At this time of year, millions of birds across the country will be house hunting, ready to set up home and raise a family in the spring. So if you’ve never built a nest box before, why not give it a go this weekend - after all, it is National Nest Box Week!
There’s a bewildering array of different nest box designs out there, so how do you know which one to choose? Well, this really depends on what species of bird you want to attract.
Read our online guide and you'll find out everything you need to know about what nest box to choose and how to make one, as well as where to site it.
If you fancy having a go at making a box yourself, but think you might need someone on hand to help, why not pop along to one of our reserves this weekend and take part in a National Nest Box Week event – there are lots taking place up and down the country.
If your carpentry skills aren’t up to much, never fear, we’re offering 10% off all ready-made nest boxes from our online shop until 22 February and a FREE nest box if you become a member before 31 March – so there’s never been a better time to help your garden birds set up home.Not only will you be making a real difference to garden birds by providing a safe place for them to rear their young, putting up a nest box means you’ll also be able to see birds up close and get a really great insight into their lives.
If you see any odd behaviour or peculiar goings on in your new nest box, let us know - we’d love to hear your stories and might just have the answer!
Harry
We had two nest boxes on our trees, one old one favoured by blue tits and one newer one as yet unused. Christmas 2009 I gave my husband a sparrow terrace which was duly installed on one of our gable ends. Last Spring to my joy a house sparrow appeared in our garden - a rare appearance - and then started building a nest - in the blue tit's box! I don't know if he shouted his expertise to all and sundry a little too much from the top of the box but after about 2 weeks he and his mate disappeared into thin air. We suspected a visit from the local kestrel but had no proof. Meanwhile the blue tits built a nest in the middle of the sparrow terrace and, subsequently, a great tit built in the end section. There was frantic activity to and from our bird table for weeks and eventually we heard the baby tits voicing their hunger. Imagine my surprise when one day observing the visits of both pairs of tits to the box, I saw the blue tit enter his/her own section in the middle, pop out again and enter the great tits' section. This continued for some time over a period of days and the blue tit or tits were definitely feeding the great tits' brood. Eventually the great tits all fledged into the nearby trees and I thought the blue tits had also fledged a brood but I was mistaken because we have just taken the terrace down to clean it out ready for the Spring and found the blue tit's nest with 10 unbroken eggs inside. There was certainly a large brood of fledged blue tits chasing amongst the trees so there must have been another nest nearby in the hedges. The unused section of the sparrow terrace had a great deal of droppings on the floor and must be used for roosting purposes. Meanwhile the unused newer box on the tree had been attacked by (we suspect) squirrels and the hole dramatically enlarged so we took it down and found the lid was loose which may account for the birds being uninterested in it, as we have seen them inspect it on occasions. We will replace it with one with a metal plate round the hole. We have also just replaced the other tree box with a strong new one and now await developments this Spring. I like the idea of Julie's nest box with a tunnel entrance to deter squirrels, etc.