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June 5: This nest has five eggs. The parents build their nest around 1.5-2 inches thick. The first layer is completely grass, with a small cup in the middle. Feathers are then added to provide some cushion for the eggs. Normal clutch sizes are anywhere from five to seven eggs, but can have numbers as low as three and as high as nine. This nest has only five eggs and are currently being incubated.

June 15: The chicks are hatched!! 12 days after the second to last egg is laid, the eggs hatch, with the chicks being pink, bald, and blind. The mother regurgitates food to their chicks and are kept very busy.

June 16: Today we captured the female! We often use a black trap with KV tape perfectly placed so that the trap falls when a bird enters. Sometimes we get lucky and the bird is sitting there for us when we walk up to the box, but some fly away as soon as we come anywhere close. We put a band around their leg so that they can be tracked all over the Americas!! We also measure beak length, mass (by sticking them upside down in a cup), wing length, and other variables that can be used to track overall health.