Breeding seaon is in full swing at Beidler for our colorful Prothonotary Warblers. Our first individual arrived on March 25, and within 10 days several pairs were already setting up nesting sites!

It has been a busy season so far. This year we have a total of 19 strategically placed nest boxes throughout the swamp that we check twice a week. Approximately half of those boxes have been used so far and we suspect more will be in this next brood cycle. Prothonotary Warblers can have as many as 3 brood cycles per season, so many of our females are gearing up for Round 2. As of this writing, 43 (!) eggs have been laid and 29 nestlings have successfully fledged from their nests. You can see several of these fledglings still being fed by parents as you walk along the boardwalk.

Out on the grassland trails, we also have 11 nest boxes set up for Eastern Bluebirds that we check twice a week. Half of these boxes have been used so far, and like the Prothonotaries, Bluebirds can have multiple brood cycles so we will probably see more of these boxes being used. We’ve reported 15 eggs so far and 13 fledglings! We can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.

It is a busy time of year at Beidler and that is certainly true for our nesting team. We could not do this important work without:

1. Our dedicated volunteers giving their time, passion, and energy to collecting this data alongside our staff
2. Our amazing donors that supply nest boxes, materials, and funds to keep the monitoring project going.
    

The birds and all of us here at Beidler thank you for your help. You are contributing to valuable research that furthers the conservation of these important avian species.

Interested in supporting this special project? Click here to donate. 

If you are interested in joining our volunteer team to help with important bird research, let us know you're interested here!

Want to learn more about Prothonotary Warbler nest monitoring at Beidler Forest and get real-time stats? Click here to land on our nest monitoring page!