Blog

Our Nest Quest Go! project is bringing the Lab’s historic nest record cards out of the filing cabinet and into the digital era. While digitizing bird nesting data is our primary goal, we also want to highlight the stories of remarkable people like Daniel Smiley, a fellow birder, naturalist, and prolific citizen scientist.

Our Nest Quest Go! project is bringing the Lab’s historic nest record cards out of the filing cabinet and into the digital era. While digitizing bird nesting data is our primary goal, we also want to highlight the stories of remarkable people like Larry Walkinshaw, a fellow birder, conservationist, and prolific citizen scientist.

Our Nest Quest Go! project is bringing the Lab’s historic nest record cards out of the filing cabinet and into the digital era. While digitizing bird nesting data is our primary goal, we also want to highlight the stories of remarkable people like Vivian Pitzrick, a fellow birder, trailblazer, and prolific citizen scientist.

Researchers from the University of California, Davis recently investigated how heat waves impact the nesting success of numerous generalist bird species. They found that forests buffered nesting birds from the effects of extreme heat, whereas nests in open agricultural landscapes suffered a decline in survival. They offer tips for helping birds cope with climate change.

If you monitor bird nests, you’re probably pretty familiar with mites. Join us as we explore the different kinds of mites that inhabit birds and their nests, and discover how birds have evolved to fight back.

We love to play “Guess whose nest?” and answer your burning nest questions. Sometimes, however, this takes a detour into non-avian species. Here are our top five participant finds.

A study spanning a century of House Finch data suggests that as California’s springs get warmer, the birds are laying eggs earlier in the season. Read on to learn how researchers used our nest records to uncover the historic lives of House Finches.

Do cavity-nesting birds prefer to reuse nests, or do they like a fresh start? The answer is not clear-cut, and a lot depends on the species and the geographic location.

American Dippers in southwestern Colorado are at risk from water pollution, wildfire, climate change, and microplastics. Concerned community members rallied to form The American Dipper Project, a nest monitoring effort to help the birds recover.