A male mountain bluebird perches on a nesting box at Edith Lake in Kamloops.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

Bluebird nesting boxes can be found on trees and fence posts on several trails throughout Kamloops and the Okanagan as part of ongoing initiative to help increase populations of western and mountain bluebirds.

The boxes have been installed by volunteers with various naturalist clubs who continue to replace them when they are damaged and monitor the boxes for bluebird activity.

Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, taking up residence in already excavated holes. Nest boxes are helpful when there aren’t enough natural cavities in an area due to disturbances such as logging and agricultural activities, according to the BC Bluebird Society. The boxes are installed roughly 300 metres apart in open spaces, facing away from wind and hot sun.

The colourful, migratory birds can be spotted raising their young in nesting boxes from March to June.

A male mountain bluebird perches on a wire fence at Edith Lake in Kamloops.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

Male western bluebirds are small thrushes with short tails and pointed wings. The head, wings, rump and tails are an indigo colour while the breast and sides are brown. The females are greyer and paler.

The male mountain bluebird is a brilliant sky blue, with whitish belly and undertail. The female is duller in colour and mostly light grey with blue wings and tail. Juveniles are similar in colour to the female, but browner and heavily spotted.

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Headquartered in Vernon, the BC Bluebird Society is a non-profit volunteer organization that has been installing and monitoring nest boxes since it began in the South Okanagan in the late 1980s and now has members throughout the province.

The Kamloops Naturalist Club has been setting up nest boxes in the Kamloops area for a few decades to promote bluebird and tree swallow populations. Club members monitor more than 400 boxes located on upwards of 20 trails collecting nesting information to share with other societies and Thompson Rivers University.

If you have photos of bluebirds you want to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.

The bright blue feathers of a male mountain bluebird are seen in this photo taken at Edith Lake in Kamloops.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

A male and female mountain bluebird are raising young in a nesting box in Kamloops.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

This nesting box at Edith Lake in Kamloops is occupied by a mountain bluebird pair with young.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

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