Melissa and Dennis Sherwood of Gig Harbor had a nest box of Juncos this spring, which is the first time in over a hundred years that Cornell could find any record of Juncos using a nest box.  Project NestWatch signed up Melissa and made her jump through a bunch of hoops to verify this, and now it’s in the history books!

The nest box was designed for swallows, but a rodent had apparently enlarged the entry hole, and these extra-smart Juncos knew what to do with it in April 2016.

A swallow house with a gnawed-out entrance hole was used by Juncos! (Photo by Melissa Sherwood)

Cornell required Melissa to climb a ladder at two different stages to check on the viability of the nest, take photographs and measurements, and log the trips to the box by the parents.  Melissa was shaking the first time she went up and looked into the box and accidentally pushed it askew, but all was well.

Measurements were among the requests from Cornell’s Project NestWatch (Photo/Melissa Sherwood)

Finally in May, Melissa went up the ladder one last time and startled a nestful of chicks out of the box, but they could fly well enough that they weren’t hurt.  The Sherwoods quit worrying when they observed the parents continuing to feed the young for quite some time.

The now-famous nestbox Juncos successfully fledged young! (Photo/Melissa Sherwood)

The experience has now been published by Cornell’s Project NestWatch, and you can see it here: http://nestwatch.org/connect/news/nestwatcher-finds-first-dark-eyed-junco-nesting-in-a-birdhouse/?utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=b800c90c02-Cornell+Lab+eNews+06_13_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-b800c90c02-302790209