Artificial nest box usage success at a suburban Georgia Piedmont location

Artificial nest box usage success at a suburban Georgia Piedmont location

Wooden artificial nesting boxes for cavity nesting songbirds were placed at various locations within the Georgia Piedmont area.  This project focuses on one of those sites, a suburban college campus.  The target species for the nest boxes were the Brown Headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla), the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), the Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), and the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon).

Artificial nest boxes are meant to provide birds with additional opportunities for nesting, especially in human-disturbed habitats and in areas where competitive interactions can reduce or limit nest formation. Boxes were constructed of cedar wood and had either a one-inch entrance hole to accommodate the Brown Headed Nuthatches and Carolina Chickadees, or a one-and-a-half-inch entrance hole to accommodate the larger Eastern Bluebirds. Boxes were placed either on 5-foot metal poles or attached directly to trees.

This study primarily assessed the percent usage of each box type by the target species. The vegetative characteristics of the areas surrounding the boxes were assessed. Moreover, a brief comparative analysis was completed between boxes installed on poles versus trees. The data helps determine if these species have specific preferences for box locations will help guide the future placement of boxes and increase the nesting success of the target species.