Neighborhood Nestwatch Data Summary
Nests
Since the inception of Neighborhood Nestwatch in 2000, 606 nests from 8 different kinds of birds, commonly found in Washington D.C. backyards, have been monitored.
Robin
Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Catbird
House Wren
Cardinal
Mockingbird
Song Sparrow
Table 1, below, summarizes the nest data. You can click on a column header to sort the table by that column.
| Bird | Nests1 | Success2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Key:
|
|||
| American Robin | 86 | 50% | |
| Carolina Chickadee | 32 | 72% | |
| Carolina Wren | 26 | 46% | |
| Gray Catbird | 194 | 52% | |
| House Wren | 177 | 68% | |
| Northern Cardinal | 51 | 31% | |
| Northern Mockingbird | 27 | 56% | |
| Song Sparrow | 13 | 62% | |
Preliminary analyses suggest that cavity-nesting birds, such as chickadees and house wrens, tend to have higher nesting success than open-cup nesting birds. This may be because their nests are predated less often or that they make fewer nesting attempts per season. In addition, it may be that adults don't live very long.
Birds that have a long nesting season, for example robins and cardinals, have fairly low nesting success. They may not "put all their eggs in one basket", so to speak.
Banding
To get an idea of how long backyard birds live, and to see how well individual birds raise young (and who pairs with whom), birds are marked with a unique color combination on their legs. To date, 7084 birds have been banded of which 625 have been resighted in subsequent years.
More about Neighborhood Nestwatch
