Which bird box for which bird?

Many different types of birds will use birdhouses, including:

Chickadees and Tits:

Ducks:

Finches and Sparrows:

Flycatchers and Warblers:

Nuthatches and Creepers:

Swifts and Swallows:

Thrushes:

Woodpeckers:

Wrens:

Birds of Prey:

Just because a bird species has been recorded as using birdhouses does not mean they will move in as soon as a house is available. Birders who make their property more attractive to the birds will be more likely to attract nesting birds, and that means meeting the birds' survival necessities.

While it is essential to attract more birds so potential residents will notice the birdhouse, it is important to remember that nesting birds require privacy to feel secure while raising their families. Once a yard is attractive to birds, the birdhouse or nest box should be placed in a private area of the yard away from the busiest concentrations of feathered visitors.

Even a bird-friendly yard with a birdhouse won't attract nesting birds if it isn't the right type of house. Different birds prefer different house sizes and styles, and there are certain considerations birders should make when getting started with birdhouses to be sure they have selected the right house for their birds.

Setting up a nesting box in your yard can provide an essential nesting area for the members of many species of birds. It is also a great way to provide wildlife a place to raise young, one of the four things you need for your outdoor area to qualify as a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat.

While many species are able to hide their nests in dense foliage or grassy meadow areas, many others require holes for nesting. Some birds, such as woodpeckers, can excavate their own nesting cavities in dead or decaying trees. Others depend on the abandoned nesting holes or natural cavities formed from fallen branches for places to build nests.

Recently, however, an increase in development and removal of damaged and dead trees has left many cavity-nesting birds with fewer natural places to raise their young. In addition, invasive birds, such as the European starling and the house sparrow, compete with native bird species for the use of the remaining cavities.

Adding a nesting box to your habitat will not only benefit native bird species, it will also give you an opportunity to monitor and enjoy birds.

Although most birds prefer natural cavities for nesting, with the correct design a nesting box can serve as a good replacement.

There are numerous types of bird nesting boxes available commercially. Each box contains different features and is targeted at a particular bird species. But not all nesting boxes are created equal. There are several features to consider when purchasing or building a nesting box.

Check that the box is well constructed and contains these basic features:

It is also important to make sure that your box incorporates features preferred by the particular bird species you hope to attract. These features include the entrance hole size, the height at which the box is posted, and the type of habitat surrounding the box. When purchasing a nesting box, research the physical requirements of the species that you hope to attract and make sure that you are investing in a functional, rather than ornamental, birdhouse. Check out the Birdhouse Network of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for more specific information on species preferences.

The habitat available to you will be the primary factor determining the type of birds you can attract for nesting. Here are a few things to consider:

Make sure your nesting box is in place well before the arrival of breeding season.

This will give birds a better chance of finding and using your box, and it may even be used for winter cover if put outside earlier. Don't be discouraged if birds don't find the box in the first season; sometimes it can take a few years for the birds to find the box.

Changes to climate, farming practices and urban landscapes have changed how birds nest. With fewer trees and wooden barns to build nests in, mating pairs of many birds are declining. With a bird nesting box you can offer them shelter and be thanked with beautiful birdsong.

Birds make fantastic wild companions and encouraging birds into your garden is a great way to introduce you and your family to British wildlife. They can even help in the garden, eating common garden pests like snails and aphids.

If you put food out for them to eat and a bird bath where they can drink and wash, you can attract these characterful creatures and provide a much-needed sanctuary.

We’ve curated a list of bird nesting boxes - from the understated to the unique - to help you choose the perfect one for your garden.

Looking for other ways to attract birds to your garden? Have a look at our lists guides to the best nutritious feeds, best bird feeders, best bird tables, and best bird baths. For help watching birds, check out our guides to the best wildlife cameras and bird box cameras, or be inspired by our guide to wildlife gifts.

Different birds have different needs, so if you’re looking to introduce birds to your garden this way it's a good idea to have a range of nesting boxes.

Robins like small but open-faced bird boxes.

Swifts love high, long nesting boxes, with a small crevice opening to hide in.

Sparrows are largely unfussed by type, but prefer little, square nests with a small entry hole.

Blue tits love small, round nesting boxes that mimic holes in oak trees.

See our pick of a range of nesting boxes, below:

This build-your-own bird nesting box kit is a perfect DIY project. Customise this box however you like, as the birds won’t mind as long as they have a warm place to sleep. A fantastic starting point for teaching children the basics of DIY while learning about - and caring for - the natural world.

Price: £12.99

Buy National Trust CJ Wildlife Build Your Own Nest Box Kit at Birdfood.co.uk

Swifts are magical birds, spending almost their entire lives in the air and they summer throughout northern Europe and winter in Sub-Saharan Africa. A swift nesting box offers this remarkable species one of the few places they’ll ever land.

Price: £30.99

Buy the Johnston & Jeff Middleton Swift Box at Amazon

House martins are fascinating birds, breeding and raising their young in the UK but wintering somewhere unknown in Africa - some have even been spotted as far south as Namibia. This bird nesting box perfectly mimics their mud nests, and is designed to be fitted under eaves, beams, and windowsills, just like real house martin nests. What’s more, this bird nesting box comes with two nests, so you can watch two broods of this intriguing species mature for the long flight southwards.

Price: £22.99

Buy CJ Wildlife House Martin Nest Box from CJ Wildlife and Amazon

This unique bird nesting box not only provides for birds, but for humans too. Made from recycled saris it has no plastic and is Fairtrade, ensuring high working standards and fair pay for the Bangladeshi workers who make them. A great product for ethical consumers.

Price: £17.99

Buy the Shesali Artisan Nester from Ethical Superstore

One of the most common birds in Britain, blue tits are also the most likely to take to a bird nesting box. They’re an especially helpful companion for gardeners, because they love to eat aphids. For the joy of birdsong and some free pest control, look no further than this FSC-certified birch bird nesting box.

Price: £21.60

Buy Wildlife World Blue Tit Nest Box on Amazon

Sparrows are one of the most common birds in Europe and one of the most social. Few birds are as unbothered by human beings as sparrows, which is why they’re commonly found in towns. Though populous in Europe, the numbers of house sparrows has collapsed in the UK in recent years. This bird nesting box offers space for three different nests at once, so you can help to revitalise this mainstay of British wildlife.

Price: £39.99

Buy Plant Theatre Sparrow Loft on Amazon

Woodpeckers are one of nature’s more striking birds, hammering into tree bark with their beaks to pick out ants, grubs and larvae with long, thin tongues. This industrious tapping is one of the most distinctive sounds of British wildlife. This FSC-certified bird nesting box is specifically designed for woodpeckers to roost - just put it in a tall tree facing away from the prevailing wind.

Price: £129.99

Buy Wildlife World Woodpecker Box from Wildlife World

However, if you want to attract a specific species, in most cases, you will need to build or buy a specific type of bird house. For example, Purple Martins nest in colonies and Robins nest on platforms without roofs. Most bird houses are square or rectangular and feature an entrance hole, keep in mind the size of the box and the size of the entrance hole will attract certain species. Here are some types of bird houses that specific species nest in.

Bluebird houses are quite simple, with a small entrance hole (2 1/4" x 1 3/8") and large roof for extra protection. Bluebird boxes are commonly taken over by other small birds like House Sparrows, and because their population is declining, it is important to include a cone-shaped predator baffle and monitor the activity around the nest box. You could also consider drilling a second entrance hole beside the first one to enable bluebirds to better defend boxes from sparrows.

Attach bluebird boxes to a pole and place them in the sun and about 4 to 6 feet off the ground. Position the nest box so that the entrance hole is facing east and towards open habitat. If you're placing more than one next box in your yard, try to space them about 15-20 feet apart to reduce competition.

If you would like to watch Robins, Barn Swallows, or Phoebes nesting, you won’t need a bird house. Often considered a bird of spring, Robins begin their breeding cycles shortly after returning to their summer range. Their iconic pastel-colored eggs are unmistakable as well.

Robins, Barn Swallows, and Phoebes nest on shelves or ledges  — and often in locations that seem intrusive to human activities. However, you can attract them to areas you want by building a platform yourself.

All you need is a platform floor with a little border around it and a back piece for attaching it. Mount the nesting shelf on a building or post in a sheltered site, including under the eaves or soffitsm or over a light fixture. It should be placed at a height 5-25 feet off the ground. Blue Jays, Mourning Doves and Cardinals will also use these types of nesting platforms.

To attract Wrens, the most important aspect of the bird house is the hole. Make sure the diameter is no larger than 1 1/4", which is large enough for all types of Wrens and Black-capped Chickadees to use, but too small for House Sparrows. Tree Swallows will also use this type of house.

Wren bird houses can be attached to a tree, a pole, or even a building. It should be anywhere from 5-10 feet off the ground. The house should be placed within 100 feet of cover, such as woody vegetation. Wrens are known to fill or take over all of the nest sites in the area to defend their territory. As they do say, they may destroy the eggs of nearby cavity nesters. Place nest boxes intended for other bird species at least 100 feet away and in a more open habitat that is less attractive to wrens.

Black-Capped Chickadees also prefer a well-covered bird house. These birds also enjoy having wood shavings in the bottom of their nest box and prefer for the entrance to face away from the wind.

Purple Martins nest in colonies, so their bird houses are very different and more complex - they're almost like a mini neighborhood! Depending on how many you want to attract, you must build them in multiple levels. These bird houses are usually rounded, and should feature a protective roof as well. You can also simply hang several gourds in a cluster.

Attach the house to a pole, approximately 10-15 feet off the ground. For your own convenience, mount it on a pole that can be lowered for cleaning and maintenance. Colonies should be set about 60 feet from other obstacles, including trees and buildings. Purple Martins seem to prefer houses painted white (but do not paint the inside). Purple martin decoys can be placed nearby to attract these social birds to your new house.

If you find a nest around your house, try not to disturb it. Moving it can be illegal, as some species of birds are protected by law. Birds will not abandon the nest if you touch it, but if they see you getting too close, they may abandon eggs that aren’t hatched.

Your best bet is to leave the nest as is and allow the birds using it to raise their young. At most, the entire process of nest creation, incubation, and raising the young fledgings will take about two months.

A nest box, also spelled nestbox, is a man-made enclosure provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses or a birdbox/bird box, but some mammals such as bats may also use them. Placing nestboxes or roosting boxes may also be used to help maintain populations of particular species in an area.

Nest boxes were used since Roman times to capture birds for meat. The use of nest boxes for other purposes began in the mid-18th century, and naturalist August von Berlepsch was the first to produce nest boxes on a commercial scale.

Nest boxes are getting more attention because increasing industrialization, urban growth, modern construction methods, deforestation and other human activities since the mid-20th century have caused severe declines in birds' natural habitats, introducing hurdles to breeding. Nest boxes can help prevent bird extinction, as it was shown in the case of scarlet macaws in the Peruvian Amazon.

Nest boxes are usually wooden, although the purple martin will nest in metal. Some boxes are made from a mixture of wood and concrete, called woodcrete. Ceramic and plastic nestboxes are not suitable.

Nest boxes should be made from untreated wood with an overhanging, sloped roof, a recessed floor, drainage and ventilation holes, a way to access the interior for monitoring and cleaning, and have no outside perches which could assist predators. Boxes may either have an entrance hole or be open-fronted. Some nest boxes can be highly decorated and complex, sometimes mimicking human houses or other structures. They may also contain nest box cameras so that use of, and activity within, the box can be monitored.

The diameter of the opening in a nest-box has a very strong influence on the species of birds that will use the box. Many small birds select boxes with a hole only just large enough for an adult bird to pass through. This may be an adaptation to prevent other birds from raiding it. In European countries, an opening of 2.5 cm in diameter will attract Poecile palustris, Poecile montanus; an opening of 2.8 cm in diameter will attract Ficedula hypoleuca, and an opening of 3 cm in diameter will attract Parus major, Passer montanus, an opening of 3.2 cm in diameter will attract Passer domesticus.

The size of the nest box also affects the bird species likely to use the box. Very small boxes attract wrens and treecreepers and very large ones may attract ducks and owls. Seasonally removing old nest material and parasites is important if they are to be successfully re-used.

The material used in the construction may also be significant. Sparrows have been shown to prefer woodcrete boxes rather than wooden ones. Birds nesting in woodcrete sites had earlier clutches, a shorter incubation period, and more reproductive success, perhaps because the synthetic nests were warmer than their wooden counterparts.

Placement of the nest box is also significant. Some birds (including birds of prey) prefer their nest box to be at a particular height, while others (such as ducks) may prefer them to be very low or even at ground level. Orientation relative to the sun is also important, with many birds preferring their boxes to be away from direct sun and sheltered from the prevailing rain.

Bat boxes differ from bird nest-boxes in typical design, with the larger opening on the underside of the box, and are more often referred to as bat boxes, although in regard to the rearing of young, they serve the same purpose. Some threatened bat species can be locally supported with the provision of appropriately placed bat-boxes, however species that roost in foliage or large cavities will not use bat boxes. Bat boxes are typically made out of wood, and there are several designs for boxes with single or multiple chambers. Directions for making the open bottom bat houses for small and large colonies, as well as locations to purchase them are available on the internet. Colour and placement is important to ensuring that bat boxes are used; bat boxes that are too shaded will not heat up enough to attract a maternity colony of bats. Australian bat box projects have been running for over 12 years in particular at the Organ Pipes National Park. Currently there are 42 roost boxes using the "Stebbings Design" which have peaked at 280 bats roosting in them. The biggest problem with roosting boxes of any kind is the ongoing maintenance; problems include boxes falling down, wood deteriorating, and pests such as ants, the occasional rat, possums, and spiders.

Nest boxes are marketed not only for birds, but also for butterflies and mammals, especially arboreal ones such as squirrels and opossums. Depending on the animal, these boxes may be used for roosting, breeding, or both, or, as in the case with butterflies, hibernation.

Wasps, bumble-bees, or other insects may build their nests inside a nest box intended for other animals, and may exclude the intended species.

Entrance holes with a diameter of 25mm are suitable for blue, coal and marsh tits, whilst a slightly larger entrance of 28mm will attract tree sparrows and great tits. Normally the largest entrance of 32mm will be good for bigger species such as house sparrows, nuthatches and woodpeckers.