The Cedar Bluebird House with Viewing Window from BestNest is an excellent nest box option. When the side panel is raised, the unique clear plastic viewing window provides a safe view during monitoring.
The Wild Birds Unlimited EcoTough Bluebird House includes a unique two-way opening system for easy monitoring and cleaning, and it’s made of environmentally friendly high-quality recycled plastic. WBU also offers a similar EcoTough Wren & Chickadee House.
BestNest’s Coveside Wood Duck House has all the options these beautiful birds require in a big nest box.
It’s getting down to crunch time to prepare for cavity nesting birds, and we’ve been emphasizing that aspect of birding recently in advance of this year’s nesting season. The downward curve in our continental bird populations means we all need to make an extra effort this year to make sure our surviving birds prosper and increase for years to come. Some of our favorite backyard birds are cavity nesters, including bluebirds, wrens, chickadees, and screech owls. For a given nest box to be most effective and safe for birds to use, there are a few things to look for when buying a nest box or birdhouse.
In essence, a nest box is an artificial cavity, suitable for cavity nesting birds to build a nest in, or in the case of owls or kestrels, lay eggs in (they don’t build nests). But an appropriate nest box has some very important features that even a natural cavity may not provide. Hence, you can improve on nature by providing the right nest boxes for our birds.
Below, we provide a quick list of what to look for before you buy, or build, a nest box. An extremely useful, simply stated collection of information about each cavity nesting species and the nest box size and habitat requirements is succinctly provided at the Cornell Lab’s NestWatch website; see https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/features-of-a-good-birdhouse/ Read more
