How Many Visits To A Nest Should I Make?

Fill out a card even if you only visit the nest once. Even small amounts of data can be valuable when taken from many cards. We encourage multiple visits to each nest during the course of the nesting cycle, because much more can be learned. Try to balance data collection with the need to minimize the frequency of disturbance to the nesting birds. Ideally, six to eight visits can be timed to include:

• A visit during the nest-building phase.

• A visit during egg-laying but before the clutch is complete. This allows us to determine when egg-laying started.

• At least two visits with the maximum number of eggs, young, or eggs + young. This shows that the clutch has been completed. The total clutch size, with the partial clutch date enables us to determine when egg-laying ended and incubation began.

• A visit during hatching or soon after with estimated age of young. This establishes the end of incubation, number of eggs that hatched, and age of nestlings.

• A visit near the end of the nestling period. This is to establish nestling survivorship.

• A visit to determine when and how nest-use was terminated. This is to try to establish nest success, length of nestling period and number of fledglings, or cause and timing of failure.

That's the ideal. In reality, people find nests at all stages, are unable to revisit, or can't determine the contents. Nesting can end at any stage for a variety of reasons and the clues can be difficult to interpret. That's okay. Do your best, write down clues, and send in the card, regardless of whether the nest fails or whether you can determine its fate. We try to learn why nests fail as well as why they succeed.

How to Nest Find: A Guide

How do I visit a nest?

When should I fill out a card?

What should I do if I find a rare or endangered bird?

Resources/Bibliography

Nest-record card instructions

Nest-record Card (online form)

2001 Nest-record Program Report

Download a nestcard (Microsoft Word document)

Vermont Nest Records Home