Where do I put my birdbox and what size should it be?

You bought your birdbox and now you want to hang it in a suitable place for sparrows or bluetits and give them a safe place to nest. The best place for a birdbox is on a north or east- facing wall, between 2 - 4 meters high of the floor. Avoid direct sunlight and ideally it should be somewhat protected against the chilly rain.

The opening of the birdbox hole should be 32mm if you want to attract house sparrows, great tits or pied flycatchers.

For smaller birds, like bluetits, coaltits, then you would need a 25mm hole.

If you would like to buy a birdbox suitable for wrens or robins , then you will need to buy a birdbox with a large open front; the height of the front panel will determine the type of bird it will attract: the wren will like a panel front height of about 140mm , but for robins the panel front height would need to be about 100mm. These boxes need to be placed lower then 2 meter, in well hidden vegetation.

Brightly coloured birdboxes might be too noticeable for predators, so natural colours are perfect. The insides should not be too deep, as chicks might have difficulty to fledge. Perfectly smooth insides of the birdbox are not ideal, as this might proof difficult to handle for the chicks who are ready to fledge. Shallow birdboxes carry the danger of birds falling out of the nestbox.

Basically, a medium sized nestbox in a natural colour - not perfectly finished, will be just right!

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Image: Erin Wallace