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Photo © Keith Williams

May 2021 News


Mississippi Data Boost

This month we thank Kristina Mitchell of northern Mississippi for providing a bulk upload of 2020 data. The pandemic disrupted everything about life in 2020, but it did not stop her from getting outside and collecting data on 83 nests on behalf of Kirkwood National Golf Club. Kudos to Kristina for keeping the data going during a difficult time, and holding onto it until such time as it could be uploaded into NestWatch. There is no such thing as “too late” when it comes to getting your data submitted!


Gardening for Birds

Want to help more nesting birds be successful? Join experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon’s Plants for Birds on Tuesday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern for a discussion on how to choose native plants that will thrive, and get tips on creating gardens that meet the needs of birds. No matter how large or small your growing space, you’ll be inspired to put on your gardening gloves and get busy creating a bird-friendly environment. Register to attend this free event: http://bit.ly/GardeningForBirds


Will Brood X Boost Success?

In this month’s blog post, we explore a question posed by NestWatcher and Chapter Coordinator Chrisula Stone. She wanted to know if Brood X, one of the largest emergences of periodical cicadas in 17 years, would boost nesting birds. While we can’t know for sure what will happen, past emergences of periodical cicadas have indeed helped some populations of nesting birds. Read more on our blog, and tell us about your experiences with Brood X so far. We also invite you to submit your photos and videos of birds eating cicadas to our participant photo gallery!


Major Mobile App Update

Our mobile app for NestWatch data entry recently received a major upgrade. Some new features include “dark mode,” a high-contrast darkened color scheme that increases visibility outdoors; you can also switch to light mode if you prefer. Lifetime and annual stats are also available, letting you see how many nests, eggs, and fledglings you’ve tracked over the season and throughout the years. 

New options let you sort your nest list by nearness and by recently edited. You can also search for a specific nest by name. New design changes to the data entry form and map page increase stability and speed. 

Finally, and most importantly, if you think certain data points (especially photos) were not saved, look in the “Unsynced data” section of the app menu. If your signal is weak and data can’t be uploaded, the app will save data here and wait for you to reconnect to Wi-Fi. This greatly reduces the possibility of any lost data.

Please update the app if you haven’t already, and familiarize yourself with it before heading out into the field to collect data. We suggest you allow location tracking and notifications for optimal performance.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology