Is there An Idiot's Guide to Nest Checking?

AvianStewardess · Mon May 27, 2013 4:59 am

Hello, Everybody! Did you enjoy your little break from my annoying questions? Hope so; I've tried to do well without you, but alas I see chaos ahead...

Been doing my nest checks, every 5 days. I am up to three nests having eggs: 5, 1 and 1, but there's a few more nests that look to be only a day or two behind. So, my little brain started working out how one manages checking on nests and I've gotten myself all worked up.

For the nest that has five eggs, shouldn't I do another nest check today to see if there is a 6th egg or if that nest is all done so I can start counting incubating days correctly? Do I do nest checks daily now that the eggs are coming?

Thank you, as always, for helping me do this right!

~Ray~Gingerich · Mon May 27, 2013 6:09 am

You don't have to, 5-7 days is good. You can get all that info on your next scheduled check. Do you have the Prognosticator sold by pmca? If not it's highly recommended and a great tool for nest checks.

pmlover · Mon May 27, 2013 7:21 am

ray
what is a pronosticator

~Ray~Gingerich · Mon May 27, 2013 8:02 am

it's a circular chart, matches number of eggs with dates and forcast when eggs will hatch or the young fledge

Louise Chambers · Mon May 27, 2013 8:51 am

The combo of baby photos and Prognosticator is the most helpful pair of tools for monitoring that I know of, other than paper and pencil.

http://shop.purplemartin.org/Monitoring_Tools-list.aspx

Age babies the first nest check after they hatch with the photos. Plug that number into the Prog wheel and you'll have their earliest possible fledge date, so you know when to start using plug & string during late nest checks.

Michelle, as long as you can figure the date the first egg was laid, that's the key date to know. You don't have to do daily checks, but you can if it helps you. Aging the nestlings will tell you the date of first egg, hatch, and projected fledge -fun with numbers! and dates!

DebA · Mon May 27, 2013 9:08 am

Which is exactly why I love using the electronic data sheet (link to it found in one of the beginning sticky notes on the forum). I bring in my pen and paper and sit down and very easily plug in my information. Once you put the date of the first egg the computer populates when it will hatch. Once your clutch is done and you put in how many eggs are in the clutch the computer tells you earliest possible fledge date. It is great!

It is an Excel program and you have to get a little used to it. Scroll to the right to find the abbreviations PMCA uses.

For efficiency and speed since she has a large colony and does nest checks by herself, Kathy F., uses a pocket micro recorder and just speaks into it and then later plays it as she inputs her info. Some day I just may get to having to do that!

Deb

Curtis Reil · Mon May 27, 2013 10:56 am

I haven't tried using the baby photos as of yet. I was able to catch onto figuring hatch/fledge dates easy enough but I ordered a prognosticator for my wife and I can attest that it is a very slick & useful tool. It will save some head scratching and talking to yourself while crunching numbers. I will most certainly be employing the use of a pocket recorder for doing nest checks as well. That is an absolutely fantastic idea!!!

AvianStewardess · Tue May 28, 2013 5:02 am

Louise Chambers wrote:You'll have their earliest possible fledge date, so you know when to start using plug & string during late nest checks.

This sentence is what has me scratching my head over this whole process. How do I do plug & string? It was sooooo much easier when I had just the one pair to monitor!

Louise Chambers · Tue May 28, 2013 8:14 am

http://www.purplemartin.org/forumarchiv ... eckold.htm

bwenger · Tue May 28, 2013 8:41 pm

Michelle,

And you thought this was going to be easy!

Bill

AvianStewardess · Wed May 29, 2013 5:29 am

Thank you, Louise, for the link! I'm going to need to be all kinds of brave before this day comes! Heck, I'm nervous now worried that I'll disturb their little nests too much! I'll start my chanting practice now "I can do it; I CAN do it!"

bwenger · Wed May 29, 2013 6:52 am

Michelle,

Wait till you drop the house and open up a cavity and there will be a female sitting on the nest. You can talk to her in a soothing voice, slowly reach in there and pick it up and check for any bands.

Then you can look at it eye to eye and tell her how happy you are with her choosing your colony to raise her young.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Bill

willbird · Thu May 30, 2013 7:44 am

bwenger wrote:Michelle,

Wait till you drop the house and open up a cavity and there will be a female sitting on the nest. You can talk to her in a soothing voice, slowly reach in there and pick it up and check for any bands.

Then you can look at it eye to eye and tell her how happy you are with her choosing your colony to raise her young.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Bill

I did open on the house when I had the old tin 12 cavity setup, the first one I ever got Martins in (wow now I may have more in better housing wheeee) and found a female in there on the eggs, she did not spook, was neato :-).

AvianStewardess · Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:32 am

"there will be a female sitting on the nest." This may very well happen during today's nest check. There's one female who seems to be incubating far more than the others; can't say that I've spotted her outside her compartment for perhaps three, four days now. Sure hope she's calm and can "talk" me through it!