The Birdseye View
It's breeding season in the northern hemisphere, but bird lovers who are stuck indoors don't have to miss out on the action. Thanks to clearer video, infrared sensors for better nighttime viewing, and the tendency of hatchlings to stay put while mom or dad sallies forth to find food, webcams trained on bird nests are a lot more fun to watch than they were even a few years ago. Operators of some nestcams, such as the Decorah Eagle Cam in Iowa, even pan and zoom their lenses throughout the day so web watchers get close up and wide-angle views.
The following sites have active nests (as of late April 2011.) Some have been drawing large crowds, so if too many people log on at once, you may need to refresh your screen to get the video feed going again. If you prefer your cyber–birding a la carte, check out View Nesting Birds, which keeps an updated list of hundreds of live birdcams around the globe. No binocs required.