Birdhouses can help protect and preserve endangered species.
VIRGINIA BEACH—With habitat loss, climate change and other conditions posing threats to wild birds, incorporating birdhouses in the yard can help protect nature’s marvels for generations.
Sightings of purple martins in Virginia offer a powerful reminder of their resilience, and the far-reaching impact of birdhouses.
Suffering from massive population decline over the last 50 years, the species’ survival is largely due to the efforts of the Purple Martin Conservation Association and the thousands of people who hang up purple martin nest boxes around the country.
The North American Bluebird Society similarly helped revive the bluebird population after a major decline between 1920 and 1970. And thanks to the efforts of Bluebird Beach Bungalows in Virginia Beach today, the community’s bluebird population is thriving, with nesting boxes hung up practically everywhere around town.
The charity’s founder, Stephen Todd, has lived by a profound motto: “Do Good Things.” Even when a local grocery store closure left Todd, who has Down syndrome, with the challenge of finding another job, his lifelong passion for helping others took the lead.
Seeing his love for a bluebird family nesting in their yard, the family began building and selling birdhouses for charity out of the family garage.
Today, Bluebird Beach Bungalows has donated over $150,000 to various charities and produced over 5,000 birdhouses—each one made by someone with a disability. They’re constructed using donated reclaimed wood, and decorated with sea glass, shells and other natural materials from the Chesapeake Bay.
“It’s taught me that good begets good, and people want to help in any way they can,” said Jamie Todd, Stephen’s mom.
To artist Yvonne Goad, a member of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, crafting artful homes for her feathered friends is a “labor of love” that keeps alive a time-honored custom.
She’s made “hundreds” of birdhouses from hollowed-out gourds over the last 14 years—a longtime tradition of many Native American tribes.
Next to providing a comfortable nesting spot for small birds, her hand-painted homes add beauty and color to the landscape.
Shoppers around the world can now purchase Goad’s unique creations online. She launched her Etsy shop, Gourds4All, this spring alongside other indigenous small business owners and artists.
Cavity nesters will happily move into a backyard birdhouse as long as it suits their needs. For example, the box’s dimensions and entrance hole size should be designed to accommodate the particular bird species you want to attract.
Birdhouse dimensions for specific species, construction basics, cleaning tips, methods of deterring unwanted predators and other beneficial habitat features are available on the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources website at dwr.virginia.gov.
Read more in Virginia Farm Bureau’s spring Cultivate magazine at bit.ly/3QOkpZ7.
Virginia Farm Bureau
