eNews December 2024

December 2024

December 2024

New Blog, Ancient Technique

This month on our blog, we’re sharing a nest box treatment technique that adds durability and beauty without the need for chemical treatments. With the help of NestWatcher David Alva, we went on a learning journey about the centuries-old Japanese technique of shou sugi ban to find out if it would be suitable for a birdhouse. This wood-charring method creates a weathered look that, as David reports, did not dissuade his target bird from coming in for an inspection. Take a look at this month’s blog post to learn more.

Welcoming Two New Chapters

In the last month, we’ve welcomed two new NestWatch Chapters: the Fort Washington State Park Cavity Nesting Program based in Pennsylvania, and our first chapter in Chile, Bosque Palqui!

Peter Burns heads our newest domestic chapter in Fort Washington, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. Peter hopes that their decade-long program’s new official status as a NestWatch Chapter will help their visibility and ability to recruit new volunteers for their trail of 64 boxes.

Bosque Palqui, based in Chiloé, Chile is headed by coordinator Paola López Contreras. Paola coordinates a conservation project in Quinchao Island, in southern Chile. They monitor birds such as the Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Southern House Wren, Chilean Swallow, and several owl species throughout the year. They hope that their chapter status will help them facilitate community outreach regarding their birds and NestWatch participation overall.

Welcome to both new chapters! If you’d like to connect with a NestWatch Chapter near you, check out our Chapter Map

Data Entry Reminder

It’s December, and you know what that means—time to get your data submitted to NestWatch! There is no cutoff deadline to enter your data; you can enter it into NestWatch.org or via our mobile app at any time (even if it’s years later!). However, if you’d like your data to be included when we compile our annual report and dataset update, we request that you submit your data by December 31.

Thank you for another wonderful year of NestWatching! Please note that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will be closed from Dec. 25–Jan. 1 for winter break. 

Newly Added Data

We’re pleased to report that we’ve uploaded a total of 959 records to the NestWatch database this month! These data additions are thanks to Clare Holden and Lee Pauser.

Clare submitted 136 records from the nest boxes at Nature Barrie located in Barrie, Ontario in Canada. Lee, a longtime contributor and title holder for most nests submitted in 2023, broke his record with a whopping 823 nest records. Lee and his volunteer team of monitors are based in Southern California, and submit data on American Barn Owls, American Kestrels, and other western nest box species.

Have more than 100 nest records that you’d like to add to our database? Read about our bulk upload option