Bluebird Trails

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Mountain Bluebird Trails

Loss of habitat and nest destruction by House Sparrows and European Starlings have contributed to the decline of Mountain Bluebirds.

In 2019, in an effort to help local bluebird populations, Legacy joined with the Rotary Club to develop its first Mountain Bluebird Trail. Together we built and installed 30 nest boxes for Mountain Bluebirds and Tree Swallows.

In 2020, we added an additional 30 nest boxes to the same section of trail, pairing the houses to reduce competition between bluebirds and swallows. Some boxes were used by other birds such as House Wrens

Located close to the Little Red Deer River, the Legacy-Rotary Mountain Bluebird Trail includes 60 nest boxes. The trail, some of which is adjacent to Legacy conservation lands, follows approximately 10 km of roadway northeast of Olds, AB.

In 2022 we established the Tribute Trail which includes 25 nest boxes northwest of Old.

blue bird trail program legacy land trust
blue bird trail program legacy land trust

Legacy-Rotary Mountain Bluebird Trail

  • Year
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
  • 2024
  • 2025
  • TOTAL
  • Nest
    Boxes
  • 30
  • 60
  • 60
  • 60
  • 60
  • 60
  • 60
  • 60
  • Mountain Bluebird Nests
  • 6
  • 11
  • 8
  • 11
  • 14
  • 8
  • 16
  • 74
  • Mountain
    Bluebirds Fledged*
  • 16
  • 44
  • 34
  • 32
  • 52
  • 41
  • 63
  • 282
  • Tree Swallow
    Nests
  • 16
  • 23
  • 25
  • 23
  • 21
  • 15
  • 17
  • 140
  • Tree Swallows
    Fledged*
  • 73
  • 132
  • 73
  • 104
  • 33
  • 79
  • 61
  • 555
Legacy-Rotary Annual Reports

Tribute Trail

  • Year
  • 2022
  • 2023
  • 2024
  • 2025
  • TOTAL
  • Nest
    Boxes
  • 25
  • 25
  • 25
  • 25
  • 25
  • Mountain Bluebird Nests
  • 4
  • 10
  • 11
  • 17
  • 42
  • Mountain
    Bluebirds Fledged*
  • 21
  • 33
  • 56
  • 68
  • 178
  • Tree Swallow
    Nests
  • 15
  • 14
  • 14
  • 13
  • 56
  • Tree Swallows
    Fledged*
  • 58
  • 27
  • 68
  • 59
  • 212
Tribute Trail Annual Reports

*Mountain Bluebirds lay an average of 4 to 6 eggs each year. Not all eggs hatch and not all hatchlings survive. Fledged birds are those that actually leave the nest.

Each spring, Legacy-Rotary Trail Monitor volunteer Ron Reist cleans and repairs the nest boxes. Along with Tribute Trail volunteer Shannon Weseen, they visit each box several times over the breeding season, recording each species along with the number of eggs, hatchlings and fledglings.

Ron bands all young birds on both trails. Any adult birds that are caught are checked for existing bands and are banded if appropriate. All adults with existing bands are reported to the Banding Office of the Canadian Government (as are all bands each year, a condition of owning a banding permit).

All data collected from our trail is submitted through an online program called NestWatch.org to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University.

This database allows scientists to study the current condition of breeding bird populations and how they may be changing over time as a result of climate change, habitat degradation and loss, expansion of urban areas and the introduction of non-native plants and animals. This is a very worthwhile Citizen Science Project and one that we are keen to support.