Summer 2001

Ron Olsen
Building a Better Bird Box

Ron Olsen is the perfect host. Since 1971, he has invited Eastern bluebirds (Silia sialis) to nest in DuPage County by building and helping Scouts build more than 250 nest boxes. With the precision of a tool and die maker (he works at Vector Mold in Wood Dale) and the passion of a birder, Ron refines the design of bluebird nest boxes, monitors them and last year helped the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC) develop a bluebird monitoring program.

The Eastern bluebird, as common as the American robin 100 years ago, requires a human engineered nesting box because loss of habitat, pesticides, and competition from nonnative species have diminished populations by almost 90 percent. Today "Ron's persistence and dedication building and monitoring nest boxes has played a major part in the bluebird's reappearance as a breeding species in DuPage County," says Dan Ludwig, FPDDC animal ecologist.

As a Cub Scout, Ron worked in his basement building a variety of birdhouses with his dad's jigsaw and scraps. He carried this childhood interest with him to a DuPage Chapter meeting of the Illinois Audubon Society in 1971 and eagerly said "yes" to the first member who asked for help. Ron took over coordination of the Prairie Path bluebird trail near West Chicago and began building birdhouses again.

In 1986, Friends of the Marsh and the DuPage Audubon Society established the first bluebird trail program on District land in the McKee Marsh area of Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville. Assistant Scoutmaster Ron rallied his troop to build and install 50 nest boxes for this site. Two years later, McKee Marsh had its first breeding pair of bluebirds. Ron continues to oversee Eagle Scouts who build nesting boxes for the district.

"This is Ron's mission. If he had 20 bluebirds fledge last year, he wants 21 this year. He's always striving for something better," applauds Cindy Hedges, FPDDC volunteer liaison.

A big part of Ron’s mission includes outsmarting European starlings, house sparrows, squirrels, raccoons, possums, and cats. And it’s all in the box. Studying every facet of the once tried and true Peterson box, Ron and bluebird enthusiasts across North America experiment and network via the Web to improve fledgling success rate. Ron’s latest innovation has generated a big stir.

"You will have to credit my friend Ron Olsen for the 5-inch diameter PVC birdhouse," says Frank Navratil Sr., a North Riverside resident, on his bluebird Web site. "He just insisted and persisted and the Fatboy birdhouse was born! Ron feels that healthier and perhaps larger clutches will result from using these Fatboy birdhouses."

"There are many other benefits to this plastic nest box, but making it bigger in diameter relieves over crowding, helps control premature fledging, makes it easier for adults to remove fecal sacks and keep the nest clean, keeps the chicks cooler in high heat, and helps preserve feather quality of both adults because it's easier to maneuver inside the box," Ron reported to fellow enthusiasts on the Web. In 2000, 72 young fledged from 22 Fatboy nest boxes in DuPage County forest preserves. You can find detailed construction plans for the Fatboy at http://www.concentric.net/~Frnavrat/fatboy/fatboy.htm. The material cost is approximately $4.62 per box and it can be used from year to year.

Sparrows are the only remaining problem. "I haven't outsmarted them yet," Ron says. "If it weren't for sparrows, I wouldn’t have to check these boxes at all; I’d just keep putting more up."

In 1997, Ron contacted managers at the District's Oak Meadows and Maple Meadows Golf Courses about installing bluebird trails. "The habitat at these courses is open, short grass meadows, with nearby perches, but away from brush — a perfect place for bluebirds to safely hunt insects," Ron explains.

His first season monitoring at Oak Meadows, Ron saw how his efforts made a difference. "I approached a nest box to check it and the adult bluebirds flew at me," Ron remembers. He quickly retreated to sit and watch. "Soon three bluebird chicks came out and hung on the box hole trying to get food from the adults calling above. Then one chick flew to the closest tree joined by the male adult. The second chick followed, again escorted by the male." He checked the box two days later and all three chicks had fledged. "I'm glad I saw that," Ron said, still struck by the moment.

Since then, he has installed 77 nest boxes on three trails at the two courses. He has documented 101 successful bluebird fledglings and a great many clutches are being monitored this season. Paired boxes are mounted about 100 yards apart so the bluebirds aren't fighting over feeding territory. "They should be working on their goal of raising chicks and not wasting precious time fighting," Ron explains. "I double all my boxes to let the tree swallows take one, because they're going to anyway. Tree swallows won't let another of their species take the other paired box, so a bluebird moves in."

On May 3, Ron received the FPDDC President's Award for "Making A Significant Contribution To The Natural Resource Management Program" at an annual volunteer banquet.

To get involved in the bluebird monitoring program conducted by the Forest Preserve District of Du Page County, call Cindy Hedges at (630) 876-5929. Programs are sponsored statewide by the Illinois Audubon Society at (217) 446-5085.

— Alison Carney Brown