Spring – nature awakes! Birds chirping again at last! But birds are finding it increasingly difficult to find safe places for their offspring. You can help the songbirds in their search for a new home by hanging up nesting boxes. It is high time for it, because the breeding season has already begun. However, stragglers are still happy about a safe home and the next spring will come for sure. We show you what to look for and how to build a nesting box yourself!
Nesting boxes are real eye-catchers in your own garden. But only sparrows and starlings like such a close neighborhood.
Replacement homes for birds and their offspring
In nature, cavity-nesting birds such as tits look for tree hollows, rock and wall crevices to set up their nurseries. However, natural nesting sites are scarce wherever people live. Remedy nesting boxes. The birds reward your help in finding a home by eating caterpillars and other pests. So you can usually even do without pesticides.
Buy ready-made nesting boxes
Nice side effect: The small houses look really decorative in the garden. If you don’t have enough time in the next few days, you can buy ready-made nesting boxes. We especially liked the natural nesting boxes in the "Holzdekoladen" like the breeding place made of birch wood. This is a real eye-catcher for the garden – and thanks to the approach aid it will also be a popular home for the birds.
Hanging up multiplication tables
When hanging the nesting box, there are all sorts of things to consider so that the birds and their peeps are happy!
Ideally, you hang your nesting boxes at a height of two to three meters. So that the entrance hole is exposed neither to the weather side in the west nor to the sun in the south, you align it best to the east or southeast. A nesting box should be at least ten meters away from another nesting box for the same bird species – otherwise conflicts over food are inevitable. Exception: sparrows and starlings, which like to live close together.
To protect the bird home from cats and martens, it is best to attach it to a wall. But you can also make trees thief-proof by attaching a spiky skirt of brushwood to the trunk.
Nesting boxes on your own
If you have the time and the inclination, you can build the nesting boxes yourself. In the portal "Freiraum Erlebnis" we have discovered a simple instruction of Dunja Berens, how you can build a beautiful bird home!
DIY nesting boxes bring not only the joy of handicrafts. They also give you the nice feeling of helping a bird family to their housing happiness!
You need:
– Wood (18 mm board thickness each). The most durable is oak or larch wood.
- 1 x 18 x 27 cm (back wall)
- 1 x 18 x 24 cm (front wall)
- 2 x 22 x 27 cm (side wall, is with a slope, see drawing)
- 1 x 18 x 18 cm (bottom)
- 1 x 24 x 26 cm (roof)
- 1 x 5 x 50 cm (bar)
– Nails and glue (or screws to save gluing)
- The parts either in the wood cut at the hardware store buy or saw together yourself.
- Drill two small holes in the bottom part so that wetness can drain off.
- Nail the back wall and side wall boards to the ground, then attach the flat roof. If your house is unstable, you may also need to use some glue.
- Drill a hole in the front wall. Depending on the type of bird, the hole must have a certain diameter:
- 26-28mm: blue, fir, crested and marsh tit, sparrow
- 32-34 mm: great tit, wryneck, redstart
- Fix the front wall – best in a way that you can remove the nails again to be able to clean the bird house in winter.
TipTo prevent nest robbers from entering the nest box with their paws, you can attach a short plastic tube of the same diameter to the entrance hole!
We wish you much joy in the happy birdsong in your garden!