Bird nest box

Finding a safe, secure place to raise a brood can be a real challenge for many urban bird species. Providing one and watching it get used can be a real thrill for you, especially if you can install a camera in it.

What is it?

Bird nest boxes come in different sizes and designs depending on the nesting habits of the bird they’re intended for. Nearly all of them are wooden boxes, though in the case of some birds, most notably swifts, they can be built into a wall using specially designed bricks with access holes that open into a rectangular nesting space behind.
You’re most likely to see bird boxes fixed to the wall of a building or onto the side of a tree trunk. The ideal height depends, again, on the species they’re intended for, with some just high enough to be out of reach of cats whilst others should be a couple of floors up. The classic bird box design looks like a little house with a sloping roof to keep out rain water, four walls and a hole in the front to let the occupants in and out. Some birds prefer open side boxes though. See below to find out which boxes are best for which species and click through the links for further information as to how to make and where to site them.

What does it do?

Bird boxes provide enclosed spaces that mimic the holes in tree trunks or cliff faces that many birds build their nests in. Different species have evolved different approaches to nest building so it’s important to note that different box designs will work well for some species but be of no interest to others. Bear in mind also that some birds never use bird nest boxes. Finches only nest in trees, for example, and song thrushes nest in trees, shrubs, hedges, climbers like ivy and ground level scrub, but not nest boxes.
If you want to see the chicks grow then you can always put a camera in the box too. Better still, you could then share the photos and videos online, spreading the love and inspiring your neighbours to do something similar.

Who benefits?

Amongst our Spotlight Species, blue tits, great tits and house sparrows will use small-holed nest boxes. Sparrows like to nest colonially so you’ll want to put several boxes up within a few feet of each other. Great tits sometimes boot smaller blue tits out of their nests so drill 25mm entrance holes if you want to prevent that happening, keeping 32mm holed ones for great tits, sparrows and other song birds. Swifts, another Spotlight Species, require a particular design and for their nest boxes or swift bricks to be placed high up with a clear line of approach for take-off and landing.

House sparrows will as happily move into a swift next box as a sparrow box, often doing so before the migrating swifts arrive. This is fine – sparrows need your help too – but some people put latches on their swift boxes to keep them closed until the swifts arrive in May.

As you’ll see in the links below, plenty of different birds share similar bird nest box designs so by helping one of our Spotlight Species you could provide a home for other needy feathered friends too. Some other animals may surprise you by taking up residence too. Tree bumblebees are frequent occupiers of bird boxes and other birds, invertebrates and small mammals may shelter in them. Finally, some birds, like finches and song thrushes, avoid nest boxes altogether, needing other habitats like hedges and wild patches.