NABS news

Better late than never, here is the list of the 2024 NABS Award recipients!

A NABS Bluebird Conservation Award goes to the River Landing Bird Club for their outstanding effort to provide safe, appropriate housing for bluebirds. The River Landing Bird Club was founded in 2018 and is made up of a group of 137 residents of the River Landing at Sandy Ridge, a Continuing Care and Retirement Community located on 220 acres in Colfax, North Carolina. Their bluebird trail project began in 2018, with the rehabbing of an abandoned 16 nestbox trail on the facility’s golf course. The trail initially began as a Boy Scout project but, thanks to the efforts of the River Landing Bird Club, it has been rehabilitated and has grown to a 65-nestbox trail, organized into four sub-trails so as to involve more members in weekly monitoring. Nesting data is also reported weekly to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program.

In addition to maintenance and monitoring of the trail itself, the group sponsors guest speakers for 10 months of each year and these presentations can be attended in person or via the facility’s in-house TV system. Announcements are given in residents’ mailboxes and are also published in Community newsletters, which are circulated each month. Consequently, the River Landing Bird Club is also the recipient of a NABS President’s Award for their outstanding efforts in Senior Educational Programs. Congratulations to the members of the River Landing Bird Club!

NABS President’s Awards have also been awarded to NABS Bluebird Managing Editor, Lori Jo Jamieson and to Broken Arrow Solutions/Judy Fushtey, for their dedication and devotion to delivering a quality publication each quarter. The feedback on their fresh new design has been overwhelmingly positive and their hard work is very much appreciated.

Be prepared for nesting emergencies – Information about the NABS Hotline!

Wow!  Can it truly be that nesting season is only a few weeks away, at least in the Southern regions?  Well, the NABS Hotline Committee is gearing up for another season of assisting bluebird landlords in emergency situations.  An emergency situation is defined by whether or not the lives of birds are in imminent danger.  Keep in mind that general knowledge questions are not considered emergencies and should be directed to our Facebook or to Messenger.

Emergency situations include predator attacks on nests with young/eggs, house sparrow harassment and predation on active nests, and apparent abandonment of young by adult birds, etc.

In an emergency situation, please visit the Hotline page on the NABS website, and follow the instructions for leaving your information.  A volunteer will respond as soon as possible.  Please note that leaving accurate information regarding your location and specific situation will help us to determine which volunteer is best suited to assist you, as well as helping that volunteer in preparing to offer you the most helpful advice and recommendations.

It’s also helpful to remember that NABS has many Affiliate organizations who may be able to offer “boots on the ground” assistance.  Be sure to check the Affiliate listing on our website and in our Journal to see if there is an organization located near you.