Wildlife Management Longleaf Pine Prescribed Fire Forestry Activities Wildlife Management Current Projects

Wildlife Management

The Preserve at Callaway Gardens is dedicated to creating quality habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species. Animals require appropriate sources of food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young in order to thrive.

Some of our current wildlife habitat improvement projects include:

Chimney Swift Tower

Chimney swifts are neo-tropical migrants spending their winters in South America and returning to temperate climates to raise their young. These birds will nest and roost in masonry chimneys or chimney-like towers.

The towers on The Preserve are constructed of T-1-11 plywood, stand 12 feet tall, measure 16” x 16” square and are open at the top. Swifts fly in the top of the tower and build a nest towards the bottom of the structure. Their nests are made of twigs cemented together with their glue-like saliva and adhered to the inside wall of the tower.  One pair of birds will nest in the tower each season but hundreds of birds may roost in the towers at night during spring and fall migration.

Funding for the two towers at Callaway was graciously donated by the family of Gwyn Wilbanks.

Additional information on tower construction and chimney swifts is available at: www.concentric.net/~dwa/ (Driftwood Wildlife Association)

Barn Owl Hacking Project

Working in partnership with The Southeastern Raptor Research Center, Auburn University, The Preserve staff reintroduced four young barn owls to the wild.  The young owls were placed in a large outdoor cage called a “hacking tower.”  They were fed daily, and when they were mature enough the door to the tower was opened allowing them to come and go at will.  We continued to provide food for them until they no longer returned to the tower. 

Bluebird Nesting Box Monitoring

During the nesting season (March- August) Preserve staff and a team of dedicated Callaway Volunteers monitor over 110 bluebird nesting boxes located across The Preserve and in the Gardens.  At the end of the nesting season the data is analyzed to help us understand the number of young bluebirds produced in the boxes each season.

Virginia Callaway launched the bluebird nesting box program here years ago to help increase the population of these beautiful songbirds in this region.