Can I put a camera in a box that birds currently use at night without scaring them away?

We moved house last year and there were a couple of bird boxes already in place. One on a south facing wall and one on a sheltered west facing wall. We put a camera in the S facing box but I have since read that S facing is not the best position. The W facing box has a couple of birds (wrens?) that fly in at dusk each night. I assume they leave during the day and I think they were nesting in there last year. Will it disturb them and cause them to leave if we move the camera to this box now? If we move the other box to this wall too how far apart would they need to be? Unfortunately there is no N or E facing wall we can use. Thank you for any advice you can give me.

  • Hi Alan, Thank you for your reply. They are very different boxes so I couldn't just swap them over. Also the box the birds are currently going in only has a gentle slope on it so I think they would see the camera as soon as they went in.
    There is a place on our back wall (N facing) that may be suitable. Its over an extension so it would have to within reach of a first floor window cos there's nowhere to put a ladder. Maybe I'll try that this year and see what happens?