I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds to nest
in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now without any
birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

thanks Keith

Keith Hampson wrote:
I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me
which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds
to
nest in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now
without any birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

thanks Keith

Best to go to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)
wbesite for the offical gen; but I'd say north-facing was right, as
they don't want full sun blazing in. There could be a lot of other
reasons why your brother's didn't attract customers: too low, too
high, too visible, too easy for predators to get to them, too wobbly,
wrong size hole, almost anything. But you say "bird-houses": the
funny things you sometimes see on sale aren't always proper
_nest-boxes_, so it's best to check the RSPB advice to see if they
were suitable in the first place. Otherwise, just trial and error.

Mike.

How close should I fix the bird boxes, I had planned about 5 meters apart,
is this enought?

Keith Hampson wrote:
I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me
which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds
to
nest in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now
without any birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

I've got two boxes, one in a tree, one in a (leylandi) hedge, about
8ft high, both facing East and both have been used for the last two
years.
I think the theory is that they get early morning light, are sheltered
from the cold North winds and don't get the hot afternoon sun
streaming in.
Both boxes are in sheltered places away from human activity and away
from the hectic bird table gatherings.
The boxes also need cleaning out annually. They get musty and harbour
mites.

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 30.12.2004

"Keith Hampson" wrote in message
...
I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me
which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds
to nest
in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now
without any
birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

It is said that North facing is the in thing.
I have a funny feeling that birds don't actually nest in nest boxes.
I have put up nest boxes for 55 years and have never had any
occupants. I have also never seen any birds nesting in any other
nesting boxes I have come across.
I once had a pair of robins nesting in the saddle bag of a bike which
was kept in the shed. End of use of bike for a season.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote after "Keith Hampson" wrote
I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me
which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds
to nest
in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now
without any
birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

It is said that North facing is the in thing.
I have a funny feeling that birds don't actually nest in nest boxes.
I have put up nest boxes for 55 years and have never had any
occupants. I have also never seen any birds nesting in any other
nesting boxes I have come across.
I once had a pair of robins nesting in the saddle bag of a bike which
was kept in the shed. End of use of bike for a season.

We have always had ours facing NE so they get the early morning sun through
the hole but nothing after that. Get Blue Tits most years even in the ones
I've screwed on the side of the house next to each other for Sparrows (who
like a community nest site).

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

"Keith Hampson" wrote in message
...
I have just got 2 bird houses for my garden, can anyone tell me which
direction to point them in to get the most chance of getting birds to nest
in them, my brother has 2 facing north and has had 3 years now without any
birds nesting in them, before that it was hit and miss.

thanks Keith


I face mine east. They get the morning sun, the entrance is away from the
prevailing wind and not in full sun in the afternoon to make them too hot. I
get plenty of birds hatching.

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:22:55 +0100, wrote:

~On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 16:20:26 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
~wrote:
~
~
~We have always had ours facing NE so they get the early morning sun through
~the hole but nothing after that. Get Blue Tits most years even in the ones
~I've screwed on the side of the house next to each other for Sparrows (who
~like a community nest site).
~
~Would you like to rephrase that? :-)

Oh dear thanks for that laugh! I hadn't even noticed the possible...
er... connotations of the phrasing till you pointed it out!

Just for the thread, I put a new box up a Bramley on the allotment
last year, hoping for Blue Tits (which for years I've caller burglar
birds). Thought nobody had taken up the offer until I was weeding the
orchard one day and became conscious of being told off by a very loud
Great Tit. I have no clue how many chicks they raised but it was
awfully hard to get to that end of the lottie for weeks without
getting complaints from the parents! But there are a suspiciously
large number of GTs in the orchard so far this year, so here's
hoping...


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

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