How Essential?

JohnM20 replied on 04/03/2023 08:57

Posted on 04/03/2023 08:57

Our house has a south facing roof and for several years, sparrows have nested under the tiles. Each year they take in grass and other nest building materials which I would like them to stop. To this end I have made a multi-compartment nest box which I am / was going to put up under the eaves, adjacent to where they nest. The advice seems to be don't put boxes on a south facing wall, presumably because of the heat but the sparrows themselves build on this south side of the house so the heat can't bother them that much as they have several broods each year.

So the question is, should I be OK with my proposed position. The box will be slightly shaded from direct sun, being under the eaves and the timber used is 20mm thick, so quite a good insulator. I could mount it on the east side of the house but the sparrows never seem to go down that side of the house. Just as a point of interest, my neighbour put a robin box on the south side of his house and blackbirds used it twice last year. Any comments anyone?

JohnM20 replied on 06/03/2023 08:03

Posted on 05/03/2023 23:42 by Amesford

Sounds like a good idea but I would get the nest boxes built and put up ASAP as I've seen some birds collecting nest material already 

Posted on 06/03/2023 08:03

I made the 3 compartment terraced nest box a few days ago and it is now up under the eaves just below where the sparrows nested under the tiles.

Takethedogalong replied on 06/03/2023 13:49

Posted on 06/03/2023 13:49

Peanuts?🤣

Hope things go well. We love all our feathered friends, residents and visitors, but you do have to keep on top of things to keep house self and critters healthy. I have given up on Tulip bulbs, it’s more like opening a McDonalds for squirrels, little blighters just dig them up and off to nest🤨

Our most interesting invasion was a couple of years ago, we had some sort of bees that had nested inside our brickwork. (We don’t have cavity walls, house is too old). There was obviously some sort of space they found very appealing. Once we identified them as bees, rather than wasps (😱), we decided just to let nature take its course, until they left, and dealt with after that. Nuisance though having to have bedroom window panelled over to keep them from getting in, and we did have to chase a few back outside. Thankfully they haven’t come back.

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