Top tips for putting up a nest box in your garden

hello I'm Chantal from wildlife world one of the ways that you can encourage more wildlife into your garden is to put up a nest box so I'm going to talk to you about a couple of things to think about when putting up a box the reason why we need to put up nest boxes is because there are a lack of natural spaces for birds to nest in so particularly if you don't have lots of big old decaying trees in your garden then it's a really good idea to put up lots of boxes there's a couple of different boxes you can use and that will determine what species you get in your garden so if you're like me and you love a Robin then you're gonna choose a box there is an open nester like this one this is particularly going to be good for a Robin you'll also get wrens nesting in there when you're thinking where to cite an open fronted box you want to ensure it's nestled into the vegetation they like to nest in a really secure environment so although we think of robins as being really brave and being farmers and gardeners friends following us around when it comes to their nesting habitat they like to feel really really secure and in a private space so if we were looking at a tree like this then we're going to want to put the box into perhaps a fork in a tree and IVs perfect for nestling around to keep it all really really sheltered so you'll tuck it in and then you're secure in using some wire at the back and whatever nest box you use it's really important that you do secure it really really well onto a tree or a fence post or a building because particularly in this country we get a lot of quite unpleasant weather and storms so when it's like that you want to know that the birds are going to be kept safe and your box is never going to fall off so the other type of box that we have is for the whole nesting species so the whole nesting boxes when you're putting these up the main difference is that the birds like a direct clean flight line in so you don't want to be nestling them into the vegetation in the same way these boxes also need to be positioned a little bit higher so you're looking really from 2 meters up to 3 and a half or perhaps even 4 meters in height and that's really for the tits and the sparrows they'll nest that at that height all of our boxes are made from using FSC sustainable wood and I think that's really important because we want to know that when we're protecting wildlife here in our local environment that it's not damaging wildlife elsewhere another important feature is that you want to know that the boxes are weatherproof so having a good roof or an overhang is a really good feature and then when you're positioning them in the garden you want to be thinking about how the box how's the Box going to stay dry how are you going to make this box the most comfortable it can be for the birds when you secure it I tend to just angle it slightly down slightly forwards like that so that the water will naturally fall away and keep the box as dry as it can be they like to be angled between north and east if you think the Sun rises in the east and the birds are also early rises they want that first bit of sunlight you don't want to introduce any nest material don't be tempted to it won't speed the birds up they will find our own material they have different preferences as to what they want to use so let them find the material in the garden if you want to put out bits of wool or straw around your garden then you can do so in the birds will choose to use it if they wish it's really important not to disturb the nest so if you think you could have birds using the box any time from February through to September just try and enjoy observation from afar and one really good idea if you want to get a close-up look is to use a camera nest box and wildlife world sell some of these nest boxes so that you can set the camera up beforehand so you don't have to go near and interrupt them but you can enjoy in the comfort of your living room seeing the baby birds close up so if you follow some of these suggestions as to how to encourage birds into your garden then you'll have a really good chance of enjoying seeing birds close up and seeing their breeding cycle through the year which is really interesting for us all to observe however don't be put off if they don't nest straight away sometimes birds like to observe the box sometimes for as long as a whole year and then they will use the box the following year if after two years you haven't had any success it's worth changing the position of the box perhaps move it to a different position or a different height and then hopefully the birds will move in

Channel: WildlifeWorldUK

Views: 211,810

Keywords: nest box, nest boxes for birds, nest box camera, nest box design, national nest box week, how to put up a nest box, where to place a nest box, should i put a nest box up in my garden?, garden birds, put up a nest box, nest box in my garden

Id: IwJ8GYRluCk

Length: 5min 45sec (345 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 12 2019