Our gardens, yards and public green spaces can provide a perfect home for our most familiar and much-loved birds, such as Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Starling and Robin. And while many of these birds may often find a safe place to nest in trees, bushes, and other planted areas, or in and around buildings, there is still very much a shortage of desirable nesting spots, particularly in more urban and suburban areas. 

The loss of appropriate habitat through changes in land-use, ‘tidier’ gardens and properties, and various other factors have impacted negatively on many of the UK’s breeding birds. It is increasingly important that we try to provide a haven where our feathered neighbours can raise their broods. By providing nest boxes, we can easily help our garden visitors thrive.

From Great Tits and Starlings to Tawny Owls and Stock Doves, there are boxes designed to suit a wide range of species, with different needs. Whether you buy a ready-made nest box or build one from scratch, consider which birds you might hope to attract. By keeping note of the local birds that you see, you will be able to determine which species are most likely to nest there. Larger gardens can attract a wider range of birds, while smaller spaces may provide opportunities for fewer, but equally needy, species. 

Location, location, location

As when choosing our own homes, location is a critical feature when it comes to nest boxes. In most cases, they should be located between 1–3 metres off the ground, away from any bird feeders, and where the entrance is sheltered from prevailing wind, rain, and strong sunlight. 

Some species such as House Sparrow and House Martin, which have declined significantly in many parts of the UK in recent decades, are colonial breeders and will choose boxes that are close to one another. Other birds such as Robins and Blue Tits, however, are highly territorial and prefer their own space.

Another bird that also takes to artificial nesting sites, but isn’t really a garden bird, is the Swift. These astonishing aerial acrobats, which migrate here from Africa to nest in our towns and cities, have declined by around 70% since the mid 1990s. Many homeowners are now providing special boxes for these visitors, whose distinctive screaming calls were once a familiar summer sound throughout the UK. Swifts typically favour older buildings for nesting, where they raise their chicks under the eaves, but modern household improvements and refurbishments have resulted in a reduction in suitable nesting sites.

As well as providing an invaluable home for our garden birds and giving householders a rare and thoroughly enjoyable glimpse into their private lives, nest boxes can also help supply important scientific data. BTO nest monitoring schemes offer a fabulous way for people to monitor the health of our nesting bird populations by sending in their records, contributing vital information to our understanding of birds’ breeding success. 

BTO has thousands of nest boxes reported to their Nesting Neighbours scheme every year, and hundreds of people are sharing the amazing observations from their nest box cameras!

To find out how you can get involved, go to: www.bto.org/nest-monitoring

The BTO website also has a dedicated nest box page providing information and advice on the building, buying, and positioning of nest boxes and the different birds that can be attracted. For details visit: www.bto.org/nest-boxes

BTO Nesting Neighbours survey organiser Hazel McCambridge, says “By providing spaces for birds to nest in our gardens and local green spaces, where natural opportunities are limited, we can help bird populations to grow. By recording the nesting activity you observe, such as nesting behaviour, egg counts and fledgling success, you can contribute vital data BTO's Nesting Neighbours survey, which helps us build a picture of what is affecting bird populations. Please consider putting up a nest box and signing up to the BTO's Nesting Neighbours survey this National Nest Box Week.”