In partnership with Lexington’s Wild Birds Unlimited, 10 bluebird nesting boxes have been recently installed around The Arboretum grounds to create an official Bluebird Trail. The boxes are carefully arranged in specific habitats in an effort to increase the bird’s population.

The boxes are now ready for avian occupancy, and a group of volunteers – The Arboretum bluebird team – has begun to monitor them. All observations are recorded and reported to Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s NestWatch program.

The Cornell Lab reports that bluebird numbers have been increasing nationwide, and they attribute much of that to installation of nest boxes that exclude starlings and other birds larger than bluebirds. Hopefully, we will all see increasing numbers here in coming years.