Help Support Dublin’s Nest Boxes
For the past 35 years, the City of Dublin has worked to provide sustainable habitats for Central Ohio’s native birds. Cavity nesters particularly face many threats, but through the efforts of volunteers and City staff creating and maintaining nest boxes, we have been able to keep bluebird, tree swallow, chickadee, kestrel, owl and prothonotary warbler numbers higher than they likely be without supplemental housing availability.
Bird Species Supported by Dublin’s Nest Boxes
- Bluebirds
- Purple martins
- Chimney swifts
In addition to City volunteers and staff, several Dublin residents also have nest boxes on their property. But to support native species, nest boxes take a commitment to monitor, or they end up supporting invasive European sparrows who will kill the native species at the next box. Homeowners who put up nest boxes to support kestrels, screech owls or barred owls won’t have to monitor them. Those birds take care of invaders on their own!
Ways You Can Help
- Volunteer with Dublin’s Bluebird Monitoring Team
- Build a Nest Box in your own backyard
- Get outdoors and enjoy bird watching in one of Dublin’s 60+ parks
Bluebird Monitoring Team
Training Session
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
6 p.m.
Contact volunteer@dublin.oh.us to RSVP
Keep Dublin’s blue bird population healthy and plentiful in parks and on public land by monitoring blue bird boxes and maintaining box standards.
The Dublin Bluebird Monitoring volunteer team consists of 15 volunteers who monitor over 60 bird boxes in Dublin parks each birding season, which usually lasts March through July, depending on the weather.
In 2021, 95 songbirds (bluebird, wren and swallows) fledged with the help of the volunteer team monitoring and checking the boxes weekly.
If you are interested in learning more about this volunteer opportunity, please reach out to volunteer@dublin.oh.us. Training is offered and the next session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16.
Nest Box Locations In Dublin
Bluebird Nest Boxes
Bluebirds find shelter in Dublin at a grid of six bluebird nest boxes. This bluebird trail is located in Coffman Park at 5952 Post Road. The original nine boxes were made possible by Darlene Sillick and Dublin resident Ralph Windsor. The three bluebird boxes near the creek were removed later due to their proximity to bushes and too many sparrows inhabited the boxes.
With more than 30 years of experience building bluebird boxes, Ralph built the bluebird boxes for this grid. You can visit an above ground marker near box PN6 that dedicates the grid to Ralph.
Purple Martin House
Dublin is home to a beautiful purple martin house, gifted to the City by the Pluff family in honor of resident Mike Pluff’s father who hand built the house in 1987. The house is located at the Wall Street pond. Michael generously donated this beautifully-built martin house to the City of Dublin. The Pluff family hopes the martin house serves the city and its residents with many chances to enjoy the small energetic birds that will call the nest box their home!
Chimney Swifts Nest Tower
Another cavity-nesting bird, chimney swifts also call Dublin home. One of the most reliable locations for viewing swifts is in Dublin behind Sells Middle School on U.S. 33/S.R. 161 just west of North High Street. Families and birders bring lounge chairs at dusk to wait in the fading sunlight for the swifts to begin their mostly counter-clockwise flight around the large brick chimney. This is an annual event in late summer in Dublin. The chimney tower provides critical cavity nest box habitat for hundreds of swifts. The hope is that the chimney nest tower will be around a long time and preserved for the birds.
Birding In Dublin
Sampling of Birds Annual Use of the Area Along the Scioto River at Bridge Park and Kiwanis Riverway Park
E = State Endangered T= State Threatened S=Species of Concern, I = Species of Interest
*= Federally Listed N= Nests in this area
Note: common species such as cardinals, bluejays, etc. are not listed as these species already utilize this section of Dublin.
Species of Concern are close to being listed as state threatened species, Species of Interest are on watch as their numbers are dwindling, reproduction may be greatly down and habitat loss can push them into a dire situation.
2020 seasonal data and latest sightings of fall/winter species noted in (). Most warbler/flycatcher/vireo species are present in the spring and fall migrations, May-June and again September-October
- Acadian flycatcher
- Alder flycatcher
- American bitter
- American black duck – I
- American pipit
- American wigeon
- Bald Eagle (year-round) (Jan. 13, 2021)
- Baltimore oriole – N
- Bank swallow (May 2020)
- Barn swallow
- Bay-breasted warbler
- Black-billed cuckoo – S
- Black-crowned night heron – T
- Black-throated blue warbler
- Blackburnian warbler- I
- Blackpoll warbler (October 2020)
- Blue-headed vireo – I
- Bonapartes gull (October 2020)
- Broad-winged hawk
- Brown creeper – I
- Canada warbler – I
- Cape May warbler
- Cerulean warbler – S
- Chestnut-sided warbler
- Cliff swallow
- Common merganser – I
- Common Nighthawk – S
- Eastern wood peewee
- Gadwell – I
- Golden-crowned kinglet- I
- Golden-winged warbler – I
- Green-winged teal – I
- Grey-cheeked thrush
- Hairy woodpecker – N
- Henslow’s sparrow – S
- Hermit thrush – I
- Hooded warbler
- Kirtland’s Warbler – E*
- Least flycatcher – I
- Lesser scaup
- Lesser yellowlegs
- Lincoln’s sparrow
- Louisianna waterthrush
- Magnolia warbler – I
- Marsh Wren- S
- Merlin (Fall)
- Mourning warbler – I
- Nashville warbler – I
- Northern parula
- Northern Pintail – I
- Northern shoveler – I
- Northern swallow-N (primarily under I-270 bridge and will use John Shields walking bridge if struts underneath provide any shelves)
- Olive-sided flycatcher
- Orange-crowned warbler
- Orchard oriole
- Osprey (April-September)
- Palm warbler
- Philadelphia warbler
- Pileated woodpecker
- Pine siskin- I (30 were sighted at the City’s Service Center in January 2021)
- Pine warbler
- Prairie warbler
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Redhead – I
- Rose-breasted grosbeak – N
- Ross’s goose
- Rusty blackbird
- Sandhill crane (December 2020)
- Sedge wren- S
- Snow goose
- Solitary sandpiper
- Spotted sandbpiper
- Surf scoter (Jan. 13, 2021)
- Swainson’s thrush
- Swamp sparrow (November 2020)
- Tennessee warbler
- Trumpeter swan
- Tundra swan (January 8, 2021)
- Veery – I
- Warbling vireo
- White-crowned sparrow
- White-eyed vireo
- Willow flycatcher
- Wilson’s phalarope- I
- Wilson’s snipe- I
- Wilson’s warbler
- Winter wren- I
- Woodcock
- Yellow-rumped warbler
