Biographical Note
Elsie Eltzroth established the Audubon Society of Corvallis Bluebird
Trail in 1976 and was coordinator of the project until 2008. Elsie Kollin
Eltzroth earned a BS in Zoology from Ohio University in 1947 and a
teaching certificate from Central Missouri State University in 1962. Elsie
K. and Merlin S. Eltzroth were married in 1943 and moved to Corvallis in
1971.
The Bluebird Trail was established in Corvallis in 1976 as a U.S.
Bicentennial project and grew to 173 nesting boxes by 1978; it continues
to be an active project of the Audubon Society of Corvallis.
Content Description
The Bluebird Habitat Research Records document the Aububon Society of
Corvallis Bluebird Trail project to monitor western bluebirds at nesting
boxes placed within 20-25 miles of Corvallis. The bulk of the records
consist of forms and field notes completed by volunteer monitors on the
activity at specific nesting boxes. The records also include
correspondence, notes, statistical summaries, and narrative reports
written and compiled by Elsie Eltzroth. The statistics summarize the
number of nesting boxes in use per year, nesting pairs observed, returns
records, average clutch size, and dead specimens that were found.
About half of the field data document species other than western
bluebirds that occupied the nesting boxes, including swallows, wrens, and
chickadees.
The records include materials pertaining to the North American Nest
Record Card Program, based at Cornell University, including newsletters,
correspondence, and copies of nest record cards of the Corvallis project
that were submitted by Eltzroth from 1976 to 1997.