May 29, 2014

Nest Boxes for Urban Birds Email #5

You are receiving this because you expressed interest in Tucson Audubon's NEST BOXES FOR URBAN BIRDS pilot project. You may unsubscribe at the bottom of this email. Here are some updates on the project.

Some boxes are in use!

Ash-throated Flycatchers built this nest in one of our flycatcher boxes! No eggs yet but we're hoping.
Latest News

Thanks goes out to those who have put one of our temperature sensors in a nest box. We want to see if temperatures in boxes really do get so high that successful nesting is inhibited. We acquired 25 iButton sensors. Twenty-two of them are in boxes and one is outside a box to compare inside and outside temperatures. They are inside tiny Ziplock bags that are tacked to the inside of the boxes. The final two sensors will be installed side-by-side, one in a Ziplock and one not, to see if the Ziplock has an effect on the temperature reading. 

Vigilance

For those of you that have boxes up, please watch your box for activity. We want to be sure we get reports of any kind of activity around the box. Please download the instructions on how to monitor boxes at www.tucsonaudubon.org/nestbox. If there are house sparrows or starlings building nests in your box, please evict them according to the instructions in this document.  

If any questions arise, don't hesitate to contact Kendall Kroesen at (520) 209-1806. 

More Boxes?

You can put up a box at any time. However, we are mostly out of the boxes we built. Go to www.tucsonaudubon.org/nestbox to download plans for building boxes, or look for one to buy. At this point you probably won't get a nesting pair until next spring, but there will be plenty of time for birds to get used to the boxes being there before then, and that might be a good thing.

We have not had many reports of birds using the boxes yet. Indeed, that may be because we got them up too late and birds didn't have time to get comfortable with them before starting to nest. We hope you leave your box up through the winter so that birds have plenty of time to check it out in the spring of 2015. Plus, some birds nest again in monsoon season so you still have a chance this summer.

Build your own using designs we have used - Go to www.tucsonaudubon.org/nestbox, go to the bottom of the page, and download plans for either an American Kestrel or Ash-throated Flycatcher box. 

Audubon Birdhouse Book - Purchase the Audubon Birdhouse Book (2013 edition). It is now available in our Tucson Audubon Nature Shop, call 520-629-0510 or go by the shop at 300 E. University Blvd. A kestrel box design is available on page 91 (again, very similar to the design we used). For Ash-throated Flycatchers, us the "Xbox" design on page 51. 


 
 Nest box in Green Valley
Buy boxes or kits online - You can purchase a kestrel box kit online from the Peregrine Fund/American Kestrel Project. Follow this link to learn more: https://shop.peregrinefund.org

Local bird stores - Local bird stores like Wild Birds Unlimited (two locations in Tucson, one on Tanque Verde Road and one on Oracle Road) may also have boxes. If they have a screech-owl box, that would likely work both for screech-owls and kestrels.

Donations

Donations toward the nest box pilot program are welcomed. You can donate online here (in the comment box note that it's for the nest box pilot program) or call 520-209-1802. 

To learn more about the project follow this link: tucsonaudubon.org/nestbox.

Questions? E-mail: Kendall Kroesen

 

Thanks for your interest in Tucson Audubon's NEST BOXES FOR URBAN BIRDS project!

-Kendall Kroesen

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