How old is your nestbox?

Hi,

I am new to the bird feeding game, and have only been doing it seriously for a couple of months now.  A nest box has been something I have actively been researching as a couple of years ago I noticed we had some birds (could of been robins or dunnocks, didn't know species back then) set up a nest in the Ivy of our garden wall.

Due to a persistant problem with squirrels in our garden, due to us being at a crossroads for gardens it seems, I am concerned about squirrel predation as well as the general damage they could cause just in general. 

This has lead me to believe the best nest box for my garden would be one of the Schwegler range, made from their 'woodcrete' and specifically the robin box, the 1N deep nest box, problem is they're not cheap and I'm worried that it wouldn't get used, but we do have a paired up pair of robins in the garden now and yesterday they were investigating the ivy...

Hi

Well I invested in a Schwegler Sparrow Terrace and it has been up for three years now and is regularly used for roosting but not nesting. But BE WARNED - this 'woodcrete' is incredibly heavy and I could barely lift it out of the delivery box. I asked a friend to put it up under the eaves for me and it was impossible to hold it and drill the holes inthe wall to fix it at the same time. He ended up having to weld up a metal bracket to hold the damn thing! He has told me he is not willing to repeat the experience - so it is wood from now on for me! - although I'm sure a smaller robin type box would be fine. They are good quality.

CJ

I have 2 nest boxes,both bought 12 months ago.

One is a camera box - bought as a complete item with all the cables, camera etc. ready to install.  It is wood, it has a gable type roof and is plain. I currently have a blue tit roosting in it.

The other is a 3-hole sparrow terrace, also wood, with a single sloping roof. The sparrows don't use it, but blue tits do, although not for nesting as yet.

The main problem is with cleaning. A box with a drop down side is far more practical than one where the roof opens as a lid. If the side drops down, you can sweep out the rooster droppings without dismantling it all or briging it down off the wall. With the lid type, you can't clean it unless you take it down.

Trochilus said:

We would like your help with a bit of market research, and so I would like you all to tell me about the nestboxes in your garden. Any thoughts about nesting boxes would be useful, but we would particularly like to hear about the following:

How long have you had a box in the garden? What sort is it - standard timber box or something fancy? Was it treated (paint or preservative) when you bought it, have you applied a treatment on it later, or is it untreated as nature intended?

If you were to buy a new box now, what would it be like? - would you have a timber box, or look out for other materials?  fancy design or one that looks like a nesting box? natural look or coloured? pre-treated or plain timber?

Answers

How long have you had a box in the garden? =

We have had boxes in the garden for 5 years +

What sort is it - standard timber box or something fancy?=

Of the ten boxes in my garden./drive  all are timber. Some started out as Oak natural boxes but during yearly cleaning repairs I have used water based fence type  paint which resists water penetration,  works very well indeed and extends life of the box. No noticeable effects on the occupants.

All  boxes have been constructed by myself.

 I have made front opening boxes, they easy to clean but these are difficult to inspect the fledglings as they may fall out and are not recommended for woodlands.

The boxes made for the LNR are an assortment of timber and designs. The best design is based on the standard small nesting box  with a hinged lid with a separate hanger screwed into the back of the nesting box from the inside.

I have over the past four years used 20mm exterior plywood, 18mm Oak, 20mm Softwood,. The best is Oak but harder to work as each hole has to be drilled to prevent splitting when screwing the timber.

All of my boxes are fixed into position using polypropylene rope. This method is easy to erect, easy to remove the box for cleaning repairs etc, easy to re-position for aspect or another tree or situation. They fixed at a height of 10ft to 12 ft. to deter vandalism.

Of the boxes I erected in the LNR 96% of the hole nesting boxes were used, four of these by Nuthatches.  The open fronted boxes of the type put up for Robins, 100mm high,140mm high were never used. Predation from squirrels may be a factor.

please go to www.batesplace.co.uk  see pages Bird Boxes etc

Lewis

We have had boxes for about ten years. We have three tit boxes, one with a camera, two without, one sparrow terrace and recently we put a treecreeper box on our beech tree and are keeping our fingers crossed LOL

One tit box is not in our garden but on a tree in a field, next to our hedge.

All the boxes are standard timber box and I think we bought all of them from the RSPB.

I tend to go for the natural look.

( My sister gave me a 'box' which she had painted beautifully but it could not be used by birds, it makes a charming ornament though. I am not keen on garden ornaments as a rule).  

Hi Trochilus

I have had a nest box in my garden for just over a year. The side opens for easy cleaning, but nothing has nested in it, so I think it's in the wrong place. I intend to move it.

It is made of some sort of treated timber and I haven't applied any timber treatment.

If I was to buy a new nest box now, I would buy a woodcrete style one.

I currently have 6 nest boxes in my garden.

 2 tit boxes that I made myself from wood and treat every year. These have been up for about 6 years, and are repaired or re-treated every year. Standard boxes, nothing fancy

2 robin boxes, that I bought about 3 years ago. These are made from wood, nothing fancy, and are treated.

2 Starling boxes, that again I made myself from wood and treated myself. These were erected this winter.

If I were to buy any boxes, they would be wood, nothing fancy, but functional. I am thinking of buying a tit box next year with a built in web cam

Hope this helps

Well I bought 4 last year but then realised both of my main walls get hit by the sun so didn't put them up. They're all fairly cheap timber ones. One looks a bit more attactive and is painted (from M&S as I remember) though I now suspect the floor space is too small.

I finally put them up in the cold weather so at least the birds could shelter. I've put 3 in the same tree (at different heights) and one under some first floor decking which I hoped my appeal to my resident wren who I often see thereabouts.

I have to say having looked around at nest boxes recently, a lot of the better looking ones seem a bit overpriced to me. I also now think I'd be best with something that's suitable for direct exposure to the sun to utilize the long walls on my home. As I've not seen anything available to buy this might end up as a DIY project sometime.

In terms of materials I'm fairly open minded. I like the idea of something that will last a long time. Rather than nest boxes I like the idea of nest crevices. These would be more permanent, the idea being to replace of nest sites have been lost to modern architecture. But that's just a daydream I've been thinking about today.

I started with 1 wooden box about 5 years ago on the back of the garage and had bluetits straight away for 3 years in total.

I then swapped it for a woodcrete one and moved the wooden one to a fence.That year the woodcrete box was used and the wooden one not.

Last year I  bought another woodcrete box with a larger hole hoping to attract maybe great tits or sparrows and put on the fence about 12 feet from the wooden box.Had bluetits in both boxes on the fence but not in the one on the garage.

I also have an open fronted birch log box but as yet no takers.Will be repositioning this soon,maybe hanging inside a shrub?

For Christmas I was lucky enough to get a sparrow terrace (front of the house) and 2 housemartin nests (side of the house),first year for these so will see what happens!

Rachel