Sparrow Terrace?

[tom00_uk]

having been to a couple of garden centres to get this years seed potatoes i noticed they all seem to be stocking multi hole nest boxes, with three or more nest boxes constructed from the same bit of wood. So you get a hole on the sides and the front. Each hole leads to a independent nesting area.

How successful are they?

I ask as i have the location to put many boxes but not the permission to put many holes into the surface, so it might be the answer around the hole issue

[thebeard]

i think they're pretty successful, as sparrows are communal breeders so are attracted to such boxes.

[RKB]

These are specifically targetted at House and Tree Sparrows, so unless you have lots of those then there's not much point. I also think the design is slightly wishful thinking - we have quite a few of these up on farmland with Tree Sparrows and what tends to happen is that only one compartment will be used at a time (often by tits), and occasionally it seems to confuse them as they'll build bits of nests in more than one hole.

I don't know what others' experience is with them, but I think they're overrated. Though if you have a large colony of Sparrows then it might be worthwhile, with several nests in several holes over a season. But they need to be placed quite high (15 ft or higher) to stand the best chance, as Sparrows tend to nest quite high.

[rossy]

yes the best place is to put them under the eaves, thats if your house has them, as like rkb has put . they like to nest high up, rossy.

[Pigeon feather]

I have two normal nest boxes side by side about 12ft up on the side of my house and have had sparrows nesting in one for the past two years the other had a partially built nest when I took them down for cleaning so this year I have drilled the hole on the side of this box and covered up the original hole to see if this makes a difference I have also put a camera in the successful box and regularly see the male house sparrow roosting inside

[Deb London]

This 'sparrow parade' has never been touched by sparrows (only Blue Tits). There are sparrows in the area.

[rossy]

Originally Posted by Deb London

This 'sparrow parade' has never been touched by sparrows (only Blue Tits). There are sparrows in the area.

what size hole is in your box deb ? enlarged the photo and it only looks about 25mm , sparrows need 32 mm ,also try relocating it, as the sparrows might be put off by the guttering, or does that run all the way round your house ? rossy.

[Deb London]

Hi rossy, that's a good point. I'm very trusting and I assumed that because this box was marketed for sparrows, then the holes would be the right size. It's quite high up, so measurement requires a bit of effort, but I will check this out.

The 'natural' nests in the area are under eaves, and I tired to recreate this as best I could.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Deb London

Hi rossy, that's a good point. I'm very trusting and I assumed that because this box was marketed for sparrows, then the holes would be the right size. It's quite high up, so measurement requires a bit of effort, but I will check this out.

The 'natural' nests in the area are under eaves, and I tired to recreate this as best I could.

My neighbour has Virginia creeper growing up his house over his drain pipe he has had thrush,black birds and house sparrows nest on his and its just above his back door so is only about 10ft off the ground.
I have a sparrow terrace that has never been used. So will move it to the other side of the house see if this makes any difference.

[rossy]

ok deb let us know how you get on,but be careful, rossy.