The 1970s: University Park Scientist May Have Saved Bluebirds From Extinction

A University Park scientist may have saved the bluebird from extinction.

Sarah Moseley, coordinator of the town's 75th celebration, shared this tidbit with Patch.

Known as the "Bluebird Man," Lawrence Zeleny lived on Van Buren Street in University Park during the 1970s.

According to a Mother Earth News article from August 2010, Zeleny wrote the following in a June 1977 National Geographic article:

“During the past 40 years, the population of the eastern bluebird may have plummeted by as much as 90 percent.” The birds, Zeleny said, had become “so scarce that most people under 30 have never seen one.” Extinction, he wrote, was “a real possibility.”

Mother Earth News reported:

"Zeleny’s alarming article, as well as his 1976 book pointedly titled The Bluebird: How You Can Help Its Fight for Survival, were wake-up calls to the public, and a movement was born. In 1978, Zeleny founded the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) to provide information on building and siting nest boxes, dealing with competing species, and nurturing bluebirds and other cavity-nesters. To this day, NABS and many similar state organizations continue to help people in the United States and Canada help bluebirds. Thanks to the organization’s advice and the efforts of countless people, bluebird populations are bouncing back in most areas."

Zeleny worked as the Chief of Standardization, Research and Testing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, MD. According to Moseley's research, as a biochemist he is also known for creating the Zeleny Sedimentation test, which is used to determine the amount of gluten in wheat flour.

Bluebird nesting boxes built by Zeleny still remain on the fence posts along the Beltsville Agricultural Center.

The will begin at 1:30 p.m. at The Bloomfield on Sunday. 

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