Thank you for your interest in our nestcam grant project for schools and other educational organizations. The Virginia Bluebird Society is eager for young people to learn about our bluebird conservation efforts, and what better way than to offer a live feed view inside the nest box to learn about the lifecycle of our native cavity nesting birds.
Virginia Bluebird Society will provide you with the following:
• Bluebird nest box with false roof
• Predator guards ( stove pipe baffle and noel guard)
• Hawk Eye HD Nature Cam
• 100’ RCA (audio-video in) cable
• Teacher’s guide
The nest cam comes with 100’ of cable and needs to be run into the school through a window or other means. Many schools have drilled into the school, run the cable then sealed it back up. It is cable ready for live feed on a TV or VCR. To convert it to be shown on a computer you need a converter that can change from analog to digital. More information on hook up is on the website www.birdhousespycam.com.
Some schools have run the cable into the library or science lab where many students rotate through. Many have used a converter and network it throughout the whole school. Some even have put it on You Tube for anyone to watch. One IT Department shared what they purchased in order to use a computer to network the feed:
The birds do not seem to mind being close to a window and the building. They will use the roof of the school to perch on and drop down to feed the babies. We have even seen success with nest boxes in courtyards surrounded by buildings. The box needs to be monitored weekly March – August which is breeding season. The first brood will usually hatch and fledge before school is out. Most bluebirds will have 2-3 broods per season which means someone must monitor weekly even after school is out. We allow any native bird to build and raise their family in the box … just NO house sparrows. This is why monitoring is so crucial. If house sparrows are building you must keep cleaning out their nest to allow the native birds to use the box. Other birds that may use the box are Carolina Chickadees, Titmice, House Wrens, Carolina Wrens, Tree Swallows and Brown Headed Nuthatches (in the southern portion of the state).