Note that you'll never get a Robin to nest in a bird box with a standard round entrance hole, with anything from 25mm all the way up to 45mm hole not suitable. Not all backyard birds use houses, including many popular species like cardinals, orioles and goldfinches. Wrap a bird box around a tree trunk with a lower branch to provide extras support. Your option to buy a bird box for Sparrows is one that would fit a Great Tit, with that all important 28mm entrance hole. If you're thinking about setting up a bird box in your garden its likely you'll have one of the most common garden birds setting up home in the wooden box. Of all the Tit family, the Marsh Tit is the smallest of the lot, in fact its one of the smallest garden birds in the UK - by up to 2 or 3 centimetres to be more accurate. Wren bird boxes are not really available to buy, as focus is on Robins only. Which way you face a bird box is vital to keep the occupants safe during nesting times. A great way to help birds at this time of year is to put up nest boxes, where birds can raise a clutch of young come the spring. Of all the Tits, the Great Tit requires a box that is everything that is identical to all other bird boxes for Tits, only it requires a 28mm entrance hole as oppose to 25mm. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. If possible the Marsh Tit might be safer in a box that has an entrance hole that is smaller; say 22 to 23mm with no perch. You could use two more identical boxes, or simply go for a Sparrow colony nest box as its less hassle to fix high up on the house eaves. Multi-use bird boxes with a 25mm option entrance hole is a start, but make it one that is absolutely accurate to prevent others from nesting. Instead the Robin bird box requires an entrance hole that is large and rectangular, or more into a square shape if that's what you have, depending on the manufacturer. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. With box options for larger birds that frequent the woods rather than busy urban areas; Owls, Kestrel, Nuthatch, Stock Dove and Woodpeckers likely to take to a box. As its says in the name Great, so therefore this is an indicator of a larger bird, but not much bigger and still within the Tit family. For example, the best location for a bluebird house is an area facing or surrounded by open fields, where the insects they eat and feed to their young are plentiful. to cut a square or wedge-shaped hole at the top of the front, as in the diagram. Different bird boxes will also attract different species of birds so when choosing a bird box think about the types of birds that already come into your garden and the types you would like to attract. Bluebird houses are quite simple, with a small entrance hole and large roof for extra protection. Rather than the Blackbird nesting in a confined wooden bird box, the open front is far larger, while opening up around the sides. With all these Starlings you would be doing a great service to provide a suitable nesting box for them. Design of a Woodpecker bird box as the rounded hole of 45mm or smaller, with a deep box, with some length between the hole to the base of the box interior. Opening can vary in height or width drastically with little to no effect on potential occupants, but to make it an 130mm high open front at least would be a good start. With an entrance hole that measures 45mm, the Woodpecker will take to a bird box if its only setup in a tree, in the woods only. Incredibly, this bird of prey will take to a nesting box setup for it in a wooded area, though only within woodlands or an area with lots of trees. By using our site you consent to the use of cookies. Stock Doves take to large wooden bird boxes with equally a large square entrance hole. You can provide new places for birds to nest by putting up nest boxes. The Marsh Tit bird box would be the one occupied by any of the Tits, though we might say even the 25mm entrance is still quite large. 4.4 … You can't buy bird boxes for use with only a Jackdaw, instead you need a bird box that is intended for say a Little Owl or Kestrel, and hope a Jackdaw nests. Bluebird nest boxes. Now that we've outlined entrance hole sizes for British birds that use nesting boxes only, there are wild birds who will nest in boxes, but not designed as you'll expect. Well bare in mind both owls require a box that is designed very differently, but the Dove won't mind so much as to take up a box that is for use by a resident owl. £9.99 £ 9. Complicated design that has a large 120mm square entrance hole with a platform, well below inside the box is where the young stay. You can use a nest box designed specifically for one species in mind or nest boxes where you can change the size of the whole or leave it open fronted. Nuthatches will take to a nest box but rather one that is setup on a tree in a dense wooded location. You're unlikely to have a Jackdaw nest in a busy urban garden as it would rather take to one deep in the woodlands, or at least a wooded garden nearby. The entrance hole is larger than most at 28mm by 65mm actually, though give or take a few millimetres has no baring if its nest or not. Garden birds, woodland birds and even bigger birds of prey make use of nesting boxes. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. RSPB bird houses and nest boxes are made from sustainable, durable FSC timber, so they're safe for birds and have good insulation properties, making them warm in winter and cool in summer. Common birds in Britain that use bird boxes largely extends to small garden birds only; Tits, Sparrows, Robins and Wrens. 99 (£9.99/count) Get it Sunday, Nov 29. If you don't have the hole saw/cutter for making the 3.2cm round hole, you can use a jigsaw (not the puzzle!) Provide a home for birds to roost and nest.