2002 Nest Box Cam
Carolina Chickadee

This year a pair of chickadees began nesting earlier than the house wrens and raised a successful brood with wrens later nesting in a gourd just 8' away from their nest box, even before the chickadee eggs had hatched. 8 wren gourds were placed in the pines and four were used so far with no nestboxes raided by wrens. However, wrens have been seen inspecting empty boxes placed in the pines for the great crested flycatchers. Infrared video in the nestbox was recorded 24 hours each day in case the wrens, chipmunk, or other predator should enter the box, but the nesting was uneventful.

While the unusually cold windy weather this spring took a toll on the barn swallows' first broods, it didn't bother the chickadees one bit. I wouldn't be surprised if the female chickadee actually gained weight during this period. Both adults continually brought mouthfuls of tent caterpillars and other insects to the nestlings during the worst weather. Whenever the stuffed nestlings would not gape, the adults would finally swallow the prey themselves. All five nestlings fledged with no problems.

The following still photos are taken from a single frame of video from the vhs tapes. This process results in a substantial loss of quality compared to the original camera image and vhs tape.

other nestboxes with cameras
attracting Barn Swallows
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barn owl American kestrel purple martin barn swallow Eastern bluebird
tufted titmouse Eastern phoebe yellow shafted flicker tree swallow chimney swift
house wren big brown bat Carolina wren brown thrasher catbird
eastern wood-pewee . . .

© 2002, American Artifacts and Richard Van Vleck, Taneytown, Maryland.