bird-box question

[buckle-bugs]

Can anyone help me? Have large rural north-east facing garden with lots of mature trees/streams surrounded by dense beech hedge
Despite having 6 birdboxes of varying sizes/openings , keepng them clean and moving their location every few years, none have ever been nested in, However the hedge always reveals a lot of new used nests all, around the garden by the end of year tidy up!
Have just purchases a birdbox/webcam for Husbands Xmas pressie, where should this be located for a chance of success . should we just put in a secure position in the hedge??



PS we also have bird feeder, regularly re filled with nuts , when they go mouldy, again they are usually ignored! We do not have a cat just a small dog who keeps the garden cat free.

Thanks , Disillusioned>

[htcdude]

Do you know what birds nest in the hedge? It may be they're territorial and see off any others nesting near by? I dunno. Just a thought

Nige

[Dogghound]

Im guessing this is a tit box? if its for blue tits et al (an easy species to get using boxes) then it wants to be placed 1 to 5m high on a wall or a tree in the open with an open flight path to it. You need to position it so it is sheltered from the prevailing wind, rain and out of strong sunlight. A lot of this can depend on location though. I would keep the nest box well away from any bird feeders too.

[rossy]

dont know how big your garden is ? but that is a lot of nest boxes, why dont you try attaching the new christmas one , onto the house , then you wouldnt need as much cable, just a thought, rossy.

[dmbuild66]

Hi Firstly, not all birds will nest in birdboxes, the ones you find in the hedge probably only nest in hedges shrubs etc. As stated in other replies the easiest bird to get nesting in a box is the Blue tit. I have found that the entrance hole MUST point north to north-east and be at least 2 metres above the ground with clear flight path, the hole size must not exceed 25mm. If the hole size is more than this I have found they will not nest in the box as other birds could enter. I have built many boxes for other birds like sparrows etc with no success so it seems a trial and error situation. My blue-tit box is only 2 metres away from feeding station and they seem to love it. Persevere and good luck dave