Father’s Day may have passed, but the Bermuda Audubon Society is honouring one dad who has gone above and beyond for his brood.Society president Andrew Dobson has given the title of ‘Father of the Year’ to a special male bluebird who took over the mother’s role after she died, and returned to the nest regularly to feed his three newborn chicks.Mr Dobson said: “The chance of the male raising the three birds alone was pretty slim.“However, over the next two weeks the male bluebird was in and out of the box with feeding visits and was very aggressive towards anyone who approached the box.“All three chicks fledged and left the box successfully a real credit to the ‘Father of the Year’.The bluebird population on the Island has been hit hard over the past 50 years, due to predators such as cats, sparrows and starlings. They also face tough competition from other birds that hunt the same food. They’re also frequently poisoned by insects contaminated by pesticide sprays.Mr Dobson said the future can still be promising for these birds and encourages people to set up and maintain bluebird boxes in their own yards. Our native bluebirds (known as the Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis) rely solely on these artificial nests to breed, he said, adding: “Without them it wouldn’t remain as a species in Bermuda.”The box set up by Mr Dobson and his family in their garden is a testament to that.“In some years the bluebirds nest in our garden and in others they go elsewhere. This year we were in luck, but we were very concerned about a week after four eggs hatched and the mother went missing,” he said.“On inspecting the nest, the mother was found dead next to the babies with her head severed a sure sign of an attack in the nest by a House Sparrow.“Amazingly, the male bluebird had been feeding the bluebirds throughout that day even with a [dead] mate in the box.”Mr Dobson took down the box, with help from his two daughters, and installed a new nest made from hay. They put the three surviving week-old chicks back in the box and re-positioned it on the same pole.The male bluebird then stepped up to the plate and worked to ensure his young survived. Mr Dobson said the story goes to show the importance of monitoring a nest box at least once a week during the nesting season from mid-March to August.He said people should remove the bluebird nest immediately after the birds have fledged and sterilise the box with boiling water.Useful website: www.audubon.bm.