Subject: Bluebirds: Olympic Peninsula
Date: Feb 21 01:37:49 2004
From: fsharpe at sfu.ca - fsharpe at sfu.ca


Ken,

Here is a write up concerning the demise and current status of the Western
Bluebird on the Olympic Peninsula and coastal environs. I would be
interested in discussing reintroduction techniques. I also have a write up
for Mountain Bluebirds if you are interested.

Fred Sharpe

Western Bluebirds were formerly common in many lowland areas of the
Olympic Peninsula and regularly migrated through mountainous areas. Early
naturalists and explorers in the region remarked on the bird's presence,
including Townsend who found the bird on the "Plains of the Columbia River"
near Fort Vancouver (1). James Swan observed bluebirds at Neah Bay in the
1850s (2), suggesting that the species was able to utilize the open salt
marshes in this heavily forested region. Reagan reported Western Bluebirds
were common at La Push just after the turn of the century, providing
evidence that they nested along the immediate coast (6). The Grays Harbor
area appeared to support a significant population, with T.S. Palmer finding
them common in Aberdeen in 1889 (3). Lawrence noted the bird perching on
electric wires in Hoquiam in May 1892 (4). Farther to the south Kobbe found
the bird at Cape Disappointment during April of 1898, and "secured a bird
with his musket" (5). In 1926, Palmer noted that they were not very common
in the Peninsula's heavily wooded northeastern lowlands, except in the more
open country along the strait (7). Palmer further states:

There is a small ridge on the Olympic Highway a few miles west of the Snider
Ranger Station that I visited at widely separated intervals and always in
the same place I saw two or three pairs of bluebirds. In December they had
gathered in loose flocks that were "rolling" over the fields (i.e., the
birds in the rear were continually flying over and alighting in the vanguard
of the advancing flock) using the weed stalks, fence posts, and mole mounds
as look-outs.

During January of 1916, Bowles saw many "Mexican" bluebirds at Nisqually and
noted, "there being a good deal of snow and ice in the vicinity" (1).
Cantwell in the winter of 1918 saw a flock of 25 Western Bluebirds daily
about a ranch on Harstine Island, feeding on the ground with a flock of
juncos (1). Reports from Grays Harbor and Westport continue to suggest good
numbers in this area with Kitchen finding them common to very common during
the early fall of 1927 and in 1930 (8,9). Around the middle of the century,
Jewett reported the bird was present at Dungeness and states that, "It
ranges up to considerable elevations in the mountains, up to 5,000 feet or
more in the Olympics." Unfortunately, he does not distinguish whether the
bird was actually breeding at these higher elevations or was instead a
migrant.
By the 1940s, the first indications of Western Bluebird's decline
had become evident. In 1949 Kitchen wrote:

For some unknown reason, our Western Bluebird seems to pass up our
Peninsula, at least the greater part of it. We see a few birds at migration
time but they do not stay to nest. Personally, while living here in Port
Angeles, I have no record of them nesting, nor did I record them breeding at
Kalaloch or at La Push. I have an idea that they may nest sparingly in the
open cultivated fields in the Sequim country, but so far no records have
reached me.
While on Hurricane Ridge in the fall many birds pass southward in
their autumnal migration at the time our Mountain Bluebirds were leaving.
Where these Bluebirds come from I do not know but it was interesting to know
they chose such a high mountainous route to pass through.

Kitchen's observations (or rather, lack of observations) contrast sharply
with earlier reports, and provide evidence that the Western Bluebirds in the
Peninsula's subalpine habitats are probably only migrants. For the next
three decades, reports of Bluebirds continue to decline. Some of the last
wild breeding populations were noted on Johns Prairie north of Shelton in
1959 and on the outer coast where a small breeding group utilized fence
rails on the Long Beach Peninsula until 1963. The last major flock of
Bluebirds to be reported from the south coast area was seen in the fall of
1965. After the mid-1960s, the Shelton (15) area and the Tacoma/Fort Lewis
region were the only documented areas in western Washington where a few
breeding pairs persisted.
After nearly four decades of decline, things began to change for the
Western Bluebird. The regional climatic pattern of cool, wet summers that
persisted from the 1940s to the mid-1970s shifted to warmer, drier
conditions. In addition, the few scattered pairs that lingered in oak
groves of the south Sound prairies were the recipients of an intensive nest
box program started by George Walters and Carol Sheridan. In 1981, only a
single nest was known on the prairies of Fort Lewis. However, in one decade
this population had increased to 600 pairs! and apparently began to serve as
a pool from which birds recolonized new areas. For example, freshly fledged
young were found bathing in mud puddles of a logging road above West Uncas
in 1988 and 1989 (10). The Lilliwaup area has also began boasting fairly
good nesting success, with a small groups of birds using clearcuts, burns,
and powerlines above Hood Canal (16). Breeding was confirmed on the Miller
Peninsula (22) and Discovery Bay in 1987 when a pair and three young were
noted in late October (18). In 1993 at this same site, twelve nest boxes
produced two broods with six young in each brood, liberating 12 dozen young
to the clearcuts and pastures (19). Pairs have also been observed migrating
through the Willapa region (20) or attempted to nest at the mouth of the
Naselle River and near Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, but without success
(17). Breeding activity was also suspected on the Miller Peninsula during
the late 1880's (11). Another interesting record comes from the rainy
western side of the Peninsula, where a pair were found feeding two young in
the clearcuts of the Forks Industrial Park (12). The Olympic Peninsula's
expanding bluebird population during he last two decades is a testimony to
George Walters. By provisioning one of the last remaining pairs at Fort
Lewis with nest boxes, this beloved bluebird may again be a familiar sight
along our roadsides and pastures.
The Western Bluebird is characterized by remarkably early spring
migrations. most birds probably appear to winter far south of our area such
as California or western Mexico. However, there are traditional wintering
sites further north such as the southern Willamette Valley and Oregon Coast
Ranges north to the Columbia River Estuary. Individuals or small groups
occasionally wander up to base of the Olympic Mountains; a flock of
approximately 15 birds was found for two successive winters among clearcuts
in the Thorndyke area (21). The first flocks usually arrive in
mid-February, although the warm winters during the last few years brought
the infrequent nomatic band to the Peninsula in mid-winter (23).
Spring movements have been detected at the Sequim Prairie,
Protection Island, Whidbey Island, the Kitsap Peninsula, and in the Willapa
Hills (17). Family groups often wander widely after the nesting season, and
several late summer observations of birds on Mt. Townsend suggest that they
still favor the high Olympics as a post-breeding retreat. Birds that
migrate across the Olympic Peninsula may nest locally in the lowlands or
originate from the small colony on Mt. Tuam on Saltspring Island in the Gulf
Islands (14). If our migrants were birds originating from the large, stable
populations east of the Cascade Mountains, then the decline of high country
migrants during the last few decades would not be expected. During these
high country migrations, Bluebirds often associate with Yellow-rumped
Warblers. Kitchen pondered this interaction, and wrote:

It is a strange fact, but nevertheless true, that the Audubon's Warbler
often accompanies our bluebird in both spring and fall migration. Just what
the attraction is, or why they do so, no one knows. In action it is the
warbler following the bluebird. They do not work in harmony; that is, we
frequently see the warbler chase and dodge with the bluebird, although they
never meet and fight. Both feed on flying insects and often both birds are
seen on the ground, though the Audubon's Warbler is considered a tree-loving
bird. This attraction does not exist during the summer months, the bluebird
nesting in the open country while the warbler seeks the edges of the
coniferous woods.

The jury is still out on the specific factors that caused the crash of the
Bluebird population west of the Cascades. Competition from the European
Starling is often assumed to be involved in the bird's demise. However,
given that our Bluebird population began to decrease nearly two decades
prior to the Starling's arrival, other factors were involved. The Olympic
Peninsula is near the northern edge of the bird's coastal breeding range.
Consequently the regional climatic pattern of cool, wet summers from the
1940s to the mid-1970s was probably magnified in our area. It is
interesting to note that birds are now making considerable use of clear cuts
for both breeding and wintering habitat. Logging can increase the nesting
habitat base for this species as long snags or nest boxes are available.
Birds have nested in old flicker holes and wooden fence posts, but the
conversion to metal posts eliminated these nesting opportunities. Around
the turn of the century, Dawson wrote:

Two broods are raised in a season, and the species appears to be on the
increase in the more thickly settled portions of the state. West of the
Cascade Mountains the bluebird affects the more open country, and especially
that which has been prepared by fire and the double-bitted ax.

1 Jewett 1953
2 Doig 1980
3 Palmer 1892 "common in August of 1889 and probably breeds in this
locality"
4 Lawrence "Migrant? One seen 15 May 1892 at Hoquiam"
5 Kobbe 1900a
6 Reagan 1911
7 Palmer 1926
8 Kitchen, E.A. 1927.
9 Kitchen 1929.
10 A few pairs persistent and breeding Above West Uncus along the west
shore of Discovery Bay since 1987 in nest boxes provided by Tom Thomson
(Roger Risley pers. comm.)
11 Stan Smith (pers. comm.)
12 Observed on 24 June 91 (Fred Sharpe)
13 Cannings et al. 1987
14 About a dozen birds nested on Mount Tuam in 1987 and 1988, while a
pair was found at a box on nearby Mt. Galiano in 1987 (H. Pollock AB
41:481, Viveka Ohman AB 43:156)
15 Nesting in the Shelton area was noted at John Prairie in 1959 (Bob
and Elsie Boggs WDW files). Another pair used a Wood Duck box near a beaver
pond at the Dennie Ahl seed Orchard in the Shelton Ranger District 1980
(Clyde Rau WDW files). Birds have also been noted migrating past at
Isabella Lake, and in 1986 one pair accepted a box and two other pairs
utilized snags in open pasture, clearcut and pond habitats. (Ron Bracken WDW
files). Nesting near McKenna (fide Eugene Hunn, AB 31:1040)
16 Jim Messmer (pers. comm.)
17 Alan Richards (pers. comm.)
18 Roger Risley (pers. comm.)
19 Tom Thompson (fide Roger Risley)
20 A pair at Grays River hatchery 2 March 1982 (Alan Richards , Ann
Musche, Ed & Kay Maxwell); Nehma 9 March 1981 (Betty Kramer); 3 at
Government Road 27 February 1984 (J. Atkinson); 13 at Hydaspe Road 26 July
1991 (Alan Richards, Ann Musche)
21 Scott Downes. (pers. com.)
22 Dory and Stan Smith 1992 (AB 46:472)
23 Six in Clallam County 11 Feb 2000 and 11 at Squamish Harbor (M. Milzac,
Scott Downes, AB 54:216).