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Hi All
I am hoping to get for Christmas a sparrow terrace and some swift and/or house martin nest boxes and am wondering where it would be best to place them on my house.It has to be accessible for me to clean out.I am showing some photos of my house so you can see the possible positions.The front faces roughly NE and gets the morning sun mostly and the side SE gets sun most of the day and is quite exposed.How high should the sparrow terrace be,right under the eaves or just below the upper window?I had thought maybe to put it to the side of the porch where I have a box (as yet unused) already.This faces roughly N but does not get any sun.Would the swift/martin boxes need to go right under the eaves.I had hoped to put these on the long SE facing wall.
Front of house-NE Facing
Side of house-SE Facing
Porch where unused box is at the moment
Any help gratefully appreciated!
Rachel
It's not always easy to hug a hedgehog.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't.
Hi
Just bumping this post to the top!!
Both house martin and house sparrow boxes are best under the eaves. Make sure that the house martins have a clear space in front of the box so they have a good, clear flight path without trees etc interrupting their approach. This is not critical for sparrows, who are quite happy with 'clutter' in front of the box. Also, make sure that the sparrow boxes are sited well away from the martin and swift boxes. Sparrows are aggressive birds, and would deter the other species, especially the house martins, if the boxes are close together. It is best to avoid a site that receives a long period of direct sun in the afternoon, and so east or north facing walls are best. Having said that, I have seen house martin colonies under even west facing eaves.
The RSPB website has a lot of information about how to attract and protect swifts. These pages will help you a lot http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/index.asp. The one thing to remember with swifts is that you may need to wait for some time before they find a box in an area where the birds have not nested before, but it is well worth a wait when they do come.
Thanks Trochilus
I think the eaves on the SE side of my house will be best for swift and house martins as it has a clear flight path for them.If I locate the boxes right under the eaves they are in some shade from the overhang.
A couple of other questions:-
1.Can swift and martin boxes be put together and how many.Would a single box be sufficient?
2.If sparrows are aggressive how close can their boxes be in relation to the swift/martin boxes?(I plan to put sparrows on the front of the house and swift/martins on the side)
3.Do the swift/martin boxes need to be cleaned out each year?
4.I may be back with more questions!!
Bump to the top!!
Hi Rachel!
The swifts wont have any problem with the sparrows, you may even find that sparrows start nesting in the swift boxes and then get evicted by the swifts (who always turn up last from their travels) but try and keep any sparrow and martin nests as far apart as possible...
You can pretty much guarantee that this wont go to plan by the way! You'll have sparrows in your swift boxes and bluetits in your sparrow box etc!! guess thats all part of the fun though!
All the nest boxes need to be cleaned out each autumn - boiling water and maybe a very mild detergent to kill of harmful bacteria etc.
good luck!
Goose
I have been checking the prices of ready made nests and boxes.House martin nests are a lot cheaper than swift boxes so I think I will try martins first!
I read that martin colonies have an average of 5 nests so may put up more than one nest.
I must check out the birds in the fields behind our estate tonight to see what are flying about,I know there are swallows but must take a closer look at the others to se if they are swifts or martins (or both)!