How many birdboxes can I have in my garden? (2 Viewers)

[Steve351]

I've always loved watching birds in my garden but I've only recently moved to a house with a decent size garden. It's about 30 metres by 30 metres - there is a big pond in one corner, one largeish tree along the side and small trees and shrubs around the back and sides. Over the fence at the back there is a row of conifers that reach about 6-8 metres.

I'm pretty handy with my hands and I've built a number of different sized bird boxes to put up. There are two in the tree along the side with similar sized holes (about 3cm diameter) and one quite close by that is open fronted. They are all about 3m up into the trees.

Then there is one at the back that is bigger. It has a 5cm hole and it's also 3m up amongst the conifers.

So why am I telling you that? Well I've always just enjoyed watching the birds but I've never learned about their nesting and eating habits. A guy I was playing golf with told me that birds will not next next door to each other as they are territorial and won't tolerate other birds on their patch.

Well I get quite a few blackbirds in my garden, starlings (loads of them), blue tits, sparrows, pigeons, some sort of dove and a robin that follows me whenever I'm in the garden. I've only just put up the bird boxes so I don't expect them to get used for a while. However, is there a chance that birds won't use them at all due to their proximity to the neighbouring box?

Also, I read somewhere that boxes near to food sources can cause problems as birds in the boxes will forever be fighting off birds that are feeding. Is this true?

Also, I love blackbirds but there are none nesting in my garden. Will they nest in a box? If so, what sort of box do I need to build?

Finally - a reminder to all bird lovers that hedgehogs need homes at this time of year too. I build a hedgehog box recently and within a couple of nights a hedgehog moved in. Just as well as we had the first proper frost last night. I always leave food out in the evening (nuts, cat food, raisins - NOT milk) and it's usually gone come morning. You can buy hedgehog houses from garden centres but they are easy enough to make.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Euan Buchan]

Could put as much as you like as long as thwy are nt to close to eachother

 

[walwyn]

Is there a problem of putting boxes that sparrows might use near to where House Martins are nesting?

 

[MarkA]

I'm not an expert, but I'd say put up as many boxes as you have time, money and energy for. the birds will choose the ones they like and ignore the ones they don't, and the ones they don't may provide winter roosting sites or shelter for hibernating insects. The important thing is to provide a wide variety of type, in sheltered positions inaccessible to cats. Include a few bat boxes while you're about it.

Blackbirds build cup-shaped nests in shrubs or low trees. They will use open-fronted boxes or trays if natural sites are in short supply, but they should be positioned in dense cover. One way to encourage blackbirds is to fix trellis panels to a wall on 10cm battens and grow ivy or similar climber up it. Once the plant is well grown, then blackbirds/song thrushes/dunnocks may well build in the space behind the trellis, and butterflies may overwinter there. You could also incorporate one or two open-fronted boxes for robins/wrens/spotted flycatchers/pied wagtails.

hope this helps
Mark

 

[Steve351]

Reply

Is there a problem of putting boxes that sparrows might use near to where House Martins are nesting?

Hi - to my knowledge, there are no House Martins nesting in the area that I live. I am planning to build a sparrow colony box and put it up under the eaves of the house. Hopefully that will be okay.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Steve351]

Reply

I'm not an expert, but I'd say put up as many boxes as you have time, money and energy for. the birds will choose the ones they like and ignore the ones they don't, and the ones they don't may provide winter roosting sites or shelter for hibernating insects. The important thing is to provide a wide variety of type, in sheltered positions inaccessible to cats. Include a few bat boxes while you're about it.

Blackbirds build cup-shaped nests in shrubs or low trees. They will use open-fronted boxes or trays if natural sites are in short supply, but they should be positioned in dense cover. One way to encourage blackbirds is to fix trellis panels to a wall on 10cm battens and grow ivy or similar climber up it. Once the plant is well grown, then blackbirds/song thrushes/dunnocks may well build in the space behind the trellis, and butterflies may overwinter there. You could also incorporate one or two open-fronted boxes for robins/wrens/spotted flycatchers/pied wagtails.

hope this helps
Mark

Hi Mark

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. I'll have a go at the trellis option.

Regards

Steve

 

[Richard Bryce]

Steve. Not all birds are territorial. Robins are but Sparrows, for instance, are very neighbourly. A sparrow terrace attached high up on the house wall (or dense high-growing ivy) will soon be occupied. In all cases ensure the entrance hole is facing away from afternoon sun to avoid over-heating. You might want to build a few winter roosting boxes too. These can be bigger, with shelves inside to trap heat and help with huddling, and with the entrance hole towards the bottom to minimise heat loss. Birds attracted to the roosting sites may then move onto your nesting boxes in the early spring. Dense confers, which can be trimmed to keep them in check, make good nesting sites for blacknirds and others.

You are right about keeping feeders as far away as possible. Too close and the boxes won't get used.

rich

 

[boxer95]

I bought a bird house that mounts to my window and has a plastic backing so I can peer in and see what's going on in the house. Now how cool is that? I love this little house and it fits nicely on my bedroom window. Do you have one? I love the idea of having a lot of bird houses. we only have 2. Last year we had 3 families raise there babies in them, it was sooo much fun to watch the progress.