Whats going on in my nesting box.

[mark1000]

Hi guys, its been a while.

I have a ? for the birders with more knowledge than me.

I have a Blue tit box that has a Blue tit in and out every few minutes, thing is he/she is chipping away at the wood inside and throwing it out the hole, i am assuming its making some kind of bowel in the floor for eggs to sit in, am i right ?, or is something else going on, i'm getting worried the Blue tit is going to dig a hole out through the bottom of the box.

Mark.

[mark1000]

Image of the Blue tit throwing bits of wood out.

[rossy]

Originally Posted by mark1000

Hi guys, its been a while.

I have a ? for the birders with more knowledge than me.

I have a Blue tit box that has a Blue tit in and out every few minutes, thing is he/she is chipping away at the wood inside and throwing it out the hole, i am assuming its making some kind of bowel in the floor for eggs to sit in, am i right ?, or is something else going on, i'm getting worried the Blue tit is going to dig a hole out through the bottom of the box.

Mark.

dont worry, they wont dig through the bottom, looks like they have chosen your box, so they are modifiying it to suit, its normal, enjoy watching them and stay away from the box now, as not to disturb the tits, good luck, rossy.

[toadpole]

how wonderful mark1000looks like she is giving your bird box a 60 minute makeover hope my bird boxes get some activity this year Marion

[witham]

if it's a box that's been used before it could have old nesting material, droppings or even remains of a dead chick, similarly if it's been used as a night box and full of droppings it will be a manic housewife sprucing it up before bringing her own clean stuff in

[mark1000]

Originally Posted by rossy

dont worry, they wont dig through the bottom, looks like they have chosen your box, so they are modifiying it to suit, its normal, enjoy watching them and stay away from the box now, as not to disturb the tits, good luck, rossy.

Originally Posted by toadpole

how wonderful mark1000looks like she is giving your bird box a 60 minute makeover hope my bird boxes get some activity this year Marion

Originally Posted by witham

if it's a box that's been used before it could have old nesting material, droppings or even remains of a dead chick, similarly if it's been used as a night box and full of droppings it will be a manic housewife sprucing it up before bringing her own clean stuff in

Thanks Guys, although the box has been sited for three seasons, this is the first time a bird has actually shown more than a passing interest, i was so happy to find a Blue tit popping in and out for whats more than two weeks now, but worried about the constant digging/chipping out of the wood, my wife thinks she has seen some nesting materials going in today, hope so.

Mark.

[AmyEr]

Hey guys, I've been looking around for a thread that's quite current.

I've had a nest box in my garden for about 4 years without any activity in it, and because of that my dad moved it to a different position last year.
For the last few weeks a pair of blue tits have been expecting the one in our garden and my neighbours, and it seems that today they've chosen ours. The Female has started building.

My problem is the box's new position is placed where cats can sit, above, below and both sides to attack, and mine likes to hunt, adults can usually give her the slip but she caught a young sparrow and starling last year. (the sparrow died)

I've suggested to my dad putting mesh around the box so my cats can't get close enough, I'd rather do it before they have eggs, but i don't want to scare them off, since never having them in the garden before.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[AmyEr]

Literally after posting that, we went outside to find my other cat, sitting next to the box and the blue tit in a tree nearby Tweeting its head off. Whether it'll continue to nest there i don't know, but my cat got soaked.

[rossy]

cats are a massive problem, where has your dad put the box ? heres a tip put pepper where the cats go, and watch, when it rains put more down, they dont like that, also stay clear of the box and dont put any mesh around now, as the tits might be put off, welcome to the forum by the way, rossy.

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by AmyEr

Literally after posting that, we went outside to find my other cat, sitting next to the box and the blue tit in a tree nearby Tweeting its head off. Whether it'll continue to nest there i don't know, but my cat got soaked.

It sounds as though your garden isn't a suitable place for a nest box!