Thank you for your interest in participating in the Food Web Project!

Below is some background information about what information I'm trying to collect. Basically, I need a pool of active chickadee nests so that I can collect supplementary data for my dissertation. Volunteers monitor nests and re-sight color-banded birds and we do the rest. Last year was my pilot season, and I had 70 volunteering yards, which had about 35 chickadee nests, and 25 that fledged and we were able to collect all of the data I needed. I'm hoping to increase the pool this year by adding more volunteering yards.
1) Background Information:
I'm a PhD student with Univ of Del (UD) and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) investigating how non-native trees and urbanization affect food resources, particularly insect based food, for breeding birds. My advisers include both Dr. Pete Marra from SMBC and Dr. Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at UD. I work within the Neighborhood Nestwatch (http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/research/neighborhood_nestwatch/) framework, a citizen science program through SMBC that has been occurring yearly since 2002.
I'm currently looking for additional yards within my study area (DC metro and beyond) to increase our sample size of Carolina chickadee nests. In order to participate in the study, there are a few requests:
1. Monitor any active nests in your nest boxes (any cavity nester, check contents every 3-4 days) according to our protocol and submit data to the project (more info coming soon)
2. If your nest is chosen for supplementary data, Smithsonian interns will be allowed access to your yard from April-July (I will you contact you with details and schedules)
3. Remove any supplementary feeding (including mealworms, bird seed and suet) from April-July
1) Background Information:
I'm a PhD student with Univ of Del (UD) and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) investigating how non-native trees and urbanization affect food resources, particularly insect based food, for breeding birds. My advisers include both Dr. Pete Marra from SMBC and Dr. Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at UD. I work within the Neighborhood Nestwatch (http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/research/neighborhood_nestwatch/) framework, a citizen science program through SMBC that has been occurring yearly since 2002.
I'm currently looking for additional yards within my study area (DC metro and beyond) to increase our sample size of Carolina chickadee nests. In order to participate in the study, there are a few requests:
1. Monitor any active nests in your nest boxes (any cavity nester, check contents every 3-4 days) according to our protocol and submit data to the project (more info coming soon)
2. If your nest is chosen for supplementary data, Smithsonian interns will be allowed access to your yard from April-July (I will you contact you with details and schedules)
3. Remove any supplementary feeding (including mealworms, bird seed and suet) from April-July

2) Supplementary Data:
From the larger pool of active chickadee nests, I choose a subset of them for supplementary data collection. The number of yards chosen is primarily limited by how many sites my technicians and I can visit and those yards that best represent our data needs. Some of our supplementary data includes color-banding adults and nestlings, recording foraging behavior of adults, video-taping nests, and extensive searching for caterpillars. These sites that we collect supplementary data on are visited 2-3 times a week during the duration of the nest (~40 days). You do not need to be present for any of the visits however, you and your neighbors are more than welcome to observe if you are available during that time. Chickadees start nesting April 1st until about mid-June so at any point during this time you may get an active nest and let me know.
Even if I am unable to collect supplementary data on your nesting pair, of course, I hope that you will submit data on any cavity nesters that use your current nest boxes and we will be able to use that data in our analyses. As the breeding season gets closer, I send more information for participants, including the website and data entry form.
If all of the above sounds good to you, please let me know and I will put you on my list of participants so that you receive all of the information you need to participate. Right now, the only yards I am able to supply nest boxes to are those that 1) have many non-native trees 2) are highly 'urban' or 3) new developments (last 15 years or so). If you don't fit that description, you can always still participate if you have active nests in nest boxes of your own!
From the larger pool of active chickadee nests, I choose a subset of them for supplementary data collection. The number of yards chosen is primarily limited by how many sites my technicians and I can visit and those yards that best represent our data needs. Some of our supplementary data includes color-banding adults and nestlings, recording foraging behavior of adults, video-taping nests, and extensive searching for caterpillars. These sites that we collect supplementary data on are visited 2-3 times a week during the duration of the nest (~40 days). You do not need to be present for any of the visits however, you and your neighbors are more than welcome to observe if you are available during that time. Chickadees start nesting April 1st until about mid-June so at any point during this time you may get an active nest and let me know.
Even if I am unable to collect supplementary data on your nesting pair, of course, I hope that you will submit data on any cavity nesters that use your current nest boxes and we will be able to use that data in our analyses. As the breeding season gets closer, I send more information for participants, including the website and data entry form.
If all of the above sounds good to you, please let me know and I will put you on my list of participants so that you receive all of the information you need to participate. Right now, the only yards I am able to supply nest boxes to are those that 1) have many non-native trees 2) are highly 'urban' or 3) new developments (last 15 years or so). If you don't fit that description, you can always still participate if you have active nests in nest boxes of your own!
![]() Thank you for reading this description, and for your interest in helping us study urban birds! None of our work in this unique study is possible without the help of homeowners like yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at any time.
Desiree [email protected] |