Virginia Bluebird Society Nest Box
date: label: date made
content: early 2000s
notes: label: Description
content: This nest box was used in bluebird conservation efforts by Cathy Hindman, a volunteer with the Virginia Bluebird Society and the group’s president at the time the box was collected in 2017. The North American Eastern bluebird population had declined markedly in the 1900s as a result of urbanization and other developments that disrupted the birds’ habitats. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (1962) raised widespread concerns about the loss of bird populations and helped inspire Americans to begin forming bluebird conservation societies in the 1970s. Volunteers with the organizations put up and maintain the nest boxes on their property, in parks, and elsewhere. Eastern bluebirds are cavity-dwelling birds. The boxes provide hospitable habitats for them and volunteers’ efforts contributed to a revival in the population.
label: Description
content: A blog post about this nest box can be found at this link: s.si.edu/Bluebirds
place: label: Associated Place
content: China
topic: label: referenced
content: Birds
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Philanthropy
label: Exhibition
content: Giving in America
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Cathy Hindman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0083.01
label: accession number
content: 2017.0083
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0083.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Nesting Box
label: Object Name
content: nesting box
label: Object Name
content: box, nesting
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wire (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17 1/2 in x 12 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in; 44.45 cm x 31.75 cm x 16.51 cm
label: Measurements
content: cage: 5 in x 5 1/2 in; 12.7 cm x 13.97 cm