Nestbox protection (1 Viewer)

[Allen]

Does anyone have any ideas on protecting a Robin box without deterring the Robins?
We have just lost a newly hatched brood to a Jay, the box was very well hidden deep in a honeysuckle but obviously the Jay had no problem accessing once he knew where the nest was - quite surprising really as Jay is not a regular garden visitor. :C
Any thoughts would be appreciated, or maybe there's no real solution

 

[bronco]

It is completely up to the robins to drive the Jay away. There is nothing you can do for them. Jays are extremely bright and aggresive... Robins are good at hiding a nest, and they are good fighters too. Hopefully your Robins will start brood # 2. My Robins prefer to nest in Juniper bushes. very thick dense cover..

 

[Allen]

Well heres the next installment. The Robins did go for a second brood, this time nesting in my House Sparrow box - far safer. They got as far as raising a single fledgling which flew (i although I'd hardly call it flight) the nest on Saturday.
It then managed to survive right up til last evening when that @*!@ing Jay decided to have an evening snack - gutting.

I know that various studies indicate that Jays and Magpies do not detrinmentally affect populations but these experiences have left someone who generally accepts nature tooth and claw with somewhat of a grudge!
I wonder if others can comment on the impact of corvids, as a recent conversation with a photographer with many staked nestboxes indicated predation by these species as a real issue.

 

[KnockerNorton]

what you can do is fix a wide guage chickenwire screen around the box, so that the robins can get through but not the jays/magpies. you fix this securely around the box, not too close to it (it wants to be at least a foot in diameter), so that it totally surrounds - what you do NOT want to happen is to leave a gap at the back where a Jay can get in but then be trapped. Your honeysuckle will no doubt grow round it to improve the look.

But you and your photographer mate should realise that by providing nestboxes, you're actually sticking up a big obvious sign to the corvids as to exactly where the nests are going to be - boxes are easy to see and find, natural nests are not. Jays have to eat aswell though, so drop your grudge. Robins are doing very very well in the Uk, so they're hardly in danger from jays. Robins may have 3 broods of 5 young per year. That's 17 robins where there was just 2 (the adults) at the start. So, for the population to remain the same then 15 of those 17 are going to have to die somehow before next spring. They go to feeding stoats, sparrowhawks, corvids, kestrels, tawny owls, barn owls and everything else, as well as countless insects that will also use teir remains. That's the food web, that's what they're there for in a way. That's why Robins are so productive. So you shouldn't begrudge nature - be it corvids or whatever - for carrying out their natural functions. When the jays die then they'll go to feeding insects that the robins will eat!

 

[Allen]

Poecile

Thanks for the nestbox protection tip - I was going to try something with chicken wire so thats gives me a plan now.

I completely accept the natural events that occur within any balanced ecosystem so do accept that these things happen as part of this so, in all honesty, don't really bear any grudges. Seeing it happen several feet away before I could do anything was a little brutal though!!!
It did seem odd that the brood was limited to a single fledged chick versus the potential 'normal' numbers - I guess other factors may have impacted this.