Our mission and overall goal is to provide informative, factual, accurate, and educational information about our amazing Bluebirds and other cavity-dwelling birds.  Please take time to peruse the site and utilize this information to enhance your enjoyment of our feathered friends.

SCBS provides numerous services, programs, and activities for our members and to anyone seeking ways to assist in Bluebird and wildlife conservation and protection.   A sampling includes:

• Monthly member meetings (ZOOM enabled) to share ideas and our latest programs
• Educational presentations to interested groups desiring to learn about our feathered friends
• Assistance in establishing new Bluebird Trails
• Nestbox/trail monitor training on proper monitoring, recording, and reporting of nestbox activity
• Informative quarterly newsletter (NestBox News)
• Bluebird Scholarships ($1500 each) for 2 senior Biology Majors at USC Aiken
• Affiliation with North America Bluebird Society (NABS) and shared resources
• Community interaction/education, such as “Build a Nestbox” events for children

One might ask “Why Belong to SCBS”?  But the real question is how the Bluebirds benefit from your membership and contribution.  Here is a bit of perspective:

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, 90 million acres of Long Leaf Pine (LLP) forests stretched from Virginia down the East coast and out to Texas.  The LLP is an extraordinary tree, generally immune to fire. The occasional lightning fires burned away underbrush and left a savannah of widely spaced trees with minimal ground cover. This became the perfect home for the Bluebird.     

But where is home? Like other cavity dwellers, they seek a hole with a roof on it (i.e., a hole in a tree). Bluebirds cannot make the hole themselves so they look for dead trees called “snags.” They are loaded with insects and when Woodpeckers are done digging out their meal an nesting place, the holes they create become Bluebird homes. So, what is the problem? After World War II, WE CUT DOWN THE TREES to clear land and build houses for our expanding population. Today, less than 5 million acres of LLP remain.

In addition, we introduced Starlings and House Sparrows into the USA which are also cavity dwellers but extremely aggressive and competitive.  All these factors lead to the realization in the 1970’s that Bluebirds they were headed for extinction.

To address this, the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) was formed in 1978 and introduced the bluebird nestbox. The hole was small enough to exclude the Starling and relatively inexpensive so that literally anyone could have one in their backyard and enjoy this fabulous bird.  NABS established affiliates and bluebird trials across the USA and Canada, the populations increased, and the Bluebird is no longer endangered.  SCBS is an affiliate of NABS.

Enjoy your visit to our site and please take a moment to look through all it has to offer. We would love to have you join us as a member for education, enjoyment, and to take part in the good work of our South Carolina Bluebird Society.           

Mike DeBruhl
President, SCBS