In March of 2005, Birdland was honored to receive funding from the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology’s Birdhouse Network to install a camera in a
nest-box occupied in prior years by Elf Owls (right-top). Little is
known about the breeding biology of this tiny raptor, the world’s
smallest owl. Our nest-cam will help Cornell better understand this
owl’s use of surrogate nest-cavities and factors contributing to
a successful nest site.
The “Azure” Bluebird (right-center) is
a subspecies of the Eastern Bluebird, which is rarely found west of the
Rocky Mountains. In southeastern Arizona, the range of the Eastern,
Western and Mountain Bluebirds overlaps.
The Acorn Woodpecker (bottom-left), a regular
around the house, has worked tirelessly to get into the box using his
powerful beak to peck through the predator guard, installed to prevent
larger birds from getting into the box. This year we decided the
woodpeckers deserved a chance.
The photos to the right and below are from our
nest-cam, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We currently monitor
20 other standard boxes on our property.
You can monitor the progress of our nest-cam, post
your comments and view 10 other sites by logging onto Cornell’s
nest-cam Web site.
Links:
Grandfather Great Spirit,
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand,
and the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft
Earth as relatives to all that live.
