A Nest Egg for Nest Watching

Killdeer chick
by Joanne Bovee
Great Backyard Bird Count 2006

It's incubating now and due to hatch in spring 2007—a brand-new citizen-science project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Funded by a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the nest watch project will introduce birding and simple methods of scientific inquiry to hundreds of thousands of people via the entrancing drama of new life unfolding in the nest.

The project will use a three-pronged approach to public data collection on the breeding habits of North American birds. Participants may independently record and report observations from their own yards or neighborhoods. They may do the same guided by an ornithologist. Or they may opt for "virtual birding," reporting what they see in nests monitored by cameras on the Web.

The data will provide a wealth of information about breeding biology and about what works best in getting people excited and engaged in large-scale scientific studies of birds. "We're really trying to reach out in different ways, hoping to raise appreciation for the natural world as well as understanding of the need for conservation," said Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science.

The nest watch project is the offspring of other successful Lab initiatives, including The Birdhouse Network's popular Nest Box Cam (www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse, which will be expanded. Millions of people visit this site to watch live images of bluebirds, owls, Ospreys, and other species build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young. (See the article "Barn Owl Blogs".)

With the National Science Foundation grant, the Lab will also be able to computerize the Nest Record Card Program, a project begun in 1965. Since then, participants have sent in more than 300,000 index cards describing where birds built their nests, how many eggs were laid, and how many hatched. Electronic access will make data submission, retrieval, and analysis fun and easy for anyone who wishes to contribute information about the nests they find in their yards and communities—adding to the vast historical database.

Keep watch for the nest watch project— we'll be releasing more details when this fledgling is ready to fly.

—Pat Leonard

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu