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NestWatch Blog Posts

  • A female Tree Swallow perches at a tree hole nest entrance, in which 3 young can be seen begging for food.
    Chasing a Moving Target: When insects accelerate, birds must try to keep pace

    You’ve heard of getting your “omega-3s”, but did you know that birds need them too? According to new research utilizing NestWatch data, insect-eating birds may struggle to get their omega-3s under climate change. Read about how nutritional peaks (i.e., insect emergences) are changing in this new research summary.

  • a tree swallow adult alighting on a nest structure, feeding a nestling that is reaching out of the entrance hole.
    Buckeye Birds Track Temperature And Precipitation

    A new study based on Ohio’s bluebirds and Tree Swallows sheds light on how future climate scenarios might impact nesting birds. It also takes a look at how birds might help mitigate crop pests in Ohio.

  • Bluebirds And Fall Foliage Have Something In Common

    What do bluebirds and fall foliage have in common? It turns out, quite a lot! Our guest student blogger uses her artist’s eye to spot surprising similarities in nature that might otherwise go unnoticed.

  • a close-up view of yarrow buds about to bloom.
    Avian Apothecaries

    Not only do humans self-medicate with aromatic herbs such as lavender, mint, and sage—it turns out that birds also utilize pungent plants in their nests.

  • An infrared image of a mourning dove sitting on a nest in a potted plant at night.
    Anthropogenic Light and Noise Pollution Affects Nesting Birds

    In one of the most comprehensive studies on the effects of noise and light pollution on nesting birds published to date, researchers find a variety of detrimental impacts to reproduction. Data collected by NestWatchers across the country, combined with maps of noise and light pollution, show heterogeneous effects on nesting success, clutch size, hatching failure, and timing of nesting.

  • a carolina wren perched on a flat surface with a harvestman spider in its beak.
    Along Came a Spider

    Spiders can be shriek-inducing for some people; however, birds benefit from these eight-legged creatures in many ways including as a food source, using their webs for nesting material, and adding spider eggs to the nest for pest control.

  • illustration of a bluebird that is not allowing a chickadee to nest in a paired box with a large entrance hole juxtaposed against another illustration where the bluebird is not competing for the second nest box, this time with a smaller entrance hole.
    A Tale of Two Boxes: When Pairing Doesn’t Promote Peace

    Can pairing nest boxes to reduce competition have a downside? Researchers at Davidson College say yes, and that if you’d like to help out the smaller bird species in your area, it’s all about entrance hole size.

  • A Pulley System for Large Nest Boxes

    For anyone struggling with how to clean and maintain a large nest box mounted on a tall pole, consider installing a pulley system to raise and lower your nest box. Within this post is a link to a design for building a low-cost pulley system.