Jack R. Finch, a farmer of Bailey, North Carolina, began making specially designed bluebird houses in 1973. He organized the non-profit bluebird conservation organization “Homes for Bluebirds, Inc.” “The Birdman of Bailey,” born on November 5, 1917, passed away on November 9, 2006 at the age of 89.
Finch said “he was working on the family farm in 1972 when he realized one of his sons did not recognize the bird’s song. Within days, they were building bluebird boxes.” (Source: The News & Observer, Jerry Allegood, 11/11/06)
The organization built and erected more than 2,000 boxes in 70 locations in North and South Carolina. Finch designed several original styles of boxes. (Source: Zeleny, forward to Dion’s The Return of the Bluebird). The houses were inexpensive but durable, and easy to open. By the mid 1990’s, they had assembled and distributed more than 60,000 nestboxes. (The News & Observer)
“Finch’s son Dan said his father was a pragmatic naturalist. He would build four or five houses with different designs and watch to see which ones the birds preferred. To develop snake guards, Finch built a huge snake pit and filled it with black snakes and corn snakes to observe their behavior. If he hit a problem, he would go to the nth degree to solve it,” he said.” (The News & Observer)
A recent note on the bluebird_L about the late Jack Finch brought a thank you from son Dan, who shared a touching remembrance.
“On the day of Mr. Bluebird’s funeral, his son Kelly went out at dawn’s early light and erected a bluebird box beside Mr. Finch’s tombstone. Only hours later, before the grave was dug, Dan’s wife, Amy, went by the cemetery and saw three bluebirds perched on the stone and two in the house. That was in November. A week ago, four baby blues fledged from the nest. Obviously, his eye is not only on the sparrow.”
Dan Finch, Jack’s son, and now head of the bluebird organization founded by his father, owns the property that contains an inactive cemetery. The advantage of putting the sign there, which is adjacent to Rt. 581 and the Finch Nursery where Homes for Bluebirds, Inc. is housed, is that land with cemeteries is sacred and will not be disturbed in the future.
Note from Bet: My own mother’s first nestbox (in Wilmington, NC) was made by homes for Bluebirds, Inc.
More Information & Resources:
- Bluebirding Giants
- The History of Bluebirding
- Nestbox styles, pros and cons
- Information above from Keith Kridler, Jack Finch’s obituary, and posts on the Bluebird_L, and various publications were cited.
- National Geographic Video on Jack Finch and Eastern Bluebirds
Bluebirds fly.
– from “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
