Sophomore Hailey Hershey and junior Megan Stanley maintain the bird houses to keep the birds safe. Photo by Hannah Chertock ‘12

by Hannah Chertock ‘12

The Blue Birds Club, founded by sophomore Hailey Hershey and sponsored by AP Environmental Science teacher Laura Dinerman, started this year with a mission to track birds living in boxes placed around the fields of Sherwood. The club hopes to increase the population of birds which has recently hit an unfortunate decline.

“The Blue Bird houses were built by an Eagle Scout candidate last year. The Green Team agreed to maintain the houses on-site when asked to do so by the Audubon Society … “Audubon Society is one [organization] that we work closely with on issues of water quality and invasive species. When they asked, I agreed.” said Dinerman.

The boxes surrounding Sherwood act as homes for different species of birds. Once a family builds a nest inside the box, they lay eggs which then get monitored by the Blue Birds Club weekly. Hershey and the newest member of the Blue Birds Club, junior Megan Stanley, record the number of eggs and observe them until they hatch, after which they record the number of eggs that turned into birds.  Once the baby birds disappear from their nest, they remove the nest and clean the box for the next family. 

The monitoring process gathers information from Sherwood and other locations of Blue Birds.  The clubs track all species of birds compiling a local bird population statistic, which can be analyzed to show the increase or decrease of the bird population nationwide. The statistics prove the boxes help the population of birds by providing them with a safe and clean living environment.

Hershey decided to start this club to care for local birds.  “There were boxes at Sherwood and no one was taking care of them.  Since I knew how to monitor the boxes I decided to start the club with Megan to monitor the blue bird population,” Hershey said.

The two members worry the club will not continue once they graduate.  They plan to open the club to new coming members.

“It could be popular, but it would sort of be an exclusive club with about six members,” she said. “Many people would be interested in what our club is…The more eyes we have on the population and all the records…would be very beneficial to the population. We would have a better idea about the population.”

The goal of the Blue Birds Club is to continue growing the population of both members and birds. With enough advertisement, an adequate amount of students can be trained to handle the birds. “[Hailey] and Megan Stanley spend several hours a week working on the project,” noted Dinerman. “By the time they graduate, I hope to have a stable group that will continue their work.  I also hope that they, like many other Green Team alums, will continue to be active in the group after graduation.”

Dinerman explains her motivation comes from the students’ desire to positively change the environment. “This is an opportunity for students to make a tangible difference in improving biodiversity and reversing negative impact on an important species that is native to our area.  I feel that it is important to help students identify environmental problems that they can correct and then help them to create positive change.”