The project begins!

The nuthatch team has begun preparing for placing nest boxes! The first step in the process is to find the areas on campus most abundant with Brown-headed Nuthatches. We have 5 sites on campus which we know possess their ideal habitat: pine stands.

Ellunde searching for Brown-headed Nuthatches after hearing their distinctive call

We went to each stand to survey the number of BHNU present. Even though they are small, inconspicuous birds, there are some tricks to finding them! Firstly, they tend to be most abundant at the very tops of pine trees. But, if they are making their way down the trunk, they climb down head first! Secondly, they have a very distinctive call: it sounds EXACTLY like a dog chew toy (yes, we asked the dogs!); check out the call here.

We have also tested our nest box/camera set up. The cameras will be placed inside the nest box from the top, and the boxes will be attached to long conduit poles!

Corina placing the video camera inside the nest box

Corina and Kevin building the test nest box

Now that the prototype has proven to work, we will be purchasing the rest of the nest boxes (19 more!). If you are interested in setting up your own nest box for Brown-headed Nutchatches, check out the Atlanta Audubon's website! Your purchase a ready-to-use nest box with tips suggestions for placement! Check out there website here.