Hi there,
I have a bird box with a camera and have been checking in over the last few months. I’m yet to see any birds in there but the last time I checked it had lots of poop. I checked again today and there seems to be lots of black feathers.
The quality is shocking as it’s a cheap camera and it has recently rained but you can clearly see the poop and feathers.
So, I was just wondering whether this is sign that a bird is nesting in there or a sign to clean it out?
Assuming you are in the UK it would be getting too late now for most birds to start building a new nest and birds like blue and great tits, etc, have already had their young which have now fledged so highly unlikely nesting would begin although some birds use boxes to roost in, especially through colder winter months.
The law regarding nest boxes is that you cannot legally clean out a nest box until September (I used to leave our boxes up until end September and try get them back in situ after cleaning before end October to give birds the opportunity to use them to roost in over winter). Just use a dedicated scraper to remove the poop, plenty of hot soapy water, scrubbing brush, then thoroughly rinse and air dry if possible before putting it back up again once completely dry. I am sure you already know this but do not use chemicals or any wood preservatives or varnishes, lacquer, paint on nesting/roosting boxes as this could harm birds. Good luck and hope you see a bird either roosting in the box eventually or hopefully used next breeding season as blue tits will check out prospective nesting boxes very early in the new year.
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Regards, Hazel