Chough Nestcam live

The pictures are from our seclusion aviaries, a quiet location where we breed Red-billed Choughs as part of our long-term project for the species.

The cameras have a small set of lights inside the nestbox to illuminate activity during the day. At night, they switch to infra-red so the birds can be seen roosting, incubating eggs or brooding chicks 24 hours a day.

As well as images, there is also sound from the nests. We find this helpful to understand if the adults are doing their ‘feeding call’. This call is needed early on as the chick don’t open their eyes for a few days, so they need an audible signal to know that it is the right time to open their mouths for food.

Here is a photo of Ray at Chough HQ. During the breeding season he monitors the chicks every day, weighing them and giving supplementary feed if needed.