Tree swallow nest boxes
Panhandle Road Tree Swallow Grid
Dick Tuttle's successes with nest boxes
Tree swallows migrate to Ohio in late March or early April, from the Gulf Coast States and Central and South America. They nest in tree cavities made by woodpeckers and will use nest boxes like the ones you see in the Tree Swallow Grid on Panhandle Road. Nesting season runs from May through July. In June, almost every box in the nest box grid will be occupied by a pair of tree swallows. Go to https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tree_Swallow/ for more information on the life history of tree swallows.
Dick Tuttle started the Panhandle Road Grid in 2005 with 27 nest boxes. He built a second grid on Leonardsburg Road that had 25 nest boxes. In 2018, he combined the two grids because of problems with flooding at the Leonardsburg Road site and expanded the Panhandle Road Grid to its current footprint of 57 nest boxes.
The table shows you how productive this site has been over the last 17 years. Each year about 200 tree swallows fledged from these boxes. Dick felt this was his mosquito control program for Delaware county. Today, the tree swallow grid is monitored by members of the Delaware County Bird Club.
from Journal of the North American Bluebird Society, Winter 2006-2007
Blending Two Tree Swallow Nestbox Grids into One.pdfExpand image to read entire article
A Prolific Nestbox Grid for Tree Swallows.pdfExpand image to read entire article