Do you take your time before choosing your future home? Birds do the same! In the fall, they visit the nests to elect the one who will serve them to cover their young during the spring. October and November are therefore the best months to install a nest box. Here’s how to do it.
During the nesting period, the birds reproduce and the females use the nest to lay, covered and feed their small chicks. But if this period spreads from March to July, it is in autumn that birds are locating to find the right shelter. They visit them, test them and then choose. But due to the cutting of trees, hedges, renovation and house insulation works, it is sometimes difficult for them to find new interstices. By installing artificial nests in the fall, their lives are easier and contributes to their survival.
1. Choose an untreated wooden nest
- Choose an untreated wooden nest box to avoid poisoning birds with toxic substances (glue, paint, etc.).
- Possibly place a layer of linseed oil outside to protect the surface.
- Remember to take sufficient thickness to ensure good insulation and the wall is mobile to better clean the shelter.
2. Check the size of the flight hole
Some birds need specific nest boxes, with varying hole sizes:
- Blue chickadees: 28 mm
- Charcoal chicks: 32 mm
- The sparrows: 34-35 mm
- starlings: 40 mm
Ask according to the birds you have spotted near you. For a generalist nest box (to be placed on a balcony in town for example), choose it with a flight hole of 32-34 mm.
3. Determine the right orientation
- Never install a nesting in full sun, in full shade or in front of the prevailing winds.
- Orient the flight hole to the east or the southeast and slightly leaning forward to protect the shelter from bad weather.
- Choose a quiet place, on a wall or a tree, out of reach of predators such as cats.
- Install the nest box between 1.50 and 6 m in height.
- Avoid fixing it on a damp tree trunk like beech trees.
4. Vary the types of nest boxes in a garden
In a garden, remember to vary the types of nest boxes (depending on their format and flight hole) and locations: on the wall of the house, on a tree, in a bush, etc.
5. Clean the nest box
Clean the nest box every year at the end of the season (in the fall) by passing a little stroke of the metal brush. You can also have a blow of a blowtorch or brush with thyme essential oil to destroy parasites.
6. Be patient!
Some birds sometimes take 3 to 4 years before understanding that you have installed a nest box. So stay patient!
For more information, do not hesitate to contact the Belgian royal league for the protection of birds. Their online store offers a wide choice of nest boxes and feeders for birds. The association also organizes nearly a hundred educational events per year, rescue around 4,000 injured or distress each year, militates against hunting drifts and ensures the preservation of natural reserves.
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