Darebin Parklands Nest Box Program

(Darebin Creek Management Committee)

About the Nest Box Program

For 16 years, Rangers and volunteers have been installing, maintaining, monitoring and researching nest boxes around the 32ha Darebin Parklands. The Management Committee currently have ~150 boxes and 11 chainsaw hollows that are monitored every three weeks using a nest box camera.

Updated results can be found via social media (Instagram: darebin_parklands) and Darebin Parklands Committee website

Various species of wildlife are targeted and many animals use the boxes throughout the year.  

How it all started

Senior Ranger Peter Wiltshire noticed an Eastern Rosella trying to get inside a power pole slot to nest. By observing and realising what the bird was trying to do, a quick nest box was made and installed. Soon after, Eastern Rosellas were observed successfully nesting inside the box, and the program kicked off! The park as it’s known now is still fairly young (50 years old) hence the lack of mature trees with hollows. Nest boxes installed are targeted at hollow-dwelling species found in the park. There are some target species that are yet to successfully use boxes (e.g Red-rumped parrots, Musk lorikeets)

Darebin Parklands

Darebin Parklands has been dramatically altered from a farm and quarry in the 1800’s to a tip site and wasteland in the 1960’s and has now been revived as an urban bushland park for wildlife and enjoyed by the community. The Darebin Creek runs through the center of the park which divides it ecologically and geologically. Due to past clearing and major disturbance, most of the vegetation in the park is young and there has been a lack of tree hollows for decades.

Nest box monitoring  

Data collected helps the management committee understand:

• what species are in the park and are using the boxes
• what styles of boxes different species use
• how we can improve habitat restoration
• importance of the location of boxes
• nesting and breeding behaviours
• approximate population numbers within the park

Main species found in nest boxes

• Gould’s wattled bat
• Krefft’s glider
• Brushtail possum
• Ringtail possum
• Laughing kookaburra
• Eastern rosella
• Rainbow lorikeet
• Australian wood duck
• Chestnut teal duck
• Dusky moorhen (in floating nest boxes)
• Indian Myans - invasive

Nest box research

Years of trials and research has been undertaken to improve how the boxes are made, erected and used.

Indian Myna & Starling exclusion

• • After many trials of building all kinds of snouts, baffles and flaps to exclude Mynas and Starlings but to still allow Eastern Rosellas to enter, we found that the Mynas and Starlings could still enter boxes easily and weren’t deterred by the obstacles but the Rosellas had given up and would/could not enter the boxes
  • Darebin Parklands found the numbers of Eastern Rosellas were decreasing as the numbers of Indian Mynas were increasing. Also, the few Rosellas that did nest, ended up with their chicks dead outside of the nestboxes. We assumed that the Indian Mynas were responsible for this so a Myna trapping program was implemented. As we lowered the Myna numbers, the Rosellas came back and were able to successfully rear chicks. Subsequent research with cameras inside and outside of nestboxes has shown Indian Mynas entering a nestbox and removing and destroying the Rosella eggs. Indian Mynas will also destroy Starling eggs and remove young Starling chicks from a nestbox. Indian Mynas have also been videoed entering nestboxes and attacking both adult Eastern Rosellas and Starlings.
  • Currently, we ensure to clean out any Indian Myna nests, eggs and chicks and use external myna traps to reduce numbers

Morre information on Indian Myna webinar Peter Wiltshire presented to Yarra Ranges Council

Nest Box Design

Studies have shown that lighter coloured nest boxes keep cooler if direct sun falls on them so we use a white-based light green, water-based paint. On the very hot days, nest boxes will heat up to the ambient temperature.

• • Thinking about thermal properties appropriate for wildlife but taking into consideration cost of making a box, ease of putting it up (weight) and longevity, the group found 19mm untreated dressed pine box the best option thus far. 12mm marine ply is used for the Duck and Kookaburra boxes. A maintenance panel is built in, allowing easier access to clean out a box rather than reaching up and going in from the lid.
  • The group is currently still monitoring and researching thermal properties and materials to improve nest box quality for wildlife.
  • Over the years the group has found the easiest and safest way to attach the nestbox to the tree is by first attaching a backing plate to the tree with 2x climacoat bugle head screws. Treated pine decking is used for the back plate and put a block of the decking between the screw and plate which will slowly break as the tree grows and pulls the screw through. The block can be replaced. Do not use galvanized screws as they tend to corrode and stick to the tree. The nestbox has a key hole in the back that fits over a small bugle head screw in the backboard. This design makes the nestbox easy to safely remove and replace. It has been found that by   placing a small piece of wood at the bottom of the nestbox it helps to stabilize the nestbox from moving when a possum jumps on the roof.

More information

• Featured videos of the nest box program:
  • Gardening Australia feature
  • Australian Conservation Foundation short documentary 
• Darebin Parklands fauna monitoring
• Contact form

Other nest box related projects featured on SWIFFT

Brush-tailed Phascogale Nest Box project – Bendigo

Turquoise Parrot Nest Box project - Goulburn Broken, north-east Vic.

Campaspe Squirrel Glider project – Echuca area

Brisbane Ranges, Brush-tailed Phascogale project – near Geelong