Garden Bird Houses

Attracting more Wildlife to take up residence around your home

Obviously the best way of attracting Birds to nest in your Garden is by having lot's of natural habitats such as Hedgerows, Trees and Bushes.
One should not think that some plants and trees are unsuitable, my Holly Trees always have one bird or other nesting in them.

Some will also look for nooks and crannies around your Eaves, holes in brickwork and wall tiles, especially Wrens, House Sparrows and Tits.

If you are short of greenery due to the size of your Garden or you tend to keep your's Maintenance free by not having much foilage, then purchasing or building your own Bird Houses is nice.

Best time to put up Bird Nesting Boxes?

Autumn is usually the best time, but don't be disappointed if no birds take up your kind offer. They will either have established nests by then or, as it's new, need time to get used to something being there.

However, Tits are usually on the lookout for new nesting places in February and March, so putting Tit Boxes up to say mid January may well produce results.

Not only are you encouraging breeding but you're giving yourself the pleasure of watching them busying themselves building, repairing and feeding their young.

Nest Boxes for Blue and Coal Tits

Tit Nest Box These can either be purchased quite cheaply, unless you go for some of the more elaborate designs, or just a few bits of wood and a few screws will make an ideal place.

Tit boxes need to go fairly high up, from 2 meters upwards to 4 meters.

These can be attached to either a Wall or a Tree.

Find somewhere fairly quiet, not too close to your Feeding Station and most of all, consider your's or your neighbour's cats ability to catch any.

Bright sunshine should be avoided so a North, North-East or North-West frontage is best. You can judge this a bit further by thinking about wind direction. Even birds don't like too much of a draft!

If you are building your own; the hole should be 25mm in diameter for Tits. A larger hole of 32mm will attract Great Tits, Nuthatches and Tree Sparrows

Nest Box for Robins & Wrens

Bird House for Robins Wagtails may also be attracted to these.

These two Birds prefer a slightly lower level than that of the above Bird Box, about 2 meters from the ground and more sheltered.

Again, avoid bright Sunlight and place in a position where they have a clear flight path.

Avoid putting two close to each other. Robins are quite territorial so you don't want to cause any punch ups!

With any Nest Box you are sure to attract Cats, so it's very advisable to place all Boxes in a position over some Bushes or thick overgrowth. Baby Birds upon their maiden flights will simply drop almost vertically to the ground and are easy prey for our Moggy friends.

Whatever time of the year you put a Bird Box up you're almost certain of giving a few a home within a year.


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