Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT)

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Bring Back the Bluebirds Project

Bluebird nestlings arrive in their new home, the Cowichan Valley. Photo by Trudy Chatwin

Bluebird nestlings arrive in their new home, the Cowichan Valley. Photo by Trudy Chatwin

The Bring Back the Bluebirds Project moved from its GOERT base in 2017 and is now a project of the British Columbia Conservation Foundation in partnership with the Cowichan Valley Naturalists. Here is the link to their website.

Project history – rebuilding a lost Western Bluebird population

Western Bluebirds are once again breeding on Vancouver Island after being considered locally extinct for almost 20 years! Since the project began in 2012, each spring a small but growing number of reintroduced bluebirds and their offspring return to the Cowichan Valley to nest.

The goal of Bring Back the Bluebirds is to re-establish a breeding population of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) on southeastern Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, by:

A pair of released Western Bluebirds in their chosen breeding territory near north Quamichan Lake, 2014. Photo by Karen Ferguson

A pair of released Western Bluebirds in their chosen breeding territory near north Quamichan Lake, 2014. Photo by Karen Ferguson

  • Replacing lost nesting cavities by providing an abundance of nestboxes in good habitat, and
  • Releasing birds from a healthy population (a conservation technique called translocation).

Our project is focused in the Cowichan Valley, near Quamichan and Somenos lakes, where we have been releasing bluebirds since 2012. We are continuing translocations of up to 10 pairs of bluebirds each year until 2016, towards our goal of releasing a total of 90 adult bluebirds over the course of this 5-year project. Each spring, in addition to the bluebirds we release each year, we have seen adult and juvenile bluebirds returning to the Cowichan Valley. They are all successfully establishing breeding territories in suitable habitat, finding mates, and raising broods of their own. Read more about the project background and techniques in our Bring Back the Bluebirds project overview (2015) (PDF).

Bring Back the Bluebirds is an ambitious species recovery project, bringing together a suite of project partners, landowners, and citizen scientists to restore Western Bluebirds to our area.

This episode of EcoPeek stars our former project technician, Julia Daly, our partner Gary Slater from Ecostudies Institute, and of course one of our bluebird families! Host Liz Bailey (also our 2013 summer student) explains the importance of Garry Oak ecosystems, why bluebirds disappeared, and how we’re working to bring them back. [EcoPeek is a mini-doc series by Vancouver filmmaker Lightning Sprout Productions]

Reasons for population decline

As recently as 60 years ago, Western Bluebirds were common in Garry oak meadows and savannahs throughout Vancouver Island, the southern Gulf Islands, and nearby areas in Washington such as the San Juan Islands. By 1995, Western Bluebirds were no longer breeding in southwestern BC and were rarely seen, and this population was placed on the Red List and considered extirpated (locally extinct) in BC.

Their rapid decline both here and in areas of Washington and Oregon was probably due to a combination of loss of Garry Oak habitat, removal of standing dead trees that provided cavities for nesting, and competition for remaining nest holes with exotic bird species such as European Starlings and English House Sparrows.

Our species recovery approach

Bring Back the Bluebirds is part of an international effort to restore bluebirds to the Salish Sea area. We are using a two-pronged approach to restoring a population of this native songbird. Bluebirds are cavity nesters, meaning they rely on safe holes in large, old trees to build their nests. We work with private landowners throughout the area to mount and monitor nestboxes in suitable habitat. We are also capturing Western Bluebirds from a healthy population in Washington, and releasing them in the Cowichan Valley, a conservation technique called translocation.

Our goal is to re-establish a breeding population of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) on southeastern Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, and this phase of the project (2012-2018) is focused in the Cowichan Valley, near Quamichan and Somenos lakes. In a previous phase, our project partners successfully re-established a breeding population of Western Bluebirds on San Juan Island.

In 2013, a juveniles female hatched in Maple Bay in 2012 returned to the Cowichan Valley, found a mate, laid this clutch of 7 eggs, and successfully fledged all 6 babies that hatched.

In 2013, a juvenile female who hatched in Maple Bay in 2012 returned to the Cowichan Valley, found a mate, laid this clutch of 7 eggs, and successfully fledged all 6 nestlings that hatched.

In 2012, we released the first pairs of bluebirds, and one pair nested at their release site—these were the first Western Bluebirds known to have hatched on Vancouver Island since 1995! Since then, each spring we have seen adult and juvenile bluebirds returning to the Cowichan Valley. They are successfully establishing breeding territories in suitable habitat, finding mates, and raising clutches of their own. We are continuing translocations of up to 10 pairs of bluebirds each year until 2016, towards our goal of releasing a total of 90 adult bluebirds over the course of this 5-year project. Active translocations will be followed by several years of population monitoring and ensuring that there are enough nestboxes in suitable habitat, and sufficient community and volunteer support, to sustain the population over time.

Keep your eyes peeled for bluebirds in fields and Garry Oak ecosystems near you!

For More Information

Bring Back the Bluebirds in the News

In July, 2013, Jen Muranetz of Shaw TV spent a morning feeding and monitoring Western Bluebirds in the Cowichan Valley with Bluebird Project Technician, Julia Daly, and had a chance to discuss the project with one of the landowners who hosts aviaries and growing bluebird families.

Watch an excellent 3-minute summary of the bluebird project and witness a pair of bluebirds being released from their aviary at Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve (Shaw TV Duncan, summer 2012)

GOERT staff members Kathryn Martell and Dawn Fizzard traveled to San Juan Island in summer 2011 to learn about the San Juan Islands Western Bluebird Re-introduction Project, and Kathryn was interviewed on Northwest News about the GOERT project. Note that the mealworms were placed on top of the nestbox to attract the birds for filming purposes. This is not normal practice! (from NWCN.com)

Project Partners

Bring Back the Bluebirds was originally led by the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, with partners Ecostudies Institute, Province of BC, Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the Cowichan Valley Naturalists.

Additional partners included: American Bird Conservancy, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Jim Lynch), Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (Dr. Karen Wolf), Rocky Point Bird Observatory, Salt Spring Island Conservancy, San Juan Preservation Trust, and Victoria Natural History Society. Also Environment Canada (Canadian Wildlife Service), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Bring Back the Bluebirds Project moved from its GOERT base in 2017 and is now a project of the British Columbia Conservation Foundation in partnership with the Cowichan Valley Naturalists. Here is the link to their website.

Original Project Funders

Project funders for 2015 included: The Baillie Fund of Bird Studies Canada, Canada Summer Jobs, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, The McLean Foundation, MEC, North American Bluebird Society, Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Sitka Foundation,  TD Friends of the Environment,  Victoria Natural History Society, Science Horizons Youth Internship Program, and private donors.

Copyright © Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team, 2023.
Content is from June 8, 2023, www.goert.ca/activities/bluebirds/