Another nest check question

[Thomabear]

Do you guys/gals see anything negative about doing morning to noon nest checks once egg laying and the incubation phase is complete. On several occasions I've asked myself the question because it seems it would be advantageous to inspect the nest when the outside temperatures are cooler rather than hot to help eliminating a secondary stress input which may contribute to stress related jumping of nestlings. Also, this can sometimes be easier on landlords from a scheduling standpoint.

[Martintown33]

Hi thomabear.. I prefer to do nest checks, after 1 pm.. from what I’ve observed, the parents are very active feeding in the morning… makes sense , bcuz the chicks haven’t eaten all night. I notice the feeding pace slows down in the afternoon, a bit, and lots of times the chicks are sleeping at that time. This too makes sense, to conserve their energy being calm at the hottest time of the day. When they are very young , the chicks hardly even wake up when I do nest checks.. obviously as they get older they scoot around during nest checks.. but if your schedule only allows you to do nest checks in the morning, I would just try to do them as quickly as possible. Early nest checks are better than no nest checks, right?
Good luck,
Rob

[C.C.Martins]

Gotta remember too a chicks body temp is 103 degrees. Cooler temps aren't more advantageous to them.

[Thomabear]

Thanks for the replies. What you guys said makes perfect sense to me. Being retired It's very rare that I have to do morning checks. It's been bugging me so I had to ask. I didn't think about the key points yall have made.

[John Barrow]

Thomabear,

Egg laying is typically in the early hours of morning. Louise and I are doing nest checks starting around 11 am. If left to afternoon options we are squeezing in an hour around 500 pm. When I was banding we often started pulling nestlings around 9 am, doing multiple colonies throughout the morning. The only potential conflict with egg laying IMO, was doing during geolocator projects that started at fist light; but at a time when egg laying had pretty much ended. I see no problem with nest checks right now in LA starting at 10 or 11 am.
And you're right the heat has been brutal this season.

[Thomabear]

Good information! Thanks for sharing John

[Conrad Baker]

I try to do mine mid-afternoon if the adults are away. But right now they seem to be in a feeding frenzy feeding the young, so I'm not doing any right now. Even though I only have three houses, it seems to take a little longer than I care to disturb them. I guess what I'm trying to say is I would do the nest check when there is the least activity, but as stated earlier, the adults are real busy right now constantly feeding the younguns.

[Thomabear]

Got ya Conrad. I can relate to the feeding frenzy. I added a 24 compartment rack and filled 22 of them. Seems Martins are everywhere all day long. My nest checks are in the afternoon but I thought I would throw the question out there in case of the rare occasion I have to check in the morning.

[Conrad Baker]

I don't think it would cause any problems, especially if they are used to your presence.