Calgary Birdman
Calgary area birdhouse building with youth
About Me
- Name: Andrew Stiles
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
When I was in Grade Four, a trip to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary inspired me to begin a lifelong effort to help save the Mountain Bluebird. Inquiring about a stack of birdhouses there, I learned that because introduced Starlings and House Sparrows have displaced our native birds from their traditional nesting sites, they needed more homes. Building my first 50 boxes out of scrap plywood took me an entire winter using hand tools. That spring I was on my way to becoming a bluebird trail monitor thanks to mentoring by Inglewood's naturalists, but success was slim with only one nest! Undeterred, I built fifty more boxes and increased my bluebird percentage to 20! After quitting in Junior High because of peer pressure, I resumed with the help of my father (Don Stiles) and helped to network fellow enthusiasts into the Calgary Area Nest-box Monitors. Today it continues as one of the most successful grassroots conservation efforts on the prairies, maintaining 5000 boxes that produce over 10000 young birds annually!
Links
Previous Posts
- The Andrew Stiles’ Build a Birdhouse Project
- Even six year olds can put one together!
- The Stiles Birdhouse Top Ten Functionality Features
- Birdwatching for kids
- Feedback from Calgary Teachers
- My hope is to inspire a generation of young people...
- Calgary Parks, Yours to Discover
- Breeding weed warriors in and outside of the class...
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