| While banding at Jim and Barby Conroy’s
property on Laurelview Road south of Hillsboro this year, I trapped a pair
of nesting birds that I had banded as parents at the same box in 1999.
They had two successful broods in 1999, a clutch of 5 in June and another
clutch of 5 in July. Two of their young from the June brood (a male
and a female) were nest helpers, assisting their parents feed young from
the July brood.
This year, I recaptured both of those helpers as breeding adults. The female was nesting at Elaine Baker’s home on Laurel Road not far from her natal nestbox. The male was found 21 miles away at Bethany Bible Church near Cornelius Pass Road and Germantown Road in northwest Portland. I also found a female and a male from the second 1999 brood nesting in the same area. The second female was nesting at Sandy and Bob Simmon’s property on Germantown Road. The second male was nesting at James and Peggy Kessinger’s home on Old Skyline Road. The most amazing thing was the recapture of still a third male from the second 1999 brood as a helper at the nest of his two brothers. In June he was recaptured assisting his brother with feeding nestlings at the Kessingers after the brother’s mate was injured and removed for rehabilitation. In July he was recaptured again assisting with feeding nestlings at the nest of his brother at Bethany Bible Church. This story is remarkable for a number of reasons. First, it is the first time we have documented such a high first-year survival rate (50%) for offspring from the same pair of bluebirds. Secondly, it is the first time we have documented a family group made up of siblings from different clutches moving such a long distance as a group. And ,third, it contradicts the normal expectation that male offspring remain in close proximity to their natal nestbox while female offspring ordinarily range from 6 to 9 miles from their natal nestbox to breed and raise young. Written by Pat Johnston |