The Aldo Leopold Audubon Society has helped to preserve cavity nesting songbirds in central Wisconsin for the past 14 years. Presently, it has 80 monitors who record data for more than 1,400 nest boxes in Portage, Adams, Clark, Marathon, Monroe, Waupaca and Wood counties each week starting late March through August.

One of the highlights has been involving the younger generation. Each spring, Audubon member Kent Hall visits schools and introduces students to the importance of preserving cavity nesting birds.

He shows them the different nests and eggs that each species produces and provides each of the students with data sheets so they can become school monitors and record the type of nest, number of eggs in the nests, date of hatch and when they fledge. He returns to the schools each week to take the classes out to do the monitoring.

Presently, the Audubon Society has boxes in Port Edwards, Wisconsin Rapids, Nekoosa and Portage County schools.

McKinley was the first school to begin the program in Portage County followed by Roosevelt, and Madison. This season, Audubon Society member Bob Lane built and, together with Hall, installed boxes at Jefferson School.

Recently, one of the three classes at Roosevelt School was visited when the third-graders were monitoring their boxes.

Darla Peanasky and her student teacher, Nick Prebelski, assisted Hall as he led the groups around the school grounds to predict what they would find in their eight boxes.

The students studied their data sheets to see what had been there the previous week and were eager to find additional eggs or hatchlings in their boxes. They observed the chicks and noted the development from the previous week.

Students commented on their activities for the program.

“My favorite part was seeing the babies and their bright beaks. They were bright so their mom can find them and feed them,” Sophia said.

“We could look at their bellies to see whether their mom was feeding them or not,” Mali said.

“I really enjoyed holding the baby chicks because they were cute and cuddly,” said Donovan.

Hall said a lot of the members of the environmental groups to which he belongs have an older membership and says Audubon feels it is important to inspire the youth of tomorrow to become involved in nature.