For years, I had heard about the plight of the eastern bluebird, and people’s efforts to help this species recover from low breeding success because of habitat loss.

But it was a long time before I actually saw a bluebird, and it came about unexpectedly. I had not gone out to find them; they found me, and the moment I saw that electrifying flash of blue, I was hooked. Now I know why people are working so hard to help them.

Bluebirds were once more common than they are today. The introduction of the house sparrow in 1851 and the starling in 1890 started their downfall, since these aggressive species compete with native cavity-nesting birds for nest sites.

Pesticide use, changing forestry practices and the disappearance of good foraging habitat nearly put the last nail into the coffin. By the 1950s and ’60s, bluebird populations were down to only 17 percent of their former numbers.

From the beginning, the conservation effort was nationwide in scope. Individuals and organizations such as the North American Bluebird Society have launched a major campaign to bring back the bluebird. In May 2000, a Transcontinental Bluebird Trail was started.

This network of trails is made up of volunteer-monitored nest boxes, and is the largest coordinated grass-roots conservation effort ever undertaken, according to the NABS.

Monitoring a nest box provides many fascinating insights into bluebird life. They are usually monogamous; however, after they raise their first brood, one or both birds may find another mate to raise a second or even a third brood. Sometimes a female will start one brood and go off to begin another. When this happens, the male will take over all of the feeding and care of the first brood.

If you have some good bluebird habitat on your land – a large, grassy meadow or lawn, with plenty of perches from which the birds can scan for insects – and you are interested in putting up nest boxes, you can contact the North American Bluebird Society, Box 6295, Silver Spring, MD 20906.

You can also call the Fields Pond Nature Center at 989-2591, or better yet, come on a bluebird walk with me at 6 p.m. July 11-12 at the Nature Center.

Why go to the trouble of putting up nest boxes? As Lorraine Ostergren, volunteer nest-box monitor at the Nature Center, puts it, “When we destroy habitat, we should do something to compensate.”