Householders asked to show love for the birds this Valentine’s Day
Blue Tit Chick | ©Tom Streeter | BTO
Words by The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
IG: @btobirds
Covered by Conker Nature Magazine
IG: @conkernaturemagazine
First Published: 09th February 2025 at 10:00 AM GMT
As we approach Valentine’s Day and the nations’ love birds are busy making amorous plans, the celebrated Saint’s day also marks the start of National Nest Box Week.
Great Tit | ©David Waistell | BTO
As we approach Valentine’s Day and the nations’ love birds are busy making amorous plans, the celebrated Saint’s day also marks the start of National Nest Box Week.
Mid-February is also when many wild birds start to pair up and seek out suitable sites for the imminent breeding season, so now is a great time to put up new nest boxes, or spruce up your old ones, says the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
Our gardens and green spaces provide a perfect home for many of our most familiar and much-loved birds, such as Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Starling and Robin. And while some individuals may be able to find a safe place to nest in planted areas, or around buildings, there is still very much a shortage of desirable nesting spots, particularly in urban and suburban areas.
Loss of appropriate habitat, changes in land-use, ‘tidier’ gardens and other factors have impacted negatively on many of the UK’s breeding birds and it is increasingly important that we help provide a haven where our feathered neighbours can raise their broods. By providing nest boxes, we can help many of our garden visitors thrive.
There is a staggeringly wide variety of boxes. From Blue Tits to Barn Owls, there are boxes designed to suit a range of different species. Whether you build your nest box or buy one ready-made, consider which birds you hope to attract. Make a note of the birds that you see in your garden to help you determine which species are most likely to nest there. Larger gardens should attract a wider range of birds, while smaller spaces may provide limited, but equally valuable, opportunities.
As with our own homes, location is also an all-important feature. Boxes for most common garden birds should be located between 1-3 metres off the ground, away from bird feeders, and where the entrance is sheltered from prevailing wind, rain, and strong sunlight.
Another bird that also takes readily to artificial nesting sites, but isn’t really a garden bird, is the Swift. These astonishing aerial acrobats have suffered major population declines in recent decades and many homeowners are now providing special boxes for these dynamic travellers, whose distinctive screaming calls were once a familiar summer sound in our cities and towns. Swifts typically favour older buildings for nesting, where they raise their chicks under the eaves, but modern household improvements and refurbishments have reduced suitable nesting sites.
As well as providing an invaluable home for our garden birds and giving householders a rare glimpse into their private lives, nest boxes can also help supply important scientific data. BTO nest monitoring schemes offer a fabulous way for people to monitor the health of our nesting bird populations by sending in their records, contributing vital information to our understanding of birds’ breeding success.
To find out more, go to: www.bto.org/nest-monitoring
The BTO website also has a dedicated nest box page providing information and advice on the building, buying, and positioning of nest boxes and the different birds that can be attracted.
For details visit: www.bto.org/nest-boxes
“By putting up a nest box in your garden you are not only providing a place for birds to raise their family, it is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with the wildlife on your doorstep. If you can look inside your nest box or have a camera in the box, you will have the chance to learn about the birds around you and by submitting the details of the nest you can help us understand how habitats and climate change are impacting birds.”
Starling Nest | ©Hugh Insley | BTO