Public Outreach

Image Source: Stocksy United

The NestWatch website is well designed and easy to navigate. Filling out Nest Check Data sheets is straight forward and the instructions on how to do so are clear. It is also nice that these can be filled out as a hard copy, online, or through an app. I believe this allows people of all ages and “technology comfort levels” to participate.

I discovered this program via an online search for citizen science projects. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most public locations are closed so I am not sure if the program is advertised outside of the online space. However, I believe that creating promotional materials to share with bird stores, pet stores, zoos, and national park visitor centers would be very useful in advertising this program. 

The NestWatch website provides “Right Bird, Right House” information. This helps participants identify which birds are common in their area, as well as what style of nest box these species prefer. It also includes instructions on how to build these nest boxes. However, I think another way that NestWatch could engage with participants would be to create “NestWatch kits.” Each kit would include a specific species nesting box, a stuffed toy of that bird species (Audubon has a great collection of bird plushes that play the bird's signature song when squeezed), a fact sheet about the species' natural history, and a hardcopy of the NestWatch manual. These kits could be purchased on the NestWatch website, or at any of the aforementioned establishments. They would make great gifts for parents and grandparents to buy for children, as they would be educational and would encourage quality time together. They would also be ideal for classrooms, making it easier for teachers to get kids excited about birds. 

I believe the NestWatch program has a positive impact on conservation from an educational perspective because it encourages scientific literacy and provides a way for individuals to connect with nature in their own backyards. While the main purpose of the program is scientific in nature, the education of participants is also a desired outcome. I believe NestWatch does an excellent job of making the data collected available and easy for the public to understand, allowing them to appreciate how their observations contribute to scientific research and bird conservation.