Prothonotary Warbler
Hoover Nature Preserve, which encompasses over 925 acres split into multiple areas at the north end of Hoover Reservoir, provides habitat for a variety of species. Of special note are the Prothonotary Warblers, and Charlie Bombaci has made it a special project to promote their well-being.
As of 2008, Charlie has put up 250 nest boxes in the Hoover Nature Preserve in Delaware County. Providing these nesting sites has produced impressive results. The boxes themselves contained 83 breeding pairs of Prothonotary Warblers. In addition, another 102 pairs nested in natural cavities, for a total of 185 pairs of Prothonotary Warblers in the area in which nest boxes are placed. Keep in mind that Prothonotary Warblers typically build several false nests in addition to their real nests, so many of Charlie's nest boxes are used by the warblers as "decoys" containing these false nests. This makes the 83 real nests even more impressive. On top of that, some of the boxes also provided nesting sites for House and Carolina Wrens, Carolina Chickadees, and other cavity-nesting birds.
| Here's a chart showing the increasing number of Prothonotary Warbler nesting pairs in the Hoover Nature Preserve over the past twenty years. The jump in numbers from 2005 to 2006 is partially an artifact of the monitoring process. From 1987 through 2005 all monitoring was done by foot. Starting in 2006, monitoring was done by foot and by boat, courtesy of Shaune Skinner and her father, Jim Skinner. |
 Prothonotary Warbler Nesting Pairs at Hoover NP |
Charlie also conducts breeding bird surveys of the area each spring and frequently shows birders around the preserve. And the Hoover Nature Preserve project has drawn the attention of researchers from Ontario who are working on Prothonotary Warbler programs of their own.
If you would like to see more details about the success of the Prothonotary Warbler program, we have a chart of nesting results. , we have a chart as well as some recent photos of Prothonotary Warblers and other birds that use the nest boxes.
Columbus Audubon is proud to support the Hoover NP Prothonotary project; if you would like to contribute, you can make a donation to CA to support the project. For more information or to learn how you can help, contact Charlie Bombaci directly.
 Prothonotary Warbler watching his territory |
 Is the Prothonotary Warbler the prettiest of them all? |
 Prothonotary Warbler peering out from nest cavity |
