Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Trail
Hoover Nature Preserve
Nesting Year 2009
 
I finally finished the cleaning and maintenance of all 250 nest boxes. Every year when I go through this task (1) remove all old nests, (2) replace screws that are rusting, (3) apply fresh coat of wood rustoleum to the exterior, (4) replace nest boxes that are deteriorating due to age (one replaced this year was 15 years old), (5) replace nest boxes destroyed by weather, beaver and vandalism, and (6) relocate nest boxes that are attracting House Wrens only, and (7) I find boxes with nests that I hadn’t identified during the season. I also play the game of what’s behind the door when I open the boxes to clean them. The usual suspects, Deer Mice (they love to use the boxes after the birds are gone), Little Brown Bats, wasps (these boxes get cleaned after a hard freeze) were all present but this year I added a new surprise as I found Flying Squirrels in 2 boxes. Deer Mice are my favorite as they literally fly out of the nest box when I begin to remove an old nest, sometimes actually bouncing off me as they make their escape. 
 
In 2009 the usage of the nest boxes was abnormally high as the harsh wind storm in September 2008 and two additional storms in January 2009 downed a large number of old dead trees that had natural cavities. With available natural nest sites down the cavity nesting species adapted by using the nest boxes throughout the preserve. A full 178 nest boxes, or 71%, were used by Prothonotary Warblers, Tree Swallows, House Wrens or Carolina Chickadees. 72 boxes or 29% were not used to nest although some of these did contain “false nests” build by male Prothonotary Warblers.
 
Statistics:
Used by:
Prothonotary warblers                                  90            36%
Tree Swallows                                              52            21%
House Wrens                                                30            12%
Carolina Chickadees                                       6              2%
Flying Squirrels                                               2             >1%
Empty (except for false PROW nests)           72              29%
Total                                                           250           100%
 
Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve


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