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Home Page – Welcome to NestWatch! Monitoring nests is fun, easy, and rewarding!

Instructions – Getting Started 1, 2, 3... Click through the numbers below to begin your NestWatch participation

Step 1 – Create an account or Sign In with an existing account

Step 2 – Get Certified to Monitor Nests

Nest Monitor's Code of Conduct – Read through the Code of Conduct

Take A Quiz – Take a quiz on NestWatching to get certified

Step 3 – Look for an active nest

Learn About the Nesting Cycle of Birds

Finding a place to breed - Well before nestlings arrive, birds need to select a breeding territory...

Choosing a mate - While territories are being claimed, males and females also try to attract mates...

Nest Building - Nest provide a safe place for the eggs and young...

Copulation and egg formation - If all goes well, the sperm penetrate through the wall of the ovum (egg) and fertilization takes place...

Egg laying and incubation - The number of eggs a female lays in one nesting attempt (also known as clutch size) varies widely depending on the species....

Hatching - Learn the difference between altricial and precocial young.

Feeding and raising young - To keep up with demand, parents must supply food for themselves and their young...

Leaving the Nest - After leaving the nest, or fledging, the young birds typically remain close to parents for a short period of time...

Browse the NestWatch Focal Species

Review Nest Watching How Tos

Tips for finding nests – Patience and good observation skills will go a long way toward finding a nest. Once you find one, minimize disturbance to the nest site and surrounding area.

Observing Birds Behavioral Cues – If we listen and observe carefully, we can witness a variety of behavioral cues that birds use to communicate with one another during the breeding season.

How to Identify Birds’ Nests

How to Identify Birds’ Eggs

Step 4 – Monitor Nests & Collect Data

Step 5– Enter Your Data Online

Step 6 – Explore Data

Frequently Asked Questions

Account Information & System Requirements - Tips on logging on & off, creating an account, updating it and system requirements.

Data Entry and Data Retrieval - These questions are specific to entering data into the data entry application as well as viewing data on maps and exporting it to your computer.

Data Analysis (How are data used?) - How do we use the data to learn about the effects of climate and land-use changes on wild bird populations? What methods do we use for analysis?

General Questions about NestWatch - This database is part of a major new nest monitoring effort, that will be publicly launched in spring 2008. Stay tuned as the project develops!

Nest Boxes - Questions and answers specific to nest-box monitoring.

Nest monitoring - General questions dealing with scenarios that are commonly encountered during nest checks.

Predators and Nest Abandonment - Questions and answers helpful for dealing with nest predators.

Downloads - Useful Downloads

Protocol

Nest Watching How Tos

Get Certified

Nestwatch Resource Center

My Nests - Access to data entry (must be logged in)

Explore Data - Access to data retrieval

Focal Species - NestWatch collects data on ALL North American breeding birds. The NestWatch Focal species were chosen based on their tendency to nest near humans and across many different landscapes.

American Goldfinch - (Carduelis tristis)

American Kestrel - (Falco sparverius)

American Robin - (Turdus migratorius)

Barn Swallow - (Hirundo rustica)

Black-capped Chickadee - (Poecile atricapilla)

Blue Jay - (Cyanocitta cristata)

Carolina Chickadee - (Poecile carolinensis)

Eastern Bluebird - (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Phoebe - (Sayornis phoebe)

Gray Catbird - (Dumatella carolinensis)

House Finch - (Carpodacus mexicanus)

House Wren - (Troglodytes aedon)

Lesser Goldfinch - (Carduelis psaltria)

Mountain Bluebird - (Sialia currocoides)

Mourning Dove - (Zenaida macroura)

Northern Cardinal - (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Mockingbird - (Mimus polyglottos)

Red-winged Blackbird - (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Say's Phoebe - (Sayornis saya)

Song Sparrow - (Melospiza melodia)

Tree Swallow - (Tachycineta bicolor)

Violet-green Swallow - (Tachycineta thalassina)

Western Bluebird - (Sialia mexicana)

Western Scrub Jay - (Aphelocoma californica)

Behavioral Cues of Birds

All About Birds

Brown-headed Cowbirds

Community - NestWatch is a collaborative effort involving many institutions and thousands of citizen scientists interested in monitoring the success of nesting birds across North America. Won’t you join us?

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About NestWatch

National Science Foundation

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

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