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NestWatch Blog Posts

  • 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.