To get the most out of putting up your nest box, take part in Nest Box Challenge and help us to monitor the breeding success of birds in Britain's green spaces. To take part, simply register your nest box online and then give us regular updates on whether it is used, what birds are using it, and the progress of any nests.
And if you have any other nests in your garden, we want to know about those too! The Blackbird nest in your privet hedge and the Collared Dove nest on your satellite dish can both be monitored for Nest Box Challenge.
Last year, over 4,000 boxes were monitored in 1,500 gardens across the UK--join the nest monitoring community by registering today!
If you're new to the survey...
To take part, all you have to do is:
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If you already have BTO online account, you can sign-up for the survey. Otherwise, you will need to register a BTO online account first.
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Register your garden and boxes/nests.
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Record what you see throughout the breeding season.
If you took part last year...
Simply log in and begin recording what you see. You don’t need to re-register your boxes or garden unless some details have changed or you have moved house. Read more information about updating your details.
Lost your password?
Don't worry - You can reset your password.
Important reminders
- Register your box as soon as possible – you don’t have to wait until a bird uses it.
- Monitor your boxes at regular intervals throughout the season and record what happens. We want to know about successful nests, nests that fail, and empty boxes.
- Tell us if your nest box is empty. We really want to know about boxes that aren't used as well as those that are so we can work out how often they are occupied.
- Keep checking your box until the end of August – most nest box species don’t fledge chicks until the beginning of June, and some species may have a second brood in the summer.