Here are the explanations to make different nest boxes adapted to 15 different species of birds.
Additional details:
- To make access to predators more difficult, the entrance to the nest box must be completely clear, there must be no branches in front of it, which would facilitate access for a squirrel or a marten for example. It is therefore better to install the nest box on a trunk, than in the middle of the branches. Or on a facade, under a roof.
- Orientation of the nest box: it is preferable to avoid the north (cold), the west (bad weather), due south (heat). The best is therefore the south-east. Or otherwise, the south, if partially shaded or the west, if protected from the weather.
- Most nest boxes can be installed in a garden, on a tree or in a building.
- For the great spotted woodpecker, prefer a park or an orchard and an installation at least 4m high.
- For the Hoopoe, it can be in a tree, in a stone wall, or even on a facade, quite high. But in a fairly open space: orchard, hedgerow, edge of field. Hoopoes have been known to breed in southern England during warm, dry summers particularly as it provides plenty of grasshoppers and similar insects to eat. It was reported in the 1980s that the northern European populations of hoopoe were in the decline.
- For the nuthatch, choose a quiet place, on a tree, at least 3m high.
- Coal, crested, willow and marsh tits have a preference for more wooded areas than garden type and appreciate the tranquility and conifers.
- For stock doves, you can make a small ledge at the bottom of the birdhouse so that it can land.
- Don’t install 2 nest boxes too close for the same species. For example, tits will defend their territory within a radius of 30 feet around the nest box. But a great spotted woodpecker will not compete with a tit or a robin.
- Why put wood shavings or paper balls in the bottom: some species will have the impression of digging the cavity itself. And for you, dumplings or chips scattered around the nesting box, will be the sign that nesting is starting.
- If you want to photograph or film, you really need to prepare a device in advance. Otherwise, you will spend time adjusting a system during nesting and disturbing the birds. Above all, avoid disturbing them during nest making, laying and brooding.