The Birdhouse Network (TBN) (Part 1)

Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 09:47:10 -0400
From: Tina Phillips cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Sept. 30 Deadline Approaching!

I just wanted to remind Birdhouse Network members that the early bird deadline for data entry is September 30th. The database will remain open after this date until the end of 2002, but we would like to conduct a preliminary analysis on nesting failure, as many of you have described higher than average hatch failure and nestling mortality in 2002.

Since TBN first began collecting data over the web, each year has produced more data than the previous year. Let's continue this upward trend and beat last year's totals. We currently have about half as much data in the database as we did at the end of last year, so there is still plenty of time. Thus far, however, only about 25% of members have entered data, comprising nearly 4,000 nest boxes and 3,000 nest attempts. Imagine how much more data we could acquire if everyone submitted their valuable nest box data!

If you are having trouble accessing the site or entering your data, contact us so we can help you.

Please ensure your nest-box monitoring efforts during nesting season reach their full potential by entering and sharing your data with us! Thanks again for all your hard work and valuable contributions to science and the birds!

Sincerely,

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)254-2482
cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Join TBN at: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse

Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 21:23:09 -0400
From: Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net
Subject: Your data important!!

Haleya Priest Amherst MA
Tomorrow is the early-bird deadline of getting your monitoring data in to Cornell's Nestbox Network. Your information is vital to the understanding of our cavity nesters. Please consider taking the time and effort to enter your data. It is really quite easy! :-) H
Haleya Priest  mablue"at"gis.net...

Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 20:53:52 -0500
From: Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net
Subject: My final tally for the year

Haleya Priest Amherst MA
I JUST completed my data entry for the year and wow my #'s are awful!! Of 222 EABL eggs laid this year, 175 hatched, and ONLY 75 made it to fledge!!!!! (I lost 147 eggs/nestlings) Last year I had
152 eggs, and 127 made it to fledging (I lost 25 eggs/nestlings)!!My TRES #'s were also down - altho the bad weather didn't directly affect them. I fledged about 98 or so last year and this
year I fledged 53.

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 08:37:57 -0800
From: Linda Violett lviolett"at"earthlink.net
Subject: 2002 Trail Data

Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif.

A few days ago, Haleya reported a dismal year from her trail with approx. 42% of the hatchlings surviving to fledge. It would be well worth the time for everyone to record their trail results on line to Cornell's TBN: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/data_gateway/index.html 

The cutoff date for submitting data is Dec. 20.

You can submit yearly data to both NABS and/or Cornell. But extensive trails are time-consuming to input and I prefer to record my results through Cornell because they allow anyone to access and compare various data. When Haleya reported her poor trail results, I went to Cornell's site (above link) and clicked on TBN-Query to look at Haleya's state (MA) results on a year-to-year basis. And other states in the east showed a significant "Average Fledge" drop during 2002: http://entry.birdsource.org/BirdhouseDataEntry/query.html

Here on the West Coast, California's newsletter featured an article entitled "Strange deaths, heat waves trouble monitors" and it will be interesting to see if there is an overall nationwide drop in 2002 Avg. Fledges after all data is collected.

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 11:35:40 -0500
From: Tina Phillips cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Subject: TBN End of Ear Update

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
December 19, 2002

DATA ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED
Birdhouse Network staff are feverishly entering paper data sent to us by participants. Unfortunately, we will not be able to enter all the paper data we have received by the December 20th deadline, so the database will remain open until we finish entering the data. For participants, this means that if you haven't entered your nest box data yet, you still have time! So far, 7637 Nestboxes and 7219 Nest Attempts have been entered for 2002. Are your observations included in these numbers? http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/data_gateway/index.html 

TREE SWALLOW ANALYSIS
Keep an eye out for the winter issue of Birdscope, where we report the results of the 2002 nesting season for Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds across different regions. Using data submitted over the past six years, we compared nesting success in 2002 to the previous five years and found statistically significant differences between the two time periods and between different regions of North America. How did Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds fare in your region? Read the article to find out!

NEST BOX CAM DONATIONS NEAR $2,000
We have recently begun a fundraising campaign to acquire additional funding for the 2003 Nestbox Cams. People who donate $20 or more receive a beautiful 15-minute video entitled "Bluebirds Inside the Nestbox". This video displays footage from our 1999 Bluebird Nestbox Cam and takes viewers through nest building, incubation, rearing young, and fledging. So far, we have received over $1,800! Thank you to everyone who has donated money—we truly appreciate your support. We hope you enjoy the video and encourage you to show the video to others - especially children! http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/helpsupport.html

HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

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The Birdhouse Network Staff
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)254-2416
Join TBN at: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse
e-mail: birdhouse"at"cornell.edu
Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)254-2482
cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Join TBN at: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse

From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com
Subject: Cornell Data extension
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 08:52:58 -0600

For those of you wanting to add to Cornell's data collection following is the direct page link. To take advantage of their mapping program is nice to have your own GPS unit to speed entering up IF you have a LOT of nestboxes. There are self contained, hand held units and I am using a Delorme unit that plugs into a laptop and can utilize their map programs to give current speed and elevation and place you or your car on a street map in real time.....There are mapping programs for laptops that will also allow you to mark and number ALL of your nestboxes right on a map that are compatible with certain GPS units. Tell Santa what you REALLY want!

http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/data_gateway/index.html

Here is the direct link to Cornell's web page showing that they are extending the data entry until Feb. 2003 for this year.

This is a really great deal on the data extension time frame because you can now enter your data from 2002 AND 2003 for just $12....

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 09:16:35 -0500
From: Haleya Priest mablue"at"gis.net
Subject: GPS

Haleya Priest Amherst MA
Just to let folks know that Santa loves giving GPS's when asked, but it is not actually necessary to have one to enter data with Cornell anymore. All you need is your zipcode if you don't have a GPS or can't get on to Topo.com.... :-) H

Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 14:05:51 -0500
From: Tina Phillips cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Two invitations

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
March 3, 2003

Please read the two exciting invitations regarding an expanded bluebird incubation study and student submissions to Classroom Birdscope.

SIGN-UP TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2003 STUDY OF BLUEBIRD INCUBATION RHYTHMS AND TEMPERATURES!
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, sponsored by NABS, that permit researchers to infer incubation rhythms based on temperatures
fluctuations in the nest cup.

Last year, volunteers used these data loggers for two purposes. One was to measure nest box temperatures throughout the entire Eastern Bluebird breeding season in boxes facing different directions. We will report the results of this orientation study soon! The other purpose was to measure changes in nest cup temperature during Eastern Bluebird incubation in order to infer incubation patterns. To learn more visit www.birds.cornell.edu/publications/birdscope/Summer2002/Rhythm_Bluebirds.html,  or www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/news/temp_pilot.html. This year, we are expanding this portion of the study to include all three bluebird species and more locations. We also are trying to obtain more temperature
recordings during the transition from laying to incubation.

WHAT'S INVOLVED?
Once the breeding season begins, confirmed participants of the Incubation Study can contact TBN as soon as they observe nest building by bluebirds anytime throughout the season (e.g., first, second, third attempts). Then, we send pairs of data loggers that are programmed to record (and store in memory) the date, time, and temperature every few minutes. We will send data logger via UPS 2-day delivery so they are received before the bluebird female has completed her clutch. One data logger attaches in the nest cup and one attaches to the nest box. After the eggs hatch, both data loggers are removed and returned to TBN. We download the data and prepare the data loggers for another nest attempt. We will send detailed instructions, attachment equipment, and a small data card with data loggers, as well as a posted, addressed envelope for participants to return the data loggers and data card to us. Volunteers will need to monitor nest attempts closely enough to record information such as estimated first egg date, clutch size, estimated hatch date, whether all eggs hatched on same day or not, and the number of unhatched eggs.

If you expect to monitor any bluebirds this year and would like to participate, please email Marilyn Moskel (mlm47"at"cornell.edu) to join TBN, and be sure to indicate that you would like to register for the Incubation Study. We have a limited number of data loggers, so participation will be on a first come, first serve basis. Please note, in order to participate in this study, nest-box monitors must join TBN (Membership is discounted to $12 for NABS members 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). We also ask that participants be committed to keeping accurate records and entering their nest-box observations via TBN's online data entry site.

If you are interested, contact TBN now!
Marily Moskal
email: mlm47"at"cornell.edu
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca, NY 14850
Website: www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse

******************************************
FOR TEACHERS AND CHILDREN USING THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK:
Every year the Lab of Ornithology publishes Classroom Birdscope, a magazine that features a variety of works from children of all grade levels participating in Classroom FeederWatch (www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw). Works include scientific reports, ezzzys, poetry, art, and photographs, all
related to birds. This year, we invite students from any of our citizen-science projects, including The Birdhouse Network, to submit some of their works to us. To do so, please send them to

Birdscope Submissions
C/o Classroom FeederWatch
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

Material may also be submitted electronically to classroomfw"at"cornell.edu. Deadline for submissions is March 31.

Guidelines can be found at:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw/classroom/teaching_cfw/cbsguidelines.html 

Examples of submitted material can be found at
http://birds.cornell.edu/classroombs/index.html 

Submitted materials may also be featured on our web pages.

For additional information, please e-mail classroomfw"at"cornell.edu.

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 12:53:57 -0400
To: bluebird-l"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L)
From: Tina Phillips cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Subject: TBN Spring 2003 Update

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
April 15, 2003

NEST BOX CAMS
The Nestbox Cams are up and running! So far this season we have
footage
of an Eastern Bluebird pair with five young that just hatched today in
Kentucky; the beginnings of a Western Bluebird nest in our box in
Oregon; chickadees (we think Carolina Chickadees) checking out the North
Carolina box; and our first-ever live "Ospey-Cam" in Kentucky. Be sure to
peek in at the Nest-Box Cam pages at:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam and click on the "view
current archive" links to follow along with the stories as they unfold.

WELCOME PACKETS
The 2003 Welcome Packets are going out in the mail this week, and will
be
arriving in your mailbox by next week, if not sooner. Again, please accept
our apologies for the late delivery of the kits; the move into the new
building has put us a bit behind schedule.

DATA ENTRY
As of now, the Data Gateway section is still closed as we continue our
routine maintenance schedule. We plan on having it re-open by the end of
next week for 2003 data submissions. You will notice that the online forms
for the new studies (see below) are not available yet but we have provided
paper forms in the Welcome Packet that you can use to record your data
until the online forms are ready.

NEW STUDIES FOR 2003
Two new optional studies you can participate in this season are the
"Nest-Box Competitor Study" and the "Food Supplement Study". As the title
suggests, the Nest-Box Competitor Study looks at the problem of
"unintended" species that may inhabit nest boxes, including wasps, House
Sparrows and European Starlings. Participants will collect data on
competitor species, what type (if any) intervention was used and the final
outcome.

Do you provide food such as mealworms or suet for your cavity-nesters?
Consider taking part in the Food Supplement Study by entering information
on the type of food you offer and when. The information you provide will
help answer the question of whether feeding breeding birds influences
nesting success.

We are still collecting data on the relationship between pesticide use
and
nesting success (Pesticide Study is now found under Optional Studies in
the data entry site). If you have not participated in this optional study
in the past, please consider doing so - the more data we collect, the more
we will be able to learn.

Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 16:59:49 -0400
To: bluebird-l"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L)
From: Marilyn Moskal mlm47"at"cornell.edu
Subject: The Birdhouse Network data entry now open

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK NEWS
MAY 1, 2003

DATA ENTRY NOW OPEN!
The Data Gateway is now open for you to start entering your 2003 nesting records. Quick instructions for entering data can be found on the "Inside the Birdhouse" insert that you will have received in your Welcome Kit and on the TBN website. To access the website instructions, click the "Data Gateway" button on the TBN homepage http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse, and then on the "step-by-step instructions" link. Instructions for both new and return users can be found at this web link and on the "Inside the Birdhouse" insert.

Although you can wait until the end of the season to enter all of your data at once, entering your data throughout the season will allow us (and you) to analyze the results as they come in. To get an early-bird view of how the season is progressing, just click on the "News and Results" button from the TBN homepage and then the "Query TBN Data" link.

NEST BOX CAMS
If you aren't already hooked on the TBN Nestbox Cams, you will be once you take a look. At the moment we have a Western Bluebird pair, an Eastern Bluebird pair, two pairs of Carolina Chickadees and will soon be showing our first-ever Prothonotary Warbler family! So far, there has been no
activity at the Osprey platform in Kentucky, but we remain hopeful - who could resist such an ideal nesting site? To check out the action, click on the "Nestbox Cam" link on the TBN homepage.

We hope you are as excited about the 2003 nesting season as we are. Happy Birding!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Join TBN at: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse 

From: "ke4fej1" ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com
Subject: BB Networking Today...All Day Today--------------
Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 21:28:50 -0400

... Today I worked on entering to The Birdhouse Network for Cornell. I just finished putting in the last of my 166 boxes. All I did today was enter the Box Number and the Zip Code only. The Zip Code is used for the Latitude and Longitude. Someday I might change it to a closer approximate stat, but for now I need to just get them in to work with.

The Birdhouse Network asks then that you fill in a page of what type of box, predator guard, which way it faces and a few other items. Then there is a page for Nesting Attempts which has many many simple questions about the nest, egg color, babies, deaths and fledglings.

But all I did today was the number and the zip, and I really have to tell you that it took ...about 8 hours...to do today! So as you can see above I have a lot of other information to still input, and many hours ahead of me.

Hope you all have joined the Network and adding your boxes to the list. Once the information is interred it is very simple to add or change information, so don't fear using the computer to give this information.

We are still holding at 30 Trails with a couple of possible new Monitors in our future. But I am trying to catch up by getting at least two whole Trail setups made. Then I have a project to redo 33 PVC BB and other boxes for the Waterlefe Golf Course. Right now the PVC boxes have paper thin tops, and bottoms, which are tied down, and are too large inside.

Our builder Jim Ford, of Bradenton who is close to 90 yr. young, built 8 Owl boxes and 4 Woodpecker boxes. I have already given Waterlefe Golf Course, 5 Owl and 4 Woodpecker boxes to match some of those PVC boxes. Since they had 33 PVC boxes, I hope to also be able to give them 33 wood boxes of the same type. At the moment we don't know what those boxes attracted in the past 3 yr.. They never looked. We then with the tweaked up PVC and the wood boxes will follow what they like best. Waterlefe has just been wonderful in helping in our Project, and in letting us help them. Note: By a bit of creative thinking I have covered all expenses for my Trail and all 33 PVC without a cent coming from them. It is amazing what a couple of Golf passes will get ya.

Our BBs are still at it, seems slow but just these past two weeks we had 4 new nests and eggs starting. I think soon we will be just short of 100 eggs. Of those eggs 16 were bad, and we have had NO sign of any predators moving in. None of our Trails have had a HOSP show up. But there are only possible 4 out of 30 Trails that even have HOSP around them. I feel very very lucky. But I purposely went looking for Trail land where there were no HOSP, and those Trails which could be affected only have a Trail there if the Monitor is well aware of what needs to be done. Thankfully learningabout the BBs now is enough. I feel very bad to hear all that others are having to deal with on their Trails. I am sure we will be faced with those problems someday.

With some Trails not having any nest attempts, we are trying to do things different for the second brooding time. So some Monitors moved boxes to match habitat areas,which I had seen used at other Trails, such as having a pine tree close by where parents seem to like to sit on high branches and look down upon the nest. Also facing the hole to the EAST has made a couple of nests appear within days. East something was good but facing East is making a difference. Why not try different things.

I know I hear of all the bad weather and the cold many of you still have, but it is so terribly hot down here it stings, and that is even when I am working inside the garage, going out in the sun or driving in the day is miserable. Since I started this Project I have lost around 13 lbs. and most days I feel I am turning into a puddle. I am seriously thinking of putting boxes together inside the house now. But otherwise not getting into trouble. And besides a little heat stoke no other boo boos, and my finger almost has all it's feeling in it again, where I hit it a month or so ago.

Now I am into the paper work, which is most important. I find out of my 29 Monitors I only have one Trail I do not get good reports from, but mostly because they have lots of BBs ...having too much fun. And another Trail which I know does not have or had any birds but is doing their paper report. Otherwise only a Monitor here or there goes on vacation etc and does not have a report. And those with BBs can't stay away from their boxes.

I do read all that is going on and do think of you all. Well I have not moved from this chair in 6 hours and although I would like to think I could eat like a bird ...I don't .... I'm hungry! (...by the way don't birds eat their weight everyday or something...they don't eat light ! )

Christy Sarasota, FL
"Not Bluebirdless or Paperworkless in Sarasota"
Web Site http://ke4fej1.tripod.com/ 

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:12:25 -0400
From: Tina Phillips cbp6"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Missing swallows

About a month ago, I received a handful of e-mails from people in the Northeast wondering where the swallows were. At the time, I blamed their lack of appearance on the cold spring weather we encountered in April and May. Some of you may recall that last year we noticed high TRES nesting failure as a result of cold spring weather as well. This year, nest box monitors are noticing an absence of swallows from their usual breeding grounds. To a lesser degree, I have heard similar concerns about bluebirds.

I am wondering, if people on this list have experienced anything similar. Please fell free to write me and let me know if your TRES or EABL's appear in lesser or greater numbers this year. However, while the anecdotal information is interesting, we need real data in order to study these types of phenomenon. At the end of the breeding season we will analyze the data as we do each year and see if 2003 had lower than average TRES and EABL box occupancy rates. If you monitor nest boxes, please consider entering your valuable observations in The Birdhouse Network's database. For information on joining TBN, please visit the web site at http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse. 

Thanks in advance

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)254-2482
cbp6"at"cornell.edu
http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse 

From: "Snoopy" snoopy"at"wmis.net
Subject: Re: Missing swallows
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:57:22 -0400

Tina,
we have a LOT less EABL this year.... I only have one box of EABL and last year I had 4. I have 2 boxes nesting TRES and last year there were 3 so there is a little less, but not as much difference as the EABL.

It was a very strange spring, I had EABL still here in January, but then gone and didn't return until late April. Didn't start nesting until late May.

I had 5 EABL fledge a few weeks ago.
The EABL pair still has the same box, and won't let the TRES take it over as they usually did every year, (after they fledged one lot they'd move to a different box and let the TRES have that one!) but no new eggs as of yesterday....

Joy in Michigan P ...

From: khussie"at"localnet.com
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 12:55:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Missing swallows

I have more swallows nesting this year, and I had my first bluebird "appearance" on the trail this year. That said, I have found 2 dead swallows this year (none last year), and the nesting has been MUCH slower. Also have at least twice as many sparrows this year.

K Hussie Philly...

Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 17:12:47 -0500
Subject: send in your data!
From: "Haleya Priest" Haleya Priest Amherst MA

I think there are about 6 more days before it is too late to send in your bluebird/cavity nester data to Cornell's TBN. Initially, it takes time to enter your foundational data (box style, location, etc), but once you do, all you have to enter is the information on your current nest box report forms. Please consider taking the time to enter your data. Cornell uses our nest box data for scientific research. Without us they wouldn't have the information they need to study our bluebirds and cavity nesters. Can someone remind me when the TBT information is due? :-) H

From: Jim McLochlin, bluebirdbox"at"cox.net
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 2:18 PM
Subject: RE: send in your data!

Haleya, The TBT never has a due date. It is open year round. In fact you can enter/update your year end trail results back to 2000. In the very near future (probably mid January) I will take the TBT database offline for some maintenance. I have a few programming issues that need to be resolved. I don't know of any that impact entering data, but the summary information displays do have problems. I am guessing the TBT will be unavailable for no more than two weeks during that period. In other words enter/update your trail data anytime you like. This is open only to NABS members and NABS affiliates. Although viewing limited data about trails is open to the general public.

Jim McLochlin Omaha, NE 41.279N -96.060W NABS Director, TBT Chairperson, and NABS Web Site Chairperson ...

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
SEPTEMBER 14, 2004

GREETINGS!
Although Tina Phillips, Project Leader for The Birdhouse Network, already introduced me in her last e-mail to you, I also wanted to say hello to you myself. I have spoken with some of you on the phone, and have heard from more of you via letters and e-mail, and I feel fortunate to be working with such a dedicated, interesting, and friendly crowd of bird people. I could not be happier to be here working with you each afternoon, and I am looking forward to getting to know more of you in the coming months.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU; WE HAVE HIT THE 5,000 NEST BOX MARK!
Thus far, about 250 participants have entered data on nearly 5,400 nest boxes and 3,900 nest attempts for the 2004 season. We encourage you to submit your data by the September 30th early bird deadline as we are eager to share with you the story your data tells us! We appreciate the considerable time and effort you have expended in monitoring your nest boxes this season. Please help us quantify this amazing, collective effort by TBN participants. We won't be able to say anything conclusive about the successes and failures of the cavity-nesting birds you have watched all summer until you have submitted your data. If online entry is too confusing or problematic, we will accept paper data as long as you use our Nest Box and Nest Attempt worksheets which can be downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/getting_started/fieldwksht.html Thank you in advance for your wonderful contributions to science and the birds!

DEDICATION OF PARTICIPANTS
I have been continually impressed with the dedication of TBN participants and by the interesting questions anecdotes that some of you have shared. Uploading some of your wonderful photos is one of the things at the top of my list of priorities. It is very unfortunate that we will not be able to upload them all, due to limited space on the web site. We thank you, though, for sending in each and every photo and encourage you to continue to submit them.

"BIRD" HOUSEKEEPING
If you change e-mail accounts, pease make sure to update your e-mail address with us via your online profile. This can be done easily in the "Preferences, Logout, Help" section inside Data Entry; look for the link that says "Update User Information". And finally, please consider renewing your membership for next year while this season is still fresh in your mind. The more people that renew before we send out renewal cards, the fewer cards we need to print and mail. You may renew using one of three methods:

1) over the web on our secure server: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/signup.html
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) by phone: 800-843-2473
Be sure to indicate that you are RENEWING your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID NUMBER.

3) by mail: Print out this e-mail Message, and fill in the form at the bottom. Send the form, along with your check, to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.

Thank you for participating and supporting The Birdhouse Network!

Enjoy!
The Birdhouse Network staff
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6 "at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 4:54 PM
Subject: TBN End of Year News

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
November 23, 2004

WATCH YOUR MAIL FOR THE "END OF SEASON" NEWSLETTER
Keep an eye out for the latest newsletter with a preliminary analysis of your 2004 data. Other highlights in the newsletter include a summary of the posters and presentations that were given using TBN data both in the U.S. and abroad, and a short-list of newspapers that disseminated the 2004 press release. Your data on unhatched eggs were analyzed and summarized, as that topic surfaced on both Bluebird-L and Nestbox-L over the summer. In the piece entitled "How many birds are there?", we present population estimates of North American cavity-nesting land birds thanks to the recently-published "North American Landbird Conservation Plan". Last, we included a few interesting stories and photos submitted by participants from the 2004 nesting season in "Notes from the field". 

Also enclosed is a BirdNotes from Sapsucker Woods entitled "Winter Bird Feeding", full of useful tips on how best to provide food for your backyard birds over the next few months. You'll also see a green card to renew your TBN membership for 2005. Please renew for next year if you have not already done so!

WE THANK ALL PARTICIPANTS FOR SUBMITTING DATA ON OVER 8,000 NEST ATTEMPTS
We will continue to accept data from the 2004 nesting season through the end of the year, so there is still plenty of time to enter your data! Our highest number of nest attempts to date was in 2002 when TBN participants collected and recorded data on 8,300 nest attempts. We are hoping to top that number this year, and can that only with your help!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOST RECENT "PARTICIPANT PHOTO OF THE WEEK"?
Robert Vedaa of Slippery Rock, PA, sent us an amazing chronology of nest-box images of four American Kestrels. He constructed a nest box in the side of his barn, attached a camera, and was able to get great pictures and video footage from egg laying through fledging! We made a difficult decision to choose this single photo of his to feature this week. We will continue to post new participant photos throughout the winter, so keep checking back. If you're looking for a good winter project, why not gather together some pictures you've been meaning to send? To submit photos, you may mail them to the attention of Megan Whitman at the address below, or you may email them to birdhouse "at"cornell.edu.

We hope that you have had a nice autumn, and we wish you the best this winter.

Thank you for supporting The Birdhouse Network!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6 "at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 3:09 PM
Subject: Holiday Greetings from TBN

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
December 17, 2004

NEW RECORD SET FOR NEST BOXES REPORTED TO TBN
Participants submit data for 2004 nesting season that total almost 8400 nest boxes, the highest number of boxes that TBN has ever collected in a single nesting season!  Thanks to each and every one of you for your participation and support in helping us reach this new record!  The database remains open for you to enter your 2004 data.  We encourage anyone who would like to enter data for 2004 to do so by January 7th. Please remember to renew your TBN participation for 2005 if you have not already done so. A renewal form is found at the bottom of this note.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOST RECENT PHOTO OF THE WEEK?
Have you ever wondered about where the birds you monitor go each year, and how they get to their destination?  Jessica Dezendorf of North Lichfield, SC, sent us two photos of a migratory flock of swallows that pass through her yard that is two blocks from the ocean.  They stay for only one day, flocking to her bayberry bush, and this year that day was October 23.  These photos impressed upon us the importance of providing habitat that birds can utilize, not only during the nesting season but throughout the year as well.  Thank you, Jessica, for your wonderful pictures!  To submit photos, you may mail them to the attention of Megan Whitman at the address below, or you may email them to birdhouse "at"cornell.edu.
LIST SERVE TEMPORARY SHUTDOWN
Please note, we will be shutting down the Bluebird-L and Nestobx-L list serves from December 24th through January 2nd. Lab staff will be out of the office during this time and Cornell University requests that list serves be shut down if they are not being moderated during the holiday break. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Happy holidays to all!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 9:39 AM
Subject: TBN News Update

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
February 2, 2005

SECOND RENEWAL MAILING TO GO OUT SHORTLY...
Save yourself the wait by renewing online from our home page (<http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/index.html>) or with the renewal form below, and help us conserve resources at the same time! Thanks to everyone who has already renewed their membership with TBN.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!
Thanks to your hard work and dedication, we have data on over 9,000 nest boxes for 2004!!! Data on nest attempts is not far behind at just over 8,900!!! These numbers shatter our previous all time high records from the 2002 data entry season. We thank all of you for your effort in helping us collect vital data on cavity-nesting birds. You might wonder what happens to the data once it's collected?

TBN DATA USED IN EIGHT PUBLICATIONS SINCE 2002
The data you collect has been put to very good use: in the last three calendar years, TBN data has been used in EIGHT publications in peer-reviewed journals and books. Please refer to the list below or to our web site. Additionally there are three more papers currently in review, and TBN has authored 37 BirdScope articles since 1997. Great work everyone, and more to come in the future! (<http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/news/publications.html>):

Cooper, C., W.M. Hochachka, and A.A. Dhondt. 2005. Latitudinal trends in within-year reoccupation of nest boxes and their implications. Journal of Avian Biology. 36:31-39.
Cooper, C., W.M. Hochachka, and G. Butcher and A.A. Dhondt. Egg viability as a constraint on seasonal and latitudinal trends in clutch size. Ecology. In press.
Winkler, D. W. How do migration and dispersal interact? In (R. Greenberg and P. Marra, eds.) Birds of Two Worlds: The ecology and evolution of migratory birds. Johns Hopkins University Press. In press.
Brozzzrd, D., Lewenstein, B., and Bonney, R. Scientific Knowledge and Attitude Change: The Impact of a Citizen Science Project. International Journal of Science Education. In press.
Winkler, D. W., P. H. Wrege, P. E. Allen, T. L. Kast, P. Senesac, M. F. Wasson, P. E. Llambías, and V. Ferretti, and P. J. Sullivan. 2004. Breeding dispersal and philopatry in the Tree Swallow. Condor 106768-776.
Whitworth, T. 2003. A New Species of North American Protocalliphora Hough (Diptera Calliphoridae) From Bird Nests. Proceedings from the Entomological Society of Washington. 105 (3) 664-673.
Whitworth, T. 2003. A key to the Puparia of 27 species of North American Protocalliphora Hough (Diptera Calliphoridae) From Bird Nests and Two New Puparial Descriptions. Proceedings from the Entomological Society of Washington. 105 (4) 995-1033.
Dhondt, A.A., Kast, T.L. and P. E. Allen. 2002. Geographic differences in seasonal clutch size variation in multi-brooded bird species. Ibis 144: 646- 651.

Again, the cavity-nesting birds we all love will be returning to their nest boxes before too long! Please renew your membership soon, or consider joining the project if you haven't already!

We wish everyone a wonderful winter!

Cheers,

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

[Reponse to a question about the definition of a "stewardship species"]

Stewardship species are those that are not necessarily in jeopardy, but may be serve as "indicators" for the biomes or habitats they represent. For example, the Boreal Chickadee is found almost exclusively in -you guessed it- boreal forests of Canada. Monitoring the population trends of these birds gives scientists insight into the status or quality of the boreal forests. In turn, by monitoring and potentially preserving boreal forests for one species, you would also be saving habitat for many other species. So in short, Stewardship Species act as "stewards"
of their habitat and also benefit other species as well.

Does that help answer your question?

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Want to know where your favorite cavity-nesting birds are spending the winter? Then check out the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) this Friday, February 18, through Monday, February 21. We also hope you'll count birds at your favorite locations and send us your tallies over the Internet by logging on to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/. You can watch birds for as little as 15 minutes or for as long as you like--then submit a checklist for each locality where you've counted that day. As data pour in from around the United States and Canada, you'll be able to see how your sightings are contributing to a continental picture showing where the birds are.

Here are some cavity-nesting highlights from 2004:
Tufted Titmouse was number 9 on the top-10 list of birds reported in the GBBC last year.
Charlotte, North Carolina, was the locality reporting the most Eastern Bluebirds (301 birds, 109 checklists).To see top 100 localities reporting Eastern Bluebirds, visit http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?cmd=showReport&reportName=SpeciesLocation&species=easblu&year=2004
Last year, Sedona, Arizona, was the locality reporting the most Western Bluebirds (86 birds, 4 checklists). To see top 100 localities reporting Western Bluebirds, visit http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?cmd=showReport&reportName=SpeciesLocation&species=wesblu&year=2004.
People can see which cavity-nesting birds were reported in their area in previous years by checking out the results section on the GBBC web site http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/results/index.html.
They can also read about past GBBC results on Carolina Wren and why we're watching this species this year: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/feature_ResultsSummary.html

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is this Friday, February 18, through Monday, February 21.

NEW THIS YEAR:

* Now it's easy to download tally sheets in case you'd like to print them out in advance and mark them up during the count. Just go to http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/checklist.

* After you've entered your data this year, you'll have the option to receive an email summary of the counts you just submitted--a nice keepsake if you participate year after year.

* Get your cameras out and send us your photos for the new Great Backyard Bird Count photo gallery! To learn how to submit photos to be considered for inclusion, visit http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/gallery/gallery.html.

* What might we learn from this year's counts? For a glimpse of results from past counts and why we'd like to learn more, read "Science Stories from the Great Backyard Bird Count" at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/feature_ResultsSummary.html, and "Year of the Owls" at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/YearoftheOwls.html.

* To celebrate this year's theme, "North America's Great Backyard," we encourage you to visit your national parks and other public lands during the GBBC. This year, you can choose to enter your data by town, postal code, or national public lands--including national parks and forests, provincial parks, wildlife refuges, and air force bases.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution interpreting and conserving the earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen-science focused on birds.

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
March 30, 2005

STILL HAVE DATA TO ENTER?

Please note the TBN's database will open for the 2005 season on MONDAY,
APRIL 4th.

Though you will always have access to any data you enter in our database,
when we open data entry for the new season you will no longer be able to
enter *new* information for 2004. Please make sure to enter any of your
remaining data for the 2004 season by Sunday night. We appreciate
everyone's effort in making the 2004 season the best yet, and we look to
forward to expanding even more in 2005!

CHECK THE NEST BOX CAMS TO SEE OUR LATEST CAM!

Have you seen them lately? Check out our newest nest box cam located near
the Huachuca Mountains in Arizona!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/...

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2005 8:57 AM
Subject: TBN Mid-season News

TBN MID-SEASON NEWS
June 17, 2005

TBN WEB SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
You may have noticed that The Birdhouse Network's web site has been going through some design changes—first with the Nest Box Cam pages, and now with the home page. We are in the process of putting all the site's pages into this new design, so in the interim, please bear with us as we continue the laborious task of putting all of these pages into a new web editing software system. If you have trouble navigating the site, please contact us at birdhouse"at"cornell.edu.

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS
Once the new web site is completed, the "News and Results" section will be divided up into "News and Results" which will be mostly data-related pages and "Participant Outreach" which will contain pages of all your photos, accomplishments, projects, and other TBN outreach related materials. We are currently doing our best to feature participants' "Photo of the Week" on the home page, so if you have a great image related to cavity-nesting birds, be sure to send it to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu. Please note, anything sent to us becomes the property of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER YOUR 2005 DATA!
Please consider entering your 2005 nesting data soon. So far, 3118 nest boxes and 954 nest attempts have been entered. Your data is very valuable to us, and now, it looks as though the rest of the scientific community agrees! In the same issue of Science magazine that described the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker research, was another article that highlighted the Lab's work with Citizen Science. While the article does not mention The Birdhouse Network explicitly, it starts off by describing TBN's Incubation Rhythms Study and mentions two TBN members—Kaycee Lichter and Greg Baruffi and their involvement in the study. There is also a nice photo of them checking a nest box. Most importantly, the article addresses the importance of the data collection process that all of you are a part of. Without your efforts, our vision of citizen science would be impossible. I will take this opportunity to emphasize that in order for your observations to count, you must submit your data to us! Here is the link to the PDF version if anyone is interested. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/308/5727/1402.pdf

Happy trails!

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 3:36 PM
Subject: TBN Mid-season News

TBN MID-SEASON NEWS
July 22, 2005

NEST BOX CAM UPDATE
Four Western Bluebird eggs in Newburg, OR, are due to hatch sometime next week, and the incubating female has been visited periodically by a juvenile from a previous nest attempt. Two large Eastern Bluebird nestlings in Paducah, KY, are receiving plenty of food from their parents and will hopefully fledge soon. A House Wren and Eastern Bluebird have both been investigating the same nest box in Princeton, KY, and we're waiting to see if one species claims the box. One of the six young Barn Owls from the Benecia, CA, nest box is still roosting there occasionally. We're eager to see what's been happening in the nest boxes in Italy, TX, and are hoping that the problem with the phone lines will be resolved soon. The Barn Owls there may be feeding six small chicks!

WHAT IS IN YOUR NEST BOX?
This year in Ithaca, NY, we've seen more bluebird nestlings die before fledging than we've seen in a long time. Additionally, we heard from a monitor of a nest box trail in Illinois that he's been seeing very low box occupancy rates. What's been happening at your nest boxes? Tell us by entering your data! Only with your data can we test to see what factors might be affecting nest success.

You can query the TBN data to see what participants have entered thus far. Go to our "Data Gateway" home page <http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/data_gateway/> and click on the "Query TBN Data" link. You'll see that current numbers for some species are low, as many of you are still monitoring active boxes and have not yet entered data. Try to do so at your earliest convenience!

USER PROFILE INFORMATION
Have you forgotten your login name and password? You can request an automatic reminder of your profile information from the link on our home page or by clicking on this link <http://secure.birdsource.org/PasswordReminder/Email>. An email will automatically be sent to you with your profile information. If you have any difficulty with this, email birdhouse"at"cornell.edu for help.

Make sure to keep the contact information in your profile updated so that the automatic reminder reaches you at your current email address. Once inside Data Gateway, click on the "Preference, Logout, Help" tab and go to the bottom of the table to verify your profile information.

Thank you very much for participating and supporting The Birdhouse Network!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

**********************************
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO UNSUBSCRIBE from this periodic newsletter, please do not respond to this email:
1. Send a new Message to: listproc"at"cornell.edu
2. Leave the "subject" line blank
3. In the body of the Message type: unsubscribe Bluebird-L
4. Include no other text in the body of the Message, and send the Message

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, please unsubscribe from your old address per the instructions above, sending the Message to the listproc from your old email address. Then subscribe your new address by going to our home page and signing up for the electronic newsletter.
________________________________________

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK RENEWAL FORM

YES, I WOULD LIKE TO RENEW MY PARTICIPATION IN THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK (TBN)!
Note: if you are not yet a TBN participant but want to join, fill in the form below and write "I'm a new participant" on the form in big letters! You will automatically receive a New Member kit this season.

My ID Number _________________

Name _______________________________________________________

Organization __________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

City________________________ State ____________ Zip _____________

Are you a Lab member? ___ Yes ___ No

Total amount enclosed: $_________

Please charge $_______to my credit card:

Check one: ____MasterCard _____VISA ___Discover _____American Express

Card number: _________--__________ -- __________

Expiration date: _________________________

Your signature __________________________________________

Send the completed form (and a check payable to The Birdhouse Network, if not paying by credit card) to The Birdhouse Network, P.O. Box 11, Ithaca, NY 14851-0011.

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 2:53 PM
Subject: TBN News - LAST WEEKEND FOR PRELIMINARY DATA

TBN NEWS
September 30, 2005

LAST WEEKEND TO ENTER DATA FOR USE IN PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS
Data will be pulled from the server on Monday, October 3rd, for preliminary analysis. Results from this data set will be published in the coming issue of our newsletter, Inside the Birdhouse (ITB), that will be mailed to all TBN participants later this fall.

We would like to be able to look at the incidence of nest failure for the next issue of ITB, but cannot do so without your data. If you haven't done so already, please do your best to enter your data this weekend!!

*** Thanks so much to those of you that have contributed to the current data set. As of today, you have entered data for over 6,700 nest boxes and over 5,400 nest attempts!! ***

MORE TBN PAPERS PUBLISHED AND IN PRESS!
A new paper that investigates the effect of latitude and time of year on hatching failure has just been accepted to the journal Ibis! We expect to see it in print some time in 2006.
Cooper, C., W. M. Hochachka, Phillips, T. and A. A. Dhondt. Geographic and seasonal gradients in hatching failure in Eastern Bluebirds reinforce clutch size trends. Ibis, in press.

Two other papers have just been published:
Cooper, C., W. M. Hochachka, and G. Butcher and A. A. Dhondt. 2005. Egg viability as a constraint on seasonal and latitudinal trends in clutch size. Ecology: Vol. 86, No. 8, pp. 2018-2031.
Phillips, T. B, Lewenstein B., and Bonney, R. 2005. A Case Study of Citizen Science. Proceedings of Beijing Public Communication of Science and Technology Working Symposium. Beijing, China.

Again, these publications could not occur without your dedication to birds and your commitment to science! Thanks to everyone who monitors nest boxes and takes the time to also send us your very valuable data! ....

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 3:18 PM
Subject: TBN News - Upcoming newsletter highlights your data

TBN NEWS
October 28, 2005
…

ANOTHER PUBLISHED PAPER USING TBN DATA
All the time and energy that you devote to monitoring your nest boxes and entering your data is time well spent; the data you collect and enter is put to good use. This paper looking at the natal dispersal of Tree Swallows is the EIGHTH publication of 2005 that used TBN data, and summarizes a dispersal special study conducted by TBN participants:

Winkler, D. W., P. H. Wrege, P. E. Allen, T. L. Kast, P. Senesac, M. F. Wasson, P. E. and P. J. Sullivan. 2005. The natal dispersal of Tree Swallows in a continuous mainland environment. Journal of Animal Ecology 74: 1080-1090.

Again, these publications would not be possible without your dedication to birds and your commitment to science. Thanks to everyone who monitors nest boxes and takes the time to send us your very valuable data!....

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 4:14 PM
Subject: Holiday greetings from The Birdhouse Network

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
December 22, 2005

DATA UPDATE
The Birdhouse Network participants have entered data this year on over 8,300 nest attempts and 9,000 nest boxes!
Thanks go to you all for contributing your time and effort. If you have data to enter from the 2005 nesting season, the database will remain open for another couple of months so there is still time. Make your nest box monitoring count and contribute your data to science.

Curious to see what data have been reported? Visit our Data Gateway to query the data and to see for yourself by clicking on this link: <http://entry.birdsource.org/BirdhouseDataEntry/query.html>

NEW TBN WEB SITE IN 2006
We're looking forward to launching our new web site in January. Make sure to visit it and to give us your feedback! We continue to welcome photos of cavity-nesting birds, your nest boxes, the habitat surrounding your nest boxes, and/or the people that monitor them! If you're looking for a good winter project, why not gather together some pictures you've been meaning to send? To submit photos, please email them to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu.

...

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 3:13 PM
Subject: TBN News Update

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
February 2, 2006

ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR DATA ENTRY!

The Birdhouse Network participants have entered data this year on over 9,300 nest attempts and 9,500 nest boxes!
Thanks to all of you for contributing your time and effort to help us break our record from last year. If you have still have data to enter from the 2005 nesting season, the database will remain open until the beginning of March, so there is still time. Make your nest box monitoring count by contributing your data to science and expanding our body of breeding bird knowledge.

Another reason to enter your 2005 data (and to renew for 2006!) is to have an opportunity to beta test a new online data entry system, scheduled for launch this summer. Only participants who have entered data into TBN's old system will be invited to beta test the new system. More on this exciting news later in the season!

NEW TBN WEB SITE IS LIVE
We recently launched our new web site and have been busy making adjustments to it since then. We invite you to visit it and to give us your feedback! Please direct comments and suggestions to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu.

We also would love to hear any highlights from your 2005 nesting season and welcome photos of cavity-nesting birds, your nest boxes, the habitat surrounding your nest boxes, and/or the people that monitor them. Before beginning the new season, why not gather together some pictures you've been meaning to send? To submit photos, please email them as attachments to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu or mail them to the address below.

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 4:01 PM
Subject: TBN News - Barn Owls have laid their first egg!

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
February 17, 2006

The Nest Box Cams are live!!

The Barn Owls in Benecia, CA, laid their first egg yesterday, and we'll be watching to see how that nest progresses. Additionally, we have two other live cams though currently neither are active. Caldwell County Elementary School in Princeton, KY, hopes to host some bluebirds again this year, and our newest cam host in Santa Clarita, CA, is carefully watching the nest box intended for kestrels.

More cams will go live as the season progresses, so keep an eye out and enjoy the views!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

New web page featuring your photos of nests and eggs

We've begun posting photos of nests and eggs that TBN participants have sent us, but we have some gaps that we need to fill.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/bios/nest_require/nest_eggs

We welcome your feedback, and we encourage all TBN participants to continue sending us your photos! To submit photos, please email them to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu.

We are in the process of redesigning and improving the data entry process for The Birdhouse Network (YBN) at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
To make sure we build something that is easier to use, we need to get a better idea about the kinds of computers and web browsers people are using to participate in TBN

We have set up a page on TBN's site that will automatically gather the information we need when you visit it. We do not collect any personal information about you, just things like whether you are on Windows or Macintosh, what web browser you are using, screen resolution, connection speed, etc.

To help out, please click the link below and wait for the page to load completely. That's all you have to do!

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/techsurvey/

Thanks for your help!

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

I responded to this test from both my work computer & my home computer. At work we've got a super-fast dedicated phone line. At home we've got old copper wires & are lucky to get 28.8. Granted, i don't think i've ever done (& hopefully will never do) TBN data entry from home.

I'm very excited to see the updated site. With 115 boxes, anything that makes data entry easier is wonderful. I really liked the FoxPro-based program sent out by TBN's predecessor, Cornell's Nest Box Network.

Torrey Wenger
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Kalamazoo, MI

Paul Kilduff
trail at Oregon Ridge Park
Cockeysville, Baltimore County, MD

I gave up submitting my data to Cornell several years ago.

First of all, it seems a little strange to me that I have to pay for the privilege of submitting data. But, okay, if that's the way it is, who am I to argue? I'm sure it goes to meet expenses, etc.

But then, on the day I had set aside to do that, I found that I needed a secret password which I was expected to have written down, like, six months ago or something, and without that password the database wouldn't accept my data. An obstacle course for people who are trying to help you -- who thought this up?

You know what? If you want my data, it's your job to make it easy for me to submit them, and not vice-versa. Sorry, I don't think it's being a dreamer to expect a data collection program to be run so that it requires as little effort on the part of the data providers as possible.

That's a minimum standard. In my opnion.
...

Paul in Baltimore

Lynn Emerich wrote:

> Paul, I had this same problem several years ago and by the time I got
> the info I needed, it was too late to submit it. I haven't checked
> the system lately, but it sounds like it's still the same.
>
> Lynn near Bernville PA.

For a slightly different point of view... there's not a data entry avenue anywhere that is "overly" simple (especially in the case of biological data)
-- there's always going to be some quirk either with the program, the structure, or the servers that are going to present obstacles. It took me a little while to figure out how to maneuver through the TBN portal, but once I got the hang of it, it's actually pretty simple, and the types and amounts of data they receive are tremendous.

Fussy about the price... well, it would cost more to do reproductive and survivorship data just on your own trail's dataset... much less 9,000+ attempts. And then add in summarizing and writing the reports... Sorry, but
$12 for lab members and $15 for non-members is a steal for the info you can garner off of these datasets -- remember, you can query the database from multiple years, areas, species, etc.

If you really want to judge the TBN portal... go help a permitted bird bander enter their data for the current BBL program BAND MANAGER, or better yet help a MAPS banding station enter their data for MAPSProg and then convert it to a format BAND MANAGER will accept. You'll see really fast why BBL is building a new system.

***Note: I'm not knocking BBL here... they know the "old" program is rough and their new one should be much smoother. The TBN portal is cake compared to current banding data entry -- I get to do both, so no complaints here CLO! Thanks for what you do T!***
....

Jimmy Dodson
Asst Forest Manager -- NCSU Dept of Forestry & Environmental Resources NCSU Hill Forest P.O. Box 71 Rougemont, NC 27572

From: Pamela Ford [mailto:jpford"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 9:38 PM
Subject: RE: TBN and monitoring data

I also had to stop contributing data because of the cost. Just couldn't justify it when things were tight. It is odd when we spend so much time entering data to have to pay for it - but I guess it pays the bills. Worse is that we don't have detailed access to the data we submit as a group.
I've met several bird banders/researchers who have complained that they cannot get raw data from Cornell. I love numbers and would love to have export access to slice the Maryland numbers different ways. I wonder if it's available and I'm just missing it?

Pam in Harford County, MD

Since we are talking about TBN, it seems only fair that I clarify some misconceptions. First the fee issue. Consider what you pay for membership to any organization: NABS, your state bluebird society, Audubon, etc., they all have a fee. In return you get some type of newsletter or magazine.
Well, the same goes for TBN; for $12 or $15 per year, participants receive BirdScope, the Lab's quarterly newsletter, as well as Inside the Birdhouse, TBN's semiannual newsletter. Unlike most other organizations however, we also provide a SAFE and PERMANENT place for your nest box observations.
It's not that we like charging a fee but our annual operating budget is approximately $100,000. These funds are used to pay 1.5 salaries (plus benefits), keep the database functioning, develop printed materials, pay for postage, phone charges, travel, maintain the nest box cams, purchase equipment, store and back up data, and run list serves like Bluebird-L.
Given that TBN only has less than 1,000 paying members at $12 to $15 apiece, if you do the math, you realize we are in serious deficit every single year. Why hasn't TBN folded? All I can assume is that the nest box observations that our volunteers have collected and submitted have proven to be valuable enough to maintain our scientific integrity, and keep the project going. Thanks to those dedicated volunteers, we have amassed 60,000 nesting records on individual nesting attempts for 40 cavity nesting species over the last 9 years, and these data have been used to publish 10 articles in prestigious technical journals and two book chapters.

I get a little frustrated when I hear people complaining about the fee yet taking advantage of things such as our web site, the nest box cams, the list serves, and the publicly available data. Some people on this list fail to realize that Bluebird-L is completely run and funded through TBN, and never bother to join TBN. That has always been a bit disheartening to me.
If people truly can't afford to participate or donate, that is completely understandable, and I give complimentary memberships all the time as long as I know folks will commit to entering the data. As long as the Lab of Ornithology continues to value science over profit, the project will continue, but it sure would be nice for those that use what we offer to acknowledge their appreciation in some way, rather than complain about it publicly.

In terms of TBN's data entry system, we built the best thing we could five years ago and it is now outdated and somewhat cumbersome. Unfortunately, our IT shop at the Lab does not work for free either, so if we want a new data entry scheme, TBN needs to be able to pay the salaries of how ever many people it takes to develop an entirely new scheme. Data programmers are not cheap!!! Every year we write grants to NSF to make this happen, this year on the third try, we were finally awarded a grant that will allow us to create a new data entry system. I am hoping that this will be a database useful to individuals who monitors one box as well as trail monitors with hundreds of boxes on multiple trails. Creating a relational database that is useable by many types of audiences as well as scientifically useful is incredibly complex and time consuming. We will be asking for people who have entered TBN data in the past to beta test the first iteration of the new data entry some time this summer. This is your opportunity to be part of the development of what we hope will North America's largest nesting database (we plan to accept data on all nests, not just cavity-nesters, and we hope to digitize and merge the 300,000+ nesting records Cornell has collected since 1965 into this system.)

As with most grants, the development of the data entry is funded for the first three years. After that, we have to figure out how to sustain the projects. If we can garner support in other ways, our hope is that anyone will be able to enter their nesting observations free of charge. That has always been the goal, I hope we can do it this time around.

One last note about people storing their data into Excel spreadsheets.
Excel is fine for creating nice looking graphs and summarizing large amounts of data and TBN data can be easily copied and pasted into Excel spreadsheets for personal use. But Excel stores information as a flat file, meaning you can't easily link up different tables of data. It would be totally useless for the large amounts of data we receive. Additionally, it is limited in its statistical abilities to examine relationships among variables. Access is a bit better for this. The point I want to make however, is if everyone maintained all their data to themselves and never merged it with other similar data sets so that it was unavailable for scientists to analyze, what could we say about breeding bird populations in general? Is it enough for monitors to know just what happens to their boxes, or is there more value in understanding the overall patterns and fluctuations of an entire population? Given the accelerated rate of change to natural systems imposed by humans and the conservation needs of all native species, I vote the latter.

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

From: Lynn Emerich [mailto:lemerich"at"epix.net]
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: TBN and monitoring data

Tina, During the past several years, I have read very few complaints about the charges - 12 to 15 dollars isn't going to break the bank. But I have read many messages about the compexity of getting the data entered. I, myself have run into this several times and gave up. I just hope the new system will be easier. If I ever had a password, I have no idea what it is or was. Why not just use an e-mail address? I don't think the complaints are about the charges, but about the entry system.

Lynn

Good morning, Tina:

I don't necessarily have a problem with your underlying philosophy regarding the need for funds to operate the TBN. However, I am one of those active nest box managers (i.e. currently managing and actively monitoring over 130 boxes for numerous native species) that is a member of Lab, but doesn't pay the TBN fee and, by extension, does not enter my extensive data sets into the TBN system. It is not that I can't afford the $12 ... for me, it is the actual principal of it! I, as a very devoted "citizen scientist," am tirelessly trying to think and work to better help the birds and other wildlife in my part of country and, as such, I think we all can and must do a much better job of
supporting/financing this effort!

If you or anyone claims that our efforts and the resulting data are so valuable for science, the Lab, and wildlife in general ... then make TBN a fundamental line of business for the Lab and fold all of the costs into general Lab membership. After all, why not have all of our fellow birders that often passively enjoy all the hard fruits of our labor ...
actually contribute a little to making it easier for us to do the work we all do so selflessly!

Recognizing that I am quite biased, I personally feel that the work we all do as "hands-on conservationists" is absolutely critical for the long-term future of the Lab .... because I truly believe that if we don't do a better job helping many of these species ... they won't be here for future generations to appreciate and enjoy as potential members of the Lab! I don't mean to preach, but being a responsible helper and steward of all of our hard work is something that should be supported by all of us ... not just by those that have stood up and decided that they will make a difference right now by installing and monitoring artificial nesting opportunities for species that are struggling to survive in the very environment that we are all constantly modifying ... much of which hurts many of the species to which we all share this continent!

Sorry ...but I needed to get that off my chest!

Ya'll have a great day!
David

P.S. - I will now go out to my shop and bang another new nest box together! ... a hammer and a good piece of cedar makes for great environmental therapy!

Hi Lynn,

In my first message, I neglected to address the password and ID# issue. As long as TBN continues to be fee-based, the database has to be protected by something that is given only to participants, hence those pesky ID# s above the address labels on the welcome packet envelopes. It is certainly not the best system, (the staffers are not big fans of it) but we have no other mechanism currently to distinguish paying from non-paying members. If and when TBN ever does become folded into membership fees (as has been suggested on this list and in numerous discussions at the Lab), then the ID#s could probably go away. This is the model eBird uses which is free, and you just need to enter your email and a password to get at your data.
The down side is that eBirders don't get anything in the mail such as BirdScope or posters—the project is completely web based. Maybe having things in the mail is not that important, maybe it is. We are still figuring that one out. But notice, even in eBird you have to have a password, otherwise how does the system give you back your personal data?
In the Great Backyard Bird Count for example, there is no information or passwords required, at a cost of being a completely anonymous user and no personal data out.

Believe me, I hate passwords as much as the next person. I have so many now that I can't keep track, so I have created a document to store all my passwords. As more information is collected online, ensuring data quality and security necessarily requires password protection. Think of any web site that you provide information to (banks, health care sites) and I would bet you need a password to get information in and out.

All that said, we at the Lab are striving to make the next breeding bird database more user friendly. I hope that some of you take the opportunity to inform the beta test process to help us reach that goal.

Thanks to all of you who have voiced your appreciation of TBN and the Lab, it means a lot!

Tina

I also want to add to the other posts in praise of TBN by pointing out that the data generated is online and publicly available: it's not going to some secret database at Cornell that only a priviledged few can access in order to publish papers and build careers. We can all look at it. That is very cool.

Michael Donahue

I had been putting my data on the Transcontinental Bluebird Trail. It required a password which I found to be no problem.

A few years ago, I paid for the TBN and TBT too, but found that TBN was more complicated to enter and too time consuming for me. I wondered if it was necessary to post data in both places. The TBT is not up right now, but if it comes back up, does the data need to be entered in both places? Does Cornell use TBT data too? I was a little confused about that.

Evelyn

Dear Tina,

I have never had a problem with the password system of TBN and fullly appreciate why TBN collects its modest fee. I do have problems, however, remembering passwords, and so, like you, I have created a document containing them all, which I store in a desk drawer.

Thanks for all you do. My life is enriched (and the songbirds profit) because of the work of TBN and the useful exchanges on the list serve.

Diane Seward
Potomac, Maryland

I'm relatively new to TBN. 2006 will be my 3rd season.

COST? To me, $1 a month (or $1.25 a month if not a CLO member) is trivial. I buy a cheap brand of coffee instead of Starbucks. I budget $10/month for birding organizations like NABS, PMCA (Purple Martin Conservation Assn), VBS (Virginia Bluebird Society), CLO, TBN and PFW. I get a lot of value for such a small investment, a small contribution that ultimately benefits the critters I enjoy so much.

I pay $100 a year for membership in a job-related professional organization, not deductible because of their lobbying activities. I pay over $100 a year for the privilege of singing in a Barbership ( http://www.spebsqsa.org/ ) Chorus.

At $15 or less a year, TBN is a bargain! The TBN FAQ explains the reason for the fee. Perhaps they'll get a huge endowment sometime in the future that will let TBN allow everyone with an interest to enter and retrieve data. A really huge donation might give Tina and Megan a well- deserved raise. Until then, the fee covers the costs of continuing TBN.

DATA ENTRY. Yes, it can be a pain. Entering the preliminary data for a lot of cavities takes lots of time, especially if using a dial-up connection to the Internet. Looking up precise locations in lat/long off-line saves time. Having the needed information at hand helps, too. But you have to key in all the information for every cavity, even multiple cavities in the same Purple Martin house or gourd rack.

Once all the preliminary data is in, it gets a lot easier because there's less asked about each nesting attempt.

PASSWORDS. To protect the integrity of data, a unique ID and associated password for each member is essential. Without that protection, anyone could change data -- 'electronic vandalism' is an unfortunate reality. There's no alternative.
TBN doesn't require a password to make data entry inconvenient for us. They do make getting a forgotten password easy; just click on the 'User name and password reminder' link.

Keeping track of passwords is now a necessity.
I'm always amazed when someone asks me to help with their computer problem or to set up their Internet connection on a new PC. They don't remember their password because their old PC was set to automatically log them in.

... and Tina's replies just downloaded to my inbox but I'm sending this anyway...

Take care,

R J 'Tree' Greenwood
Catlett VA

This was my first year of submitting data on the bird count & I found it easier than I suspected it to be. I just filled out the form. And as for passwords, I either write down everytime I make up a password for a site or enter it into my files under miscellaneous. That way I have a copy of all my passwords available whenever I need them. I didn't always do this & have had to email for too many of them in the past. This works for me!
I personally think that Cornell is doing a very good job of keeping track of all this info!
I don't always check on this list every day & sometimes I have over a hundred emails to check when I do, so I just go through & delete any that I'm not interested in & learn from those I am.
I personally would like to thank everyone for submitting their viewpoints on this list. I have learned a good many things about bluebirds, nestboxes & feeding birds by just signing up for this list. Thanks Everyone!
Jim Koehler
Miltona, MN
Central MN
...

Well said, Jimmy -- I appreciate the perspective.

I will say, though, that the fact that banders have a fouled up system to use doesn't justify having a less fouled up system for bluebirders also.

I think the problem is that it is mostly altruists who do this. And altruists will put up with a huge amount of crap to do their good deeds. That doesn't mean it's okay though, just because most altruists will put up with it. But it does mean that the motivation to make something better is not strong. After all, they're not complaining, are they?

Right now we're in process of trying to construct a web-based database so all the volunteer monitors on our trail at Oregon Ridge Park can enter their data each week, to replace the binders and paper sheets we've been using. I haven't thought of charging them yet -- Hey! maybe I should :o) he he

But anyway, here we are having to invent the wheel for our trail. Oughtn't there to be a great big database that all trail managers could use to record their data throughout the nesting season? That way the trail managers would get value out of it immediately, and no season-end reporting would be necessary! Make it worth my while, because I am,

...

Paul,

The database we are currently building will do just what you are eluding to—a web-based interface that can collect information on every time a trail monitor visits the nest. This new system will allow people two different avenues to enter data. Users can either provide information for each time they visit the nest (which is much more accurate for determining daily nest
survival) or they can just enter a summation of key events (first egg date, clutch size, etc.). Currently, TBN users can enter data all at once or at the end, but they can only provide a summation of key events. So if your group can hold on a bit longer, there will be something to beta test this summer and provide input about. The idea will then be to "clone" this database for other organizations, such as your Park where information can be customized for your group, but all data collected is also merged with the entire nationwide nesting database.

We are also developing the database with trail monitors in mind, and hopefully providing the tools they need to efficiently describe and manage their trials.

BTW, I get a fair bit of complaints about the clunky database and that have continued to motivate me to write grants to get money to fix it. The limiting factor is not a lack of motivation by altruists, the limiting factor is raising the funds to support at least 3 or 4 IT salaries over three years. When you add it up and include all the benefits Cornell pays out, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars! Luckily, we finally got the grant, so we are hopeful that the next version will be a big improvement.
Tina Phillips

Hi Tina and group,

Before I switched careers and went back to school to be a biologist I worked for over 20 years as a human resource person..... almost every software consulting company has people on the bench (getting paid but in-between assignments). I worked with thousands of technical gurus that could knock out a Microsoft access database and importable Excel data sheets in a few days. They would probably do it for free for a little publicity. Maybe someone reading this knows someone, or I could get back in touch with some of my old contacts and see if they would be willing.
Thanks,
Rob Barron

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 3:33 PM
Subject: TBN News - Streaming video from Texas

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK
March 10, 2006

Live streaming video from Barn Owl cam in Italy, Texas

Although we haven't seen the Barn Owls in the nest box today, we've been watching a pair in that box for over a week. We'll keep our fingers crossed that they nest there and that we're able to watch them via streaming video!

The California Barn Owls currently have a clutch of five eggs, and both adults spend plenty of time in the nest box. As for the 'kestrel' cam, we are still hoping to see a pair of American Kestrels take up residence at that nest box. Other cams will go live as the season progresses so keep an eye out and enjoy the views:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

Data Gateway closed for one week beginning April 3rd

No one will have access to Data Gateway during the one week maintenance upgrade. Please make sure to have any remaining data from the 2005 season entered before April 3rd. Thank you very much for your effort in submitting your data to the Lab.

Welcome Packets will be mailed out at the end of the month
The newsletter is currently being printed, and we will be mailing Welcome Packets to new and returning members shortly.

Thank you for renewing your membership!!
We really appreciate the renewals we've already received for this coming season. For those of you that have not yet renewed, it's not too late! You may renew in one of these ways:

1) Over the web on our secure server:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/sign_up
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) By phone: 1-800-843-2473. Be sure to indicate that you are renewing your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID number to the staff member taking your call.

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

800-843-2473
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 4:50 PM
Subject: First egg laid, live!

NEST BOX CAM NEWS
MARCH 17, 2006

At about 9 AM this morning, the female Barn Owl in Texas laid the first egg, and many Internet viewers were able to watch it in LIVE streaming video! Like a good mama, she immediately began incubating. You can view more action on The Birdhouse Network's web site at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx/index_html All you night owls out there should tune in during evening hours for the real action!

Some people have had trouble seeing the stream because their QuickTime preferences are not set up to see streaming video. This is a very simple fix. If you can't see the video, follow the directions below.
If you are on a PC, try this:
1. Launch the QuickTime player and pull down Edit > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences > Advanced>
2. In the drop down menu called Transport Setup click Custom.
3. In the pop up box switch the setting from UDP port 554 to HTTP port 80
4. Click on the "File Types" tab and make sure that "streaming movies" is checked.
5. Close the preferences and try the stream again.
If you are on a Mac with OSX, try this:
1. Launch the QuickTime player and pull down QuickTime Player > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences
2. Select the "Advanced" tab
3. In the drop down menu called Transport Setup, click Custom.
4. Switch from UDP port 554 to HTTP port 80.
5. Click OK, close the preferences, and try the stream again.
For a graphic of how to do this, you can go to this web site...> http://www.arizonaacademy.org/nm/publish/news_130.php

Keep in mind, during the day the owls are often sleeping, so it may look like a still photo, but it really is streaming live video.

Enjoy the views,

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

From: Tina Phillips [mailto:cbp6"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 12:32 PM
Subject: TBN - Start of season

THE BIRDHOUSE NETWORK UPDATE
APRIL 6, 2006

10 LIVE NEST CAMS!
The Barn Owl parents in California are busy raising five young, the oldest of which are beginning to move independently around the box. Our streaming video of Barn Owls in Texas has been captivating audiences globally and we anxiously await hatching day in about a week. The Osprey pair are incubating two eggs and we hope to see a third egg laid today. We also just got a camera on a brood of four White-breasted Nuthatch young that are 15 days old and could fledge any day now. Our Eastern Bluebird box with four week old nestlings has been down ever since powerful storms and tornados ripped through Kentucky. The remaining boxes—Western Bluebird, Elf Owls, American Kestrels, and possibly Carolina Chickadees are either in the nest-building phase or not yet active. Enjoy the views at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

DATA GATEWAY TO REOPEN APRIL 10TH
This is the last year that TBN will be using this database, as we are currently developing a new database. Those of you that have entered data into TBN in the past will soon receive an email request to help beta test the new site when it is ready some time this summer. Thank you very much for your effort in submitting your data to the Lab.

LOOK FOR WELCOME PACKETS IN YOUR MAIL
Welcome packets were sent out this week for all new and renewing members. If you have not renewed, please do so today! Our project relies on your support. You may renew in one of these ways:

1) Over the web on our secure server:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/sign_up
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) By phone: 1-800-843-2473. Be sure to indicate that you are renewing your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID number to the staff member taking your call.

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 12:00 PM
Subject: TBN - More Barn Owl video clips online

TBN NEWS UPDATE
April 28, 2006

More Barn Owl footage now available
Those of you with QuickTime on your computers may view video clips from the Texas Barn Owl cam. Those who have previously been unable to view the streaming video have been enjoying these short clips! We currently have six videos available, and hope to have more posted next week.

To view the videos, go to the link below and scroll down to daily highlights. Click the link that to the video you'd like to watch:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx/index_html

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 2:53 PM
Subject: TBN update - Hatch day!

TBN NEWS UPDATE
May 9, 2006

Texas bluebirds hatching!
We are currently watching the second of five eggs hatch on the Texas bluebird cam. We also expect to see Osprey and Prothonotary Warbler nestlings very shortly. Keep an eye on the cams this week, as they will likely be busy ones!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

Concerns about avian flu?
Please refer to the following web site for some good information and helpful links that will likely answer many questions you might have. Make sure to check it periodically as updates will be added as they become available:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdflu

Renew today if you haven't already!
Our project relies on your support. You may renew in one of these ways:

1) Over the web on our secure server:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/sign_up
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) By phone: 1-800-843-2473. Be sure to indicate that you are renewing your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID number to the staff member taking your call.

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

I emailed Tina Phillips (Cornell's The Birdhouse Network) and Karen Martin (NABS Bluebird journal
editor) saying I'd love to see an article in Bluebird that summarizes the wealth of data in TBN.
Most of us don't have time to plow through the database and try to see what it is telling us. So Tina asked WHAT kind of summary would be of most use and interest? Therefore, I'm throwing it out there for your input, and will summarize it and get it back to Tina.

E.g., Yearly comparisons of clutch sizes, lay date, # of fledglings, nest success rate? Any species in particular? Any region in particular?

For the NABS journal, seems like the topics of most interest would be data on birds that use bluebird nestboxes.
- I'd be keen on seeing trends.
- Am also very interested in what's happening with MOBLs and WEBLs, compared to EABLs.
- Also any conclusions that can be drawn - like it appears that titmice prefer boxes mounted on trees, or nuthatches prefer standard wooden NABS boxes, or TRES are most likely to nest in boxes facing East, or boxes with predator guards are twice as likely to fledge birds, etc. (I'm just making those examples up.)

Bet from CT

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 9:47 AM
Subject: TBN - Invitation to participate in bird behavior experiment

TBN NEWS UPDATE
May 19, 2006

Enjoy watching bird behavior? Try our new Personality Profiles experiment!
We invite participants from The Birdhouse Network to conduct a simple experiment on at least one nest box. The experiment involves testing birds with a novel object compared to a familiar object to see how they react. Think you might be interested? Click on the following link for more information:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/instructions/optional_st/personality

Prothonotary nestlings may fledge this weekend
Make sure to take a peek at them before they leave!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/pro_warb_tx/

Concerns about avian flu?
The following web site contains some good information and helpful links that will likely answer any questions you might have. The site was updated this morning, and more updates will be added as they become available:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdflu

Renew today if you haven't already!
Our project relies on your support. You may renew in one of these ways:

1) Over the web on our secure server:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/sign_up
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) By phone: 1-800-843-2473. Be sure to indicate that you are renewing your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID number to the staff member taking your call.

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 3:22 PM
Subject: TBN - More information about Personality Profiles

TBN NEWS UPDATE
May 26, 2006

We need more participants for our Personality Profiles experiment!
How quickly do the birds that you monitor become used to a novel object placed on the outside of their nest box? Help us find out by participating in the Personality Profiles experiment, a fun way to observe whether your birds are bold, curious, or cautious. In order to determine if city birds and country birds have different personalities, we need data from all over the country. It's easy, only takes about an hour, and any bird species can be observed.

In order to participate, you must be a current member of The Birdhouse Network. If you ARE beta-testing our new data entry system, you will need to contact Tina Phillips <cbp6"at"cornell.edu> to receive a direct link to the online personality pages. If you are NOT beta testing, log in to the TBN system as normal and click on "Optional Studies". From there, you will find the link to the personality profiles form. ALL PARTICIPANTS CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO MAIL THE PERSONALITY PROFILE DATA SHEETS TO THE LAB VIA REGULAR MAIL (see address below).

To find out more information about this experiment, please click on the following link:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/instructions/optional_st/personality

Donations sought to support bandwidth fees for streaming video
Generous viewers have helped us reach almost 40% of our 2006 goal! See the latest movies and current streaming video from our Barn Owl cam in Texas, and watch the two chicks grow:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx/

Participant photos sought
We continue to welcome photos of cavity-nesting birds, your nest boxes, the habitat surrounding your nest boxes, and/or the people that monitor them! To submit photos, please email them to birdhouse"at"cornell.edu.

Renew today if you haven't already!
Our project relies on your support. You may renew in one of these ways:

1) Over the web on our secure server:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/sign_up
Click the button that indicates you are renewing your participation and follow directions on the form.

2) By phone: 1-800-843-2473. Be sure to indicate that you are renewing your TBN participation and provide your Lab/TBN ID number to the staff member taking your call.

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 3:09 PM
Subject: TBN - Have you heard the latest from the Texas Barn Owls?

TBN NEWS UPDATE
June 2, 2006

Cam update - Have you heard the Texas Barn Owl chicks?
A small microphone has been installed outside the nest box that is currently home to the Texas Barn Owl chicks. Even if you have to turn the volume up a bit, you should check out the sounds they make! Additionally, more movie clips have been added to the site, including 'Prey Pounce' and 'Turning Heads':
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx/

We continue to welcome participants for our Personality Profiles experiment
Help us find out how quickly the birds that you monitor become used to a novel object placed on the outside of their nest box by participating in the Personality Profiles experiment. It's a fun way to observe whether your birds are bold, curious, or cautious. In order to determine if city birds and country birds have different personalities, we need data from all over the country. It's easy, only takes about an hour, and any bird species can be observed.

Again, in order to participate, you must be a current member of The Birdhouse Network. If you are beta-testing our new data entry system, you will need to contact Tina Phillips <cbp6"at"cornell.edu> to receive a direct link to the online personality pages. If you are NOT beta testing, log in to the TBN system as normal and click on "Optional Studies". >From there, you will find the link to the personality profiles form. ALL PARTICIPANTS CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO MAIL THE PERSONALITY PROFILE DATA SHEETS TO THE LAB VIA REGULAR MAIL (see address below).

To find out more information about this experiment, please click on the following link:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/instructions/optional_st/personality

THANK YOU!

The Birdhouse Network

The Birdhouse Network (TBN) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology make birds more enjoyable for me.
I put up birdhouses and watched birds everywhere and anywhere I happened to be for over 50 years.
I enjoyed it but adding structure, organization and purpose makes birds even more fun. Birds are even a good excuse to put off chores for another day. For a few years, I've participated in TBN.
The $15 fee is trivial, skipping a few trips to Starbucks or a couple home-made sandwiches rather than fast food for lunch. It's worth it

Today was a day for the birds... and me. Oh, I let my wife come along, too. I got up early, brewed fresh coffee and watched the birds out in the yard. Quite a flock of finches getting grit from the gravel driveway, fledgling Robins and their parents splashing in our elaborate bird- bath with a trickle of water spilling down six basins at different heights into a small pond and the male Mockingbird trying to chase all of the other birds away.

Oh, well. Didn't get out to do the 'Personality Profiles' as early as planned but I headed out for what turned out to be the biggest challenge of the day at 0730. The weather has been too dry. I needed a _BROWN_ leaf as a control for the experiments. Problem was, every brown leaf I found crumbled or broke as I picked it up. I searched for half an hour before I found a soft one that I thought might work.

Last week's hatchlings are now 7 to 10 days old, the perfect age for TBN's Personality Profile experiments. The weather was perfect; sunny and clear. If I waited until my next day off, the conditions might not be as good. Besides, bigger weeds are easier to pull then the little ones in the garden.

With data sheets and a pen, binoculars, camera and a mug of fresh coffee, I settled into 'home base' and watched my male EABB tip into his box to stuff a bug down a nestling's throat, then zoom off after another meal. Less then a minute later, he was back. This time he went in and exited with a fecal sack that he took far away into the corn field.

I started filling out the data sheet. "Distance from nestbox to nearest HOUSE" is a problem. Got to ask Megan or Tina about that. The box is over 250 feet from our HOUSE but it's only 30 or so from the barn/potting shed/tool storage. Except for sleeping, I spend far more time in or around that structure than in my house. The rototiller, mowers and string trimmer are out back. Lumber is stored under the lean-to. I'm out there day and night. Are the researchers looking for an indication of how much contact with humans the birds are accustomed to? Is my barn/workshop/etc a 'HOUSE' for data collection purposes?

I didn't dwell on that. Since I didn't get out as early as I planned, I wanted to get started.
Since my last name starts among the A - M group, I pinned my precious, usable, brown leaf to the front of the nestbox and walked back to 'home base' to watch. I knew this pair of Bluebirds pretty well and didn't expect them to be put off by anything. Both the male and female pulled up as they approached their nestbox and circled around to check out the new object. But within sixty seconds of their first approach, each had made a trip inside the box. Over the next 28 minutes, each of the parents made nearly a dozen trips to the nestbox. About half of the time, the adult just sat in the entry hole and tipped down to feed a nestling. The other half, the adult went inside and exited with a fecal sac.

"Did anything go wrong?" Wellll... My male Bluebird took a bite out of the only usable leaf I could find each time he entered the box. A breeze kept blowing the leaf around and often over the entry hole. To me, it looked like the movement of the leaf disturbed the birds more than finding a new object only an inch from the entry hole to their nesting cavity. So I noted 'wind' as a problem before removing the brown leaf and pinning the 'checker bow' next to the entry hole.

I've watched this pair of Eastern Bluebirds a lot and they watch me. The like the grubs I dig up when working in the garden and the bugs that I stir up walking around the area. Both parents are pretty tame, not objecting at all to my nest checks. I expected only a mild and temporary reaction to the checker bow.

WOW, was I wrong! I had to wait a couple minutes before the male approached. As with the leaf, he did a fly-by and circled around. I expected him to react like that. But then he dropped his bug and attacked the bow, gripping the edge of the entry hole and pecking and tearing at it. Then he hovered and tried to pull it away, tearing off bits of it. The female flew up but banked away when she saw her mate in mortal combat with the checker bow. My little male Bluebird spent two full minutes ripping and tearing at the paper bow before flying off. Over the next 30 minutes, my male went into the nestbox nine times to feed his brood and remove fecal sacs. Every time he exited, he took another bite out of the bow. In that same 30 minutes, the female approached 11 times but never entered the box. She wouldn't even land on it or perch in the entry hole.

Exactly 30 minutes after pinning the bow to the Bluebird's nestbox, I removed the tattered remnants. I went back to home base to watch for a bit. With the strange object gone, momma went back into her box withing 3 minutes. All was right with the world...

Except that I had to go back inside and print up a new 'checker bow' for the rest of the day's experiments. Why was momma so timid? Why was dad so aggressive? Why did he continue to tear at the bow even after he must have realized that it was harmless? I was completely surprised by the Bluebirds' reactions to the experiment.

With a new 'checker bow' in hand, I went out to try the experiment on a pair of Tree Swallows.
The male chose a dedicated nestbox trap located right in the middle of a cluster of five Purple Martin poles as his home. I trapped him dozens of times before I finally took out the Van Ert trap and let him have the box. He and his mate are the most passive and tame of my TRES. When I hand-clip the grass at the base of his pole, he sits on top of his box and watches me like a Snoopy vulture, behaving like a Bluebird. His lady stayed on her clutch and then hatchlings during nest checks. I had to wiggle my finger- tips under her and lift her to count eggs and hatchlings. I walk under the Martin rigs every day, right by the TRES' nestbox so they're used to humans. I expected them to be passive and adapt quickly to strange objects on their box.

Per instructions for the Personality Profiles experiments, the second round began with the bow rather than the leaf. After watching to be sure that both TRES parents were actively feeding, I pinned the checker bow to the front of their box and went back to watch.

After every nest check, this pair of TRES would immediately fly to their cavity and check their nest. Once eggs were laid, the female stayed with her clutch or brood while the male did most of the feeding. As expected, both parents came quickly as soon as I moved away from their box.
Even before I sat down, they were diving at the bow. They did NOT make alarm calls. It took the male seven approaches before he entered the box.
Once he went in the first time, he ignored the bow next to the entry hole... sort of.

NEW PROBLEM. Watch how swallows land with their wings outspread, pulling them in at the last second as they land. The bow bowed out so far that the TRES right wing invariably brushed the bow, upsetting his balance and landing. After about 15 minutes, I squashed the bow down so it stuck out only about half as far. From then on, the male TRES had no problem with his landings.

My tame, passive female TRES remained reluctant to enter the box. She only entered to feed her babies three times in 30 minutes. I lost count of the male's trips.

When the 30 minutes with the checkered bow were up, I gladly switched it for the brown leaf. I was sure that it wouldn't cause any problem.
WRONG! Both of the TRES parents were put off by the latest change. The breeze made the leaf flap more than the checker bow. I'm sure that the movement of the leaf moving with the breeze was more disturbance than the existence of something different. I took as long for the male to enter the box with a brown leaf as it did when the bow was by the entry hole, eight minutes. Even more of a surprise; the female refused to enter the box with the leaf fluttering so near the entry hole. If the brave little male hadn't continued to feed the nestlings, I probably would have ended the experiment before the 30 minutes was up.

After a full 30 minutes, I removed my precious leaf. Thanks to the male Bluebird and Tree Swallow pecking at it, the edges were getting a bit ragged and it was curling more as it dried.
I watched for a few more minutes, glad to see that both TRES parents were now actively feeding their brood again as if nothing had changed.

I won't bore you with blow-by-blow descriptions of the other three Personality Profile experi- ments that I completed. Each was very different and the reactions of the birds unexpected. I thought that I knew the pairs nesting out back and how they would react. An 'isolated' thunder- storm almost cut one experiment short. My wife brought out umbrellas so we could continue to watch. I was so intent on watching the birds that I didn't consider the possible consequences of sitting in an open field holding a metal shaft pointed upward. Fortunately, lightning didn't strike but got far too close.

By mid-afternoon, the experiments were done and we did nest checks. One failed Bluebird nest of
5 eggs. A predator got the female. The male is still around, defending the cavity and calling for his mate. But the eggs are over a week past the latest hatch date and the deep nest was slowly collapsing onto them. Cleaned it out.

The good news is one EABB nest with 5 nestlings plus four TRES nests with at least 15 nestlings and 18 Purple Martin nests with 7 (maybe 8 or 9) hatchlings and 18 eggs (in six nests). If the SY pairs with the 10 empty nests get on-the-ball soon, it should be a pretty good year.

I watch the birds around here a lot and always have but it's even more enjoyable to do it with a real purpose. Personality Profile experiments were a great way to get to know the birds a bit better.

Take care,

R J 'Tree' Greenwood
Catlett VA

Oh, Tree. I really enjoyed your story, except, the part where you and your wife got under the umbrella with a little storm going on.

About a week ago, it was thundering off a distance from me and I was pretty busy in the house. All of a sudden, the worst bolt of lightening and thundering hit and it fried my computer, my main TV in the den and the spy cam in the backyard nestbox that was hooked up to it and fried the answering machine and telephone in the kitchen. I did not realize it had gotten so close. I usually unplug things during a bad storm, but did not have time.

Today, my husband found it had hit a large pine tree about 6 ft. from my bedroom and about 20 ft. from my computer. I guess we are lucky it didn 't get everything in the house or start a fire.

I am back in business with computer and other things, but it was really a bad thing. Just a few years ago, a couple of young guys lost their lives by lightening in the back of a truck not far from here on a dove hunting trip.

I don 't mean to sound so pessimistic, but this is pretty fresh on my mind.

Take care,

Evelyn

Tree,

Thank you for such an informative summary of your experience with the
Personality Profiles experiment. We are glad you are having fun with it. In
fact, I have heard from many people expressing the same sentiments: the
birds reactions were surprising and conducting this experiment was really
fun. Watching animal behaviors is fascinating, and even more so when what
we think will happen turns out not to be the case!

What Tree describes below is an accurate summation of the experiment, not
only is it fun, it is easy! We really need your participation in helping us
examine how bird personalities differ across habitats and regions, within
species, between genders, etc.

A few points worth repeating:
* It is not too late to join TBN for 2006
* Personality Profiles can be conducted on any species using a wooden
nest box
* One experiment takes about one hour (assuming you can find a brown
leaf quickly!)
* Experiments should be conducted when nestlings are 7-10 days old
* Experiments can be conducted on second and third nest attempts, so
there is still plenty of time left in the season
* More information is available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/

Thank you in advance for your contributions to science!

Tina Phillips
The Birdhouse Network
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 3:30 PM
Subject: TBN News Update - Wood Duck cam

Have you seen the latest?
For almost a week now we have been enjoying views of a female Wood Duck incubating 10 eggs in Texas. The first egg was laid on May 28th, so we'll expect to see ducklings sometime around the beginning of July. Enjoy!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/wodu_tx/

We have about 3 days to hatch day for an Eastern Bluebird nest in Kentucky:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/eabl_ky_cces1/
Five Tree Swallows hatched early last week in Oregon:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/w_bluebird_or/
And another Prothonotary Warbler nest is under construction in Texas:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/pro_warb_tx/

Data on over 2000 nest boxes have been entered
Have you ever been frustrated by entering data on each nest box and nest attempt, as opposed to simply submitting your summary at the end of the season? If so, we invite you to click on the following link for an explanation from the Director of Citizen Science written last fall:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/instructions/document.2006-04-14.1824446388

Many of you have already begun entering your data for the 2006 season, and we thank you for your effort!

From: BlueBirder2838 [mailto:bluebirder2838"at"comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2006 11:09 AM
Subject: Issue with Bluebird-L Automated Format Instructions

Dear Tina, Megan and Interested List Members,

Several years ago, I took over the job of helping Bluebird-L subscribers who needed assistance either switching formats (e.g., regular list to digest) or unsubscribing from Fawzi Emad. Usually, if I see someone trying to unsubscribe to the List, I email them off list with the instructions from Cornell. I was just made aware of a situation that might have implications for using the Cornell instructions correctly.

Yesterday, I had an email exchange with a nice fellow from Simsbury, CT, who let me know that his Internet Service Provider, which happens to be SBC (sbcglobal.net), does not allow an email to be sent with a blank subject line. He was therefore unable to complete the change of List format using the correct instructions. My husband, who is a computer “genius”, tells me that because Spammers use blank subject lines in order to avoid the ISP’s spam filters, ISPs are increasingly blocking users from leaving subject lines blank.

Would you provide me with alternate instructions, if possible, for folks who are unable to follow the instructions as currently written?

By the way, my husband was able to suggest a way around this issue for the fellow from Simsbury, but it only works part of the time, depending on your provider. Please email me off list if you are in need of this suggestion.

Donna in Marlborough, Ct

From: Megan Whitman [mailto:mlw57"at"cornell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 1:30 PM
Subject: TBN News Update - Watch bluebirds in real time

New streaming video from an Eastern Bluebird nest in Texas!

The first of four eggs was laid on June 17th, so we hope to see some nestlings in early July.  Take a look for yourself and enjoy!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/bluebird_tx/

If any of you are experiencing difficulty viewing the streaming video, please refer to the following link for reconfiguring QuickTime:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx/reconfigure

Continued at The Birdhouse Network (TBN) (Part 2)