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FIND
OUT WHAT ELSE
IS
IN YOUR BIRD NESTS!
SEND
IN YOUR USED NESTS TO:
Dr. Terry Whitworth
2533
Inter Ave.
Puyallup,Wa 98372
E-mail: wpctwbug@aol.com Web Site: http://birdblowfly.com
Temperature Incubation Study Needs YOU!
**Check with Cornell to see if this goes on every year.
YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE..............
The Birdhouse Network (TBN)
is looking for volunteers to help in a study of incubation temperatures of Eastern, Western, and Mountain Bluebirds.
The study utilizes dime-sized temperature recorders (data loggers) that were purchased with help from NABS. The data
loggers permit researchers to infer incubation rhythms based on temperatures fluctuations in the nest cup. This is a
fun and interesting study and, by participating, you will discover the temperatures in your nest boxes! Participation
does require a level of comfort in using a computer, but past participants have quickly learned how to use the data loggers
with ease. Past participants are encouraged to sign up again!
As in previous years, volunteers use two data loggers
per box - one to measure nest box temperatures while the other simultaneously measures nest cup temperature
during egg-laying and incubation. To learn more about the theories guiding the study, visit <www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse> and click on Eastern Bluebird Incubation Rhythms. You can also visit <www.birds.cornell.edu/publications/birdscope/Summer2002/Rhythm_Bluebirds.html> to learn about the types of information the data loggers provide.
MINIMUM
REQUIREMENT FOR PARTICIPATION
*Participants must become members of TBN (Membership is discounted to $12 for members of
any bluebird society and includes an annual subscription to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's quarterly publication Birdscope,
a welcome packet, and access to online data entry, storage, and summaries).
*Participants must be committed to keeping
accurate records and entering their nest-box observations via TBN's online data entry site.
*Participants must have
access to a computer running Windows in order to program and download data from the data loggers.
*Participants must
have access to e-mail in order to send temperature data to Cornell.
*Participants must monitor some boxes that generally
have bluebirds.
*Participants must monitor some boxes (with bluebirds) closely enough to estimate first egg date,
determine clutch size, estimate hatch date, estimate whether all eggs hatched on same day or not, and determine the number
of unhatched eggs. We recommend that boxes be monitored about every four days.
If you would like to participate, please
email Marilyn Moskel (mlm47@cornell.edu) to join TBN and be sure to indicate that you would like to register for the Incubation
Study. Once the breeding season gets underway in your area, we will send detailed instructions that will guide you through
the use of data loggers, along with the necessary equipment, and data collection cards.
If you are interested, contact
TBN now!
Marilyn L. Moskal
email: mlm47@cornell.edu
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca,
NY 14850
Website: www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse
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