Bird Studies Canada Launches Project NestWatch

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Finding a bird's nest is always exciting. It is even more thrilling to follow the nesting activity throughout the season, keeping an eye on the parents as they go about their daily activities of nest building, sitting on the eggs, and providing food for the hungry brood by making dozens of food-gathering trips daily.

But did you know that basic observations like these play an important role in bird conservation? Gathering long-term data on nesting birds provides valuable information, not only on the health of bird populations, but also on the state of the environment.

Many of you may be familiar with the story of how observations of nesting failure of Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons in the 1960s and 1970s across North America brought to light the serious environmental problems associated with pesticides such as DDT. Such observations led to the eventual banning of DDT in most areas, and the eventual recovery of these bird species and many others.

But there are many threats to our environment, ranging from chemical pollution of our lawns and gardens to global warming. Birds continue to be excellent early warning signals of these problems - and volunteer bird watchers remain the main source of information about many species. For example, recent analyses of nest records showed that many species of birds, including Tree Swallows, have been nesting earlier and earlier in the season. Is this a result of global warming? What effect will this have on other species? Are these birds nesting as successfully as they were before? Will all species be able to adapt equally well, or will some species start to disappear?

We need your observations to help us find answers and to provide appropriate guidance for bird conservation planning! To help you contribute, Bird Studies Canada (BSC), in partnership with the nest records schemes across Canada, is launching a new program, Project NestWatch. If you can find a bird's nest and observe it, you can participate!

NestWatchers Wanted

Whether you are a beginning birdwatcher or a professional ornithologist, we hope you will join us. All you have to do is find an active bird's nest (one that is under construction or contains eggs or young), make sure you identify the species correctly, and then carefully (so as not to disturb the birds) observe the nest and record details of its contents, preferably every few days until at least one young can fly or nesting efforts fail. Then go to the Project NestWatch web page (www.bsc-eoc.org/national/nestwatch.html) and follow the simple instructions to register and contribute your observations. Tools are available to help you find your location on a map and enter important information on the nest and habitat around it.

No fee is required for participating in this program. You can contribute data from as many nests as you like. Whether you observe a single nest right in your backyard or wander farther afield and follow many different species, we are interested in receiving your observations. Even a single observation can be useful.

Although data on all species is welcome, we are particularly keen to get observations on common species to ensure a big enough sample size for statistical analysis. We have chosen the American Robin as a special focus for the following reasons: the species occurs right across Canada; both the nests and the birds are easy to identify, so even beginning birders can participate; the nests are (usually!) fairly easy to find; and robins are fairly tolerant of people observing their nests (although you must always be careful not to disturb the birds too much). If you have robins in your yard, try to find their nest and join the project!

Through the Eyes of a Child

Are you a teacher, or do you know children interested in nature? If so, participating in Project NestWatch is a perfect opportunity to teach them more about birds, science, and the wonders of nature. You can help your students find a robin nesting in your schoolyard, or encourage the children to look for nests around their house. Then, help the children send in their data over the Internet. Their observations will become part of a national database and show up in summaries, graphs, and maps of the whole country!

History of Nest Records in Canada

Reporting nesting activity is nothing new: Canadian birdwatchers have been contributing to nest records schemes for over 40 years by sending in paper cards to their provincial or regional scheme. Today, nest records schemes exist in all parts of Canada. The largest schemes include the Maritimes with about 48,000 cards, Ontario with about 120,000 cards, and British Columbia with well over 200,000 cards. Species with the most nests reported (excluding colonial birds) include American Robin, Tree Swallow, and Eastern Bluebird. Efforts are under way to computerize all these historical cards, but this will take some time. Project NestWatch has been developed to complement these efforts. All data collected over the Internet will be made available to each regional scheme and added to the growing number of records. If you already contribute to nest records schemes, why not try entering your data through the Internet to make them more accessible in the future?

Nest record cards have traditionally been used for many different purposes, including documenting basic nesting biology (e.g., nesting habitat, nest-site selection, incubation period), estimating nesting success, and looking at changes in laying dates over time. Data from nest records in Canada have been incorporated into regional bird books and provided to a wide range of organizations, from government and professional ornithologists to radio stations and magazine writers. Project NestWatch will work toward making these data even more accessible for future purposes.

Ready, Set … NestWatch!
To find out more about Project NestWatch, simply go to BSC's web page: www.bsc-eoc.org/national/nestwatch.html. There you will find complete instructions, both in English and in French, on how to find nests, how to observe them without disturbing the birds, and what information to record, as well as a lot of nesting information on robins and other species you might find. Results of the project will be posted on this web page as they become available. We look forward to receiving your nest records. In the meantime, happy nest watching!

American Robin Data Sheet
American Robins arrive in Canada in early spring. Males show up first and establish a territory. Females follow a week or two later and courtship begins. The cup-shaped nest is made with dry grass held together by mud. Nests may be built in many different places, usually in trees and shrubs, but also commonly on ledges around buildings. Nests are usually situated 1.4 to 3.0 metres above ground and are often found in residential gardens, though robins often nest in deep forests. This species frequently reuses the same nest over successive years, and we'd love to gather information on just how commonly nest reuse occurs. The eggs (usually four) are light blue. Often, the best way to find a nest is by keeping an eye on adults as they carry nesting material or food for their young.

                                                                by Catherine Poussart and Charles M. Francis

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