On July 25, Three Rivers Land Trust hosted a Build Your Own Birdhouse event at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center in Albemarle.

This event was sponsored by the Stanly County Community Foundation and there were approximately 20 people in attendance including youth and adults. Attendees were from Stanly County and surrounding counties, and all participants left the event with their own birdhouse.

Emily Callicutt, the senior land protection specialist with Three Rivers Land Trust, opened the event by asking participants to tell their names, where they were from and what bird they would be if they could be a bird.

Most participants were from Stanly and Montgomery counties, and their answers on the bird question ranged from bluebird, to painted bunting, to eagle, to cardinal, to woodpecker, wild turkey and more.
Callicutt went on to give a presentation about the types of songbirds found in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

“Some of the birds that may use the bird box that the you build during this event include Eastern bluebirds, Carolina wrens and Carolina chickadees. Other birds in our area that you might see in your back yard include North Cardinals, American Robins and Downy woodpeckers,” she said.

“Three Rivers Land Trust appreciates working with community partners like the Stanly County Community Foundation to host events like this one to inspire youth to learn more about wildlife and conservation,” added TRLT Associate Director Crystal Cockman. “We are proud to encourage the next generation of conservationists to care about their natural environment and conserving land and habitat for future generations.”

Participants built their birdhouses from pre-cut wooden pieces and then painted them a variety of colors to blend in with natural surroundings like trees and flowers. They also left with an instruction sheet on how to maintain their bird house, including removing old nesting materials each winter to prepare the box for birds to build new nests the coming spring.

Visit the Three Rivers Land Trust website at www.trlt.org to keep up to date with other events and ways to get involved with TRLT and local conservation.