March 2025

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks is pleased to partner with Wild Birds Unlimited to support songbird populations at the Garden! Together, we have refurbished the feeder station and will be offering new opportunities for ornithology education in 2025. As part of this initiative, Wild Birds Unlimited contributes a “Bird of the Month” feature to our newsletters, along with helpful tips and ideas for caring for your own backyard birds.

The Eastern Bluebird is  an amazing symbol of what we can do as ordinary people to help protect nature. Due to habitat loss, invasive species, and pesticide use, bluebird populations drastically dropped (up to 90% loss!) during the first half of the 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, people began putting up bluebird boxes and now we can see bluebirds regularly again. Bluebird boxes are best placed facing East, between 4-6′ in height above the ground on a pole or post with a baffle to keep predators at bay.

They begin nesting as early as March, and may have three broods of young per year. There are two other species of bluebirds, but they’re rarely seen in Arkansas and they are closely related to robins and other thrushes, and eat a similar diet. Bluebird dads are great fathers and help the young learn where to find food after they leave the nest. An unpaired male may sing 1000 times per hour, and once he finds a mate, that number drops to a “mere” 400-500.  

To draw these joyful gems into your yard, the best foods are mealworms, peanuts, sunflower chips, fruit, and suet nuggets such as Wild Birds Unlimited’s Bark Butter ® Bits. If you want all of these delicious options together, Wild Birds Unlimited offers our unique Bluebird Bugberry Blend, in a convenient 3lb bag. Place these foods in any feeder with a spot for them to perch, and enjoy! (If starlings or house sparrows are a problem, you can also use a bluebird-specific feeder with an entrance hole just large enough for the braver bluebirds to enter).

If you would like to see more bluebirds at the Botanical Garden’s bird-feeding station,  donate to the “Feed a Bird” fund!  To find out more about bluebirds and other Arkansas birds, or to pick out your new favorite feeder, visit us at Wild Birds Unlimited, at one of our two locations: 745 E Joyce Blvd in Fayetteville and 2011 Promenade Blvd in Rogers. Enjoy the birds!