Blog
FeederWatchMethods Behind the Madness: Why Only Count the Most Birds Seen at Once?
You’ve just sat down in your living room under a cozy blanket with a steaming mug of fresh coffee to begin your FeederWatch count. You watch for an hour as chickadees race back and forth to your feeder from deep inside spruce trees just outside of view. You know there are probably several birds darting...
FeederWatch2020-2021 BirdSpotter Grand Prize Winners!
| Jelly Squabble! by Pam Garcia | This year’s BirdSpotter contest was once again full of bright, creative, and beautiful photos of birds. We received over 1,900 entries and all garnering more than 6,700 votes to help us choose our Judges’ Choice, People’s Choice, and Grand Prize winners! Without further ado, here are our top three...
NestWatchHow Do Nest Parasites Affect Purple Martins?
by Dr. Heather Williams, Department of Biological Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo The eastern subspecies of Purple Martin is one of a very select list of wild birds that is totally dependent on humans for nesting—the species exclusively breeds in human-made structures, mostly nest boxes. That dependence gives martin ‘landlords’ an extra responsibility to make sure they...
NestWatchAnthropogenic Light and Noise Pollution Affect Nesting Birds
by Robyn Bailey, NestWatch Project Leader An international team of researchers has just completed one of the world’s most comprehensive studies on the effects of noise and light pollution on nesting birds. Published today in the prestigious journal Nature, the new study utilizes 58,506 nest records from 142 species spanning 14 years. These data, which were...
FeederWatch2019-2020 BirdSpotter Grand Prize Winners!
| Surrounded by Pink by Eileen Chorba | This year’s BirdSpotter contest was once again full of bright, creative, and beautiful photos of birds. We received over 2,000 entries and nearly 15,000 voters helped us choose our Judges’ Choice, People’s Choice, and Grand Prize winners! Without further ado, here are our top three Grand Prize winners...
FeederWatchKeeping House Sparrows away from feeders
House Sparrows by Bonnie Coe A FeederWatcher shares his strategies An invasion of House Sparrows almost caused FeederWatcher Bill Kampen in Leavenworth, Washington, to stop feeding birds. A few sparrows appeared at Bill’s feeders one day, and soon there were so many House Sparrows that they crowded out other species. It can be difficult to prevent House...
NestWatchHow are people managing invasive birds at nest boxes?
In 2018, NestWatch circulated a survey to investigate how many people had experience with non-native birds in their nest boxes. We were interested in finding out peoples’ knowledge of House Sparrows and European Starlings, and their attitudes towards managing them, especially if people encountered these non-native birds in the nest boxes they monitor. We are...
NestWatchGulls Just Wanna Have Data
By Robyn Bailey, NestWatch Project Leader Every summer from 2010-2016, intrepid students from Cornell University trekked to Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island off the coast of Maine in search of summer research experiences. For many of them, it was their first time conducting field research, and a lucky few would even go on to publish...
NestWatchHow Does Drought Affect Eastern Bluebirds?
by Dr. Reneé Carleton, Professor of Biology, Berry College Not Just A Western Problem Paired UpA lovely pair of Eastern Bluebirds surveys their territory.Photo © Gena Flanigen We often think about drought as a problem afflicting western North America, but drought also impacts eastern states. Reduced or complete lack of rainfall for weeks or months can result in...
NestWatchA Tale of Two Boxes: When Pairing Doesn’t Promote Peace
by Dr. Mark Stanback, Professor of Biology, Davidson College Watching cavity-nesting birds build nests and care for young in our nest boxes is deeply satisfying. However, sometimes nature can be a bit red in tooth and claw. In particular, many nest box landlords can be disheartened or even upset when multiple species compete for a nest...
NestWatchThe Life and Times of Mites
By Holly Faulkner, NestWatch Project Assistant If you monitor nests, you’re probably pretty familiar with mites. Mites are a diverse group of arthropods in the class Arachnida within the same subclass as ticks (Acari). There are thousands of species of mites that are closely associated with birds, and they have been known to occupy all possible...
NestWatchNestWatcher Finds Rare Albino Nestling
By Robyn Bailey, NestWatch Project Leader. On June 12, 2019, NestWatcher Edie Wieder reported an albino nestling Tree Swallow in a nest box in Needham, Massachusetts. Edie monitors 20 bluebird nest boxes as a volunteer with the Trustees of the Reservation in Massachusetts, and this is her second year participating. Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents...