With the season of baby birds now here, it is important for ornithologists to collect data on nest construction, successful nestling development, and overall care from adults. To do this, nest boxes must be constructed and mounted properly.

It’s been difficult to get out birding as much as we’d like during the shut-down. That gives us a great opportunity to brush up on our birding skills and knowledge from the comfort of our homes.

The November Potomac Flier article “Three Billion Birds,” shared 7 Simple Steps to help birds published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute. The 7th step, “Watch Birds, Share What You See” encourages birdwatching and citizen science. Data collected through simple observation can have profound results.

Wild bird populations in the continental US and Canada have declined by almost 30% since 1970, representing a loss of nearly 3 billion birds. This loss astounded Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist, Ken Rosenberg. Rosenberg led an international team of scientists from seven institutions in the analysis of population trends for 529 bird species. The journal Science published the study results in September.