Advocate for bluebirds dies

'Birdman of Bailey' was 89

BAILEY -- Jack R. Finch, a Nash County farmer known as "The Birdman of Bailey" for his advocacy of bluebird houses and habitat, died Thursday. He was 89.

Finch was credited with helping boost populations of the colorful songbirds that were gradually disappearing because of pesticides, the spread of more aggressive birds and loss of nesting sites. In 1973, he began making specially designed houses that were distributed through Homes for Bluebirds Inc.

By the mid-1990s, he and his helpers had assembled and distributed more than 60,000 homes. Family members said they couldn't estimate the total.

At least 10,000 went out in 1990 alone, after Finch was featured on national television. The little houses that open easily for monitoring birds overlook backyards, pastures and golf courses throughout the U.S., including as far away as Hawaii, said Fred Benson of Cary, president of the N.C. Bluebird Society.

"These houses have been known to last for 25 years," Benson said.

The low-cost, high-quality houses receive more attention, Benson said, but Finch's educational efforts and research were tremendous contributions to the birds' resurgence. Finch's observations on bluebird predators are a key part of "The Bluebird Monitor's Guide," a standard for bird lovers, he said.

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.

Jack Finch regaled visitors with bluebird lore and his account of how he began speaking up for the birds. He 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.

Dan Finch said his father didn't care much for golf -- "he though it was a waste of time" -- but gladly worked with course operators to spread the bluebird's terrain. At one time Jack Finch kept watch on 2,200 boxes on golf courses, farms, parks and yards in a trail across North and South Carolina and Virginia.

Dan Finch said his father didn't make money off the enterprise but did it for the birds. He was still cutting out the pieces until he became ill recently. The family is cultivating a new type of tree to take advantage of the hardiness of the wood, but otherwise will continue his father's efforts.

Jack Finch received scores of accolades and plaques, friends said, but his most satisfying achievements are the sturdy little houses atop poles and fence posts.

"Jack was a very low-profile person," said Bill Wilder, a former assistant state agriculture commissioner and longtime friend. "He appreciated it [an honor] and was proud of the recognition, but he was humble."

Wilder said Jack Finch made it clear during a visit shortly before Finch died that he wanted memorials to help the birds.

"He said, 'Billy, don't you send flowers to the funeral home for me,' " Wilder said. "I said, 'No, the money's going for the bluebirds.' "