Is it too late to clean out bird box?

[Aaagh]

Thanks for the replies and welcomes. Would have come back on sooner but I forgot which site I had used and had to search around for it again. I'll save it as a favourite this time.

I cleared out the box and unfortunately there were some dead birds in there. Last year was the first year I had put up a bird box because, much as I love the birds, I didn't think it was fair to encourage them into our garden as we have two cats. However, the reason I put up the box is because the cats are 18 now and hardly move, rarely going outside the house, so I didn't think they would have gone for them. I don't know if it was one of my cats that had the parents but I feel terrible about it. Poor little birds.

I don't know whether to put the box back up now. I thought it was out of reach of any predators but am thinking perhaps we could move it up really high on the house. What do you think?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Aaagh

Thanks for the replies and welcomes. Would have come back on sooner but I forgot which site I had used and had to search around for it again. I'll save it as a favourite this time.

I cleared out the box and unfortunately there were some dead birds in there. Last year was the first year I had put up a bird box because, much as I love the birds, I didn't think it was fair to encourage them into our garden as we have two cats. However, the reason I put up the box is because the cats are 18 now and hardly move, rarely going outside the house, so I didn't think they would have gone for them. I don't know if it was one of my cats that had the parents but I feel terrible about it. Poor little birds.

I don't know whether to put the box back up now. I thought it was out of reach of any predators but am thinking perhaps we could move it up really high on the house. What do you think?

Don't worry, last year was a very bad year for tits and other small birds the wet weather meant that many broods just didn't get the food they need and the chicks died.

I don't think the birds would be all that worried about the cats I once saw blue tits nesting in a wall inside the small lynx enclosure at Dudley zoo all the while watched by big bored felines!

So Yes put your box back up and keep your fingers crossed for a good spring/summer

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Aaagh

However, the reason I put up the box is because the cats are 18 now and hardly move, rarely going outside the house, so I didn't think they would have gone for them. I don't know if it was one of my cats that had the parents but I feel terrible about it. Poor little birds.

I don't know whether to put the box back up now. I thought it was out of reach of any predators but am thinking perhaps we could move it up really high on the house. What do you think?

Not sure why you think the dead birds in the box were parents? Or did you find two adults on the ground predated?

Dead birds found in a Tit box, could well have been chicks that were abandoned because the box was disturbed (by a cat/people?) at a critical time. Adults will often abandon chicks from human disturbance, so it's really important if boxes go up, they go up and are left well alone (and try and refrain from 'peeking'!!), even if adults appear not to be around, they will have their eyes on the box! and also as you say, high enough to deny access by predators, including squirrels, rats etc. Magpies will also attempt to predate nests boxes as well as Woodpeckers (which can also lead to nests being abandoned by adults), so a guard over the entrance area (standing back from it NOT flush with it!) that doesn't allow larger birds entry is a good idea ..... best not to attempt to make one but buy a proper BTO/RSPB approved guard.

Remember if you find a new location for your box, place it in an area that doesn't get direct sunlight or chicks will over heat and die. If we have another wet spring, there will be a high chick mortality again, if so, there is nothing you can do about it HOWEVER, ensuring there is food supplied in the garden during breeding season can help greatly.

(Don't worry about your cats, they sound too 'past' bothering to me but it could have been a neighbours cat!!! A bell on the collar though is a good idea)

[parsleythelion]

can one sprinkle some diatom in a nest box? it kills red spider mites and the like and can also be ate to clobber worms in the gut.

[Aaagh]

[quote=Picidae;409964]Not sure why you think the dead birds in the box were parents?"

No, I didn't think they were the parents, I thought they were chicks but something else killed the parents.

"Adults will often abandon chicks from human disturbance, so it's really important if boxes go up, they go up and are left well alone (and try and refrain from 'peeking'!!)"

Although we never peeked in the box, I did listen next to the box to hear the babies twittering sometimes. I hope this didn't scare them off. The box has now been relocated and is out of reach from anything that doesn't fly so we hope we'll be luckier this year. I'll look into getting a guard too.

The cats haven't worn collars since they were kittens, so I don't know how they'll react, but I think I'm going to get collars with bells on for them whilst I have a bird box and bird feeders in the garden. Seems like the right think to do and they will get used to it.

[Geoff F]

Don't bother with bells for your cats. It may sound like a good idea but in reality it doesn't work. The bells don't make enough noise and most cat related bird fatalities are from the cat lying in ambush by hiding in long grass or shubbery.

The main thing is to put your box, or any feeders, sufficiently high to be safe. Feeders should be placed in open ground where cats can't hide. The box should, as far as possible, be away from human disturbance and not in direct midday sunshine.

As others have said, in bad summers tits can totally fail to raise a brood and we have had 2 poor summers. But if there were only 2 dead birds it is possible that some survived and the weakest 2 died.

Just one other thought. Was the box made from clean and well weathered wood without any preservative or harmful paint finishes?

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Don't bother with bells for your cats. It may sound like a good idea but in reality it doesn't work.

I'm not sure that's entirely true Geoff. Studies have been done to show it can make a difference. Also recommended by RSPB. While it's true an abundance of cat kills are from an ambushed position, it is also the case, based on my own experience, cats will run across an open area eg. towards a bird table etc, once they have an eye in, even if it's simply to come out from it's ambush position. A bell does alert birds/especially ground feeders to the presence of the silent running paws of a cat. I don't think any effort to reduce cat predation can be dismissed.

''aagh'', during the breeding season, it's also been shown that it can make a significant difference if cats are kept indoors in the height of predation hours, ie. Dawn/early morning, evenings/night-time.