An improved method to monitor nest attentiveness using radio-telemetry

An improved method of automatically monitoring nest attentiveness was designed and tested using radio-equipped American Woodcock (Scolopax minor). Shielded coaxial cable (RG-58) was extended from a receiver and placed 30 cm above the nest, with a 3.8 cm section of the inner wire exposed. Presence, absence, and activity of birds within 10.1 ? 5.2 m (SD) of the nest were clearly indicated on a Rustrak recorder while extraneous signal interference was minimized.