Nest Boxes

Nest boxes come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and materials and each bird species have their own preferences. Some birds nest on the ground such as pheasants, partridges and woodcock. Others nest holes in trees, houses, sheds and other nooks and crannies, for example Great Tits, Blue Tits, Treecreepers and House Sparrows. Whilst others such as Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Robins, Swallows and Doves prefer fairly open nests in trees, hedgerows and buildings.

Many nest boxes are easy to make yourself, but they need to be made to specific dimensions which can be found in a number of wildlife and garden bird books.

The most common nest boxes are standard wooden boxes with holes of different diameters for Great Tits and Blue Tits. Then there are wooden the open-fronted nest boxes as used by Robins and Spotted Flycatchers. With our modern housing there are few places for birds to nest and with the decline of our Swallows and House Martins, it is great to be able to provide some moulded nests for them that can be place under the eaves of houses.

Greater detail about each nest box type and where to place them can be found in a number of books and is often included with the nest box when purchased. Once you have a nest box that has been used, please remember to clean it out at the end of the season ready for the following year.