Not sure where to post this but
Looking for advice or a point in the right direction.
Every year for the past 20 odd years I've lived here a house martin family has built a nest in the eaves right above our front window. The family has expanded over the years and the nest gets bigger and all summer we have a front window covered in bird poo. I knock down the next in the winter when they are long gone, but they rebuild.
I bought some house martin nesting boxes and want to relocate the family to the other end of the house, not above the windows. I am going to install them soon but how do I get the birds to use them? They will be about 10 feet away from the original nest, on the same section of roofline. Has anyone had any experience with this? I quite like seeing them and they eat a lot of bugs but I just don't want the mess and extra work in washing my windows daily. Any help advice appreciated!
TL:DR. How to I ensure house martins relocate to new nest boxes.