NestWatch participation could include monitoring an oriole nest, such as this Hooded Oriole nest with soon to fledge nestlings, built on the inner side of a fan palm frond. A beautiful clutch of eggs in a Northern Mockingbird nest (all photos by Paul Konrad). A ground nest of a California Towhee is filled with days old nestlings.

NestWatch is looking for more information about nesting birds that you may be interested in monitoring this season, including information about birds you may find in your yard or neighborhood, such as nesting robins, bluebirds, mockingbirds, chickadees, wrens, cardinals, swallows, and more. Anyone who has monitored nesting birds knows how enriching the activity can be, and knowing your efforts add to a valuable citizen science project make your participation all the more fulfilling.

NestWatch is a citizen science program produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as a nationwide bird nest monitoring project that tracks when nesting takes place for different species, the number of eggs in each nest, how many eggs hatch, and how many nestlings survive. Overall, the NestWatch database is intended to be used to study the current status of nesting bird populations and how they may change over time as a result of a variety of variables.

NestWatch provides detailed information about how to monitor and report bird nesting information, which leads to you being trained as a Certified NestWatch Monitor to prepare you for the responsibilities of monitoring bird nests, and to ensure nesting birds are not impacted by NestWatch activities.

Essentially, participating in NestWatch is a 4-step process: 1) become a Certified NestWatch Monitor using the online resources and test; 2) find active nesting birds to monitor; 3) visit nest sites every 3 or 4 days and record what you see; and 4) report your information to NestWatch online.

To learn more about participating in NestWatch, and to learn more about how the information provided is utilized, we refer you directly to the NestWatch introduction page at https://nestwatch.org/about/overview/ then encourage you to progress to https://nestwatch.org/

Monitoring nesting birds can be a fascinating experience, and knowing your reports add to such a valuable citizen science project make your participation all the more important. If you choose to participate in NestWatch, enjoy your experiences as you expand your birding activities.

Share your birding experiences and photos at editorstbw2@gmail.com