July 2, 2023

Question: We’ve been watching and sharing our photos and video from the Eastern Bluebird nest box containing the camera, and I realize I really don’t know when to use the term “clutch” vs “brood.” Can you you please help me know the correct usage?
Nancy Brown

Answer:

Cornell Nest Watch has defined these terms as follows:

Brood (n) – The young of a bird that are hatched or cared for at one time.
Brood (v) – To sit on and keep warm (chicks).
Brooding (v) – To sit on and keep young birds warm that cannot maintain their own body temperatures.
Clutch (n) – Total number of eggs laid by a female bird in one nest attempt.

We also found this explanation in Birdwatching Magazine:

A clutch is the total eggs a bird lays per each nesting attempt. Some birds have more than one nesting attempt per year. Clutch sizes differ not only among major taxonomic groups of birds and among species, but even within an individual. Different species of birds lay different numbers of eggs per clutch, but pretty much all birds lay at most one egg per day. A clutch of eggs is the total number of eggs laid in one nesting attempt.