”

UnderResultsofPredation,indicatethedamagefrompredationorvandalism,includingthenumberofmissingordestroyedeggs,missingordeadchicks,oradeadadult.

If you have more than 20 boxes on your trail, use a second sheet for Page1.

Page 2contains space for additional trail information, most of which is self-explanatory

Here are a couple ofexamples:

  • Onyourtrailthereare13standardmore-or-lessrectangularboxes,twoPetersonboxes,andoneslotbox.Opposite“rectangular”ontheform,enter“13”;opposite“Slotbox,”enter“1”;and opposite “Peterson,” enter“2.”
  • BecauseofTreeSwallows,youhavepairedboxnumbers1and2;and11and13.Opposite“Paired box numbers,” enter “1-2” and“11-13.”
  • Use the “Notes and Comments” section to describe unusual events and weather patterns.

For CountyCoordinators

YoumayusetheCountyCoordinatorAnnualSummaryStatisticsFormforyourowninformationandthatofthetrailmonitorsinyourcounty(orperhapsforpublicity).

However, the VBS Board has concluded that, for the most accurate statewide statistics, thedata shouldbecompileddirectlyfromtheIndividualTrailSummaryForms.We understand that in some cases it is not feasible for the county coordinator to send individual reports to the state compiler either because of high volume or of incomplete records. We have therefore added a second page to the coordinator's report similar to page 2 in the individual trail report to summarize additional information on county trails.

Here's a procedure we suggest to follow during the nesting season:

  • Atthebeginningofthenestingseason(orearlyintheseason),getcopiesoftheIndividual TrailSummaryFormtotheTrailLeadersandindividualTrailMonitors,sothattheycansee the kind of data the Trail Leaders will be compiling for that form. The idea is that ifthe MonitorscanseewhattheTrailLeadersneed,theycanbetterfillouttheirWeeklyNestBox Monitor forms. This is most important for the data dealing withpredation.
  • Neartheendoftheseason,remindthetrailleaderstobegintopulltheirdatatogether, complete the Individual Trail Summary Forms, and pass them toyou
  • CarefullyreviewtheIndividualTrailSummaryFormsforcompleteness;conferwiththe individual Trail Leaders if necessary; and pass the set of forms to thecompiler

Data FormShock?

Insomeareasofthestate,ourtrailmonitoringoperationsaresubstantiallyorganized,withMonitors,TrailLeaders,andCountyCoordinatorsthewholenineyardswhoarepreparedto fillinalloftheformswe’vediscussedabove.Ontheotherhand,insomeotherareas,theprocessis not so completely organized with some trails 20 or more years old! In those places, whilewedohopetogetallofthedataonourforms,wedon’twanttoshutoutanyparticipants;andwe’llbehappywithanydatathatyoucanprovide.Tohelpthosewithoutthemeanstocollectthefullrange of data that our forms call for, we’ve prioritized the dataelements:

First,andmostimportant:Numberofnestboxes,andthenumberofbirdsfledgedforeachspecies using yourboxes.

Second(averyclosesecond):Numberofnestingattempts,eggslaid,hatched.

Third:Boxtypesonyourtrail,mounting,habitat,predatorprotection,etc.;thatis,thedatashown on the Individual Trail Summary Form Page2.

Fourth:Occurrenceofpredation,vandalism,andtheirresults;thatis,thelasttwosectionsofthe

Individual Trail Summary Form Page1.

Our mission is to help the bluebirds prosper. The data, while nice to have,is secondary to the primarymission.