Wildlife &
Native Plants
Be a Citizen Scientist
Hillside Park has been designated as an eBird hotspot. Hotspots are public birding locations created by eBird users to enter data into the same shared location, creating aggregated results available through the app’s “Explore” tools. Many scientists—trained and volunteer—use apps like eBird and iNaturalist to record and share their observations.
Remember, view from a distance and don’t feed, capture, or disturb any of our wildlife!
We have compiled a list of common and interesting wildlife at Hillside Park, including mammals, birds, butterflies, wildflowers, and forest trees and shrubs.
Wildlife
A surprising array of species make their home in Hillside Park. Seventy-five species of birds have been identified in the park according to Samuel Tillman, a local birder, and these include:
Common Name
- Acadian Flycatcher
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Blue Jay
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Brown Creeper
- Brown Thrasher
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Canada Goose
- Canada Warbler
- Carolina Chickadee
- Carolina Wren
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Grackle
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Phoebe
- Eastern Towhee
- Eastern Wood-pewee
- European Starling
- Field Sparrow
- Fish Crow
- Fox Sparrow
- Gray Catbird
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Hermit Thrush
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
- House Wren
- Least Flycatcher
- Magnolia Warbler
- Mallard
- Merlin
- Mourning Dove
- Nashville Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Parula
- Osprey
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Scarlet Tanager
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Song Sparrow
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-eyed Vireo
- White-throated Sparrow
- Winter Wren
- Wood Thrush
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Plants & Trees
In 2008, a local engineering firm studied the land on which Hillside Park is located and inventoried the trees, finding 169 specimen trees with trunk diameters of at least 20 inches. They include:
The Hillside Park tree inventory will be updated periodically.
| Common Name | Scientific Name |
|---|---|
| Silver maple | Acer saccharinum |
| Tree of heaven | Ailanthus altissima |
| Hickory | Carya sp. |
| Mockernut hickory | Carya tomentosa |
| American beech | Fagus grandifolia |
| Green ash | Fraxinus pennsylvanica |
| American black walnut | Juglans nigra |
| Tulip tree | Liriodendron tulipifera |
| Red mulberry | Morus rubra |
| Tupelo | Nyssa sylvatica |
| American sycamore | Platanus occidentalis |
| Black cherry | Prunus serotina |
| White oak | Quercus alba |
| Northern red oak | Quercus rubra |
| Black oak | Quercus velutina |
| Black locus | Robinia pseudoacacia |
| American elm | Ulmus americana |
The Hillside Park tree inventory will be updated periodically.
TreeBaltimore serves as the umbrella organization, for all city agencies, private organizations and individuals in their effort to increase the tree canopy of Baltimore. You can find maps of street trees and flowering trees in the city, and see changes in our tree canopy from 2007 to 2015.
Baltimore Tree Trust is a nonprofit organization that plants trees and removes pavement in underserved communities.