Guidelines for Nest Box Placement
(These are only guidelines as there are always exceptions.)
1/ Face opening away from prevailing winds, if possible. (Southwest usually)
2/ Place boxes near native grass.
3/ Don’t place boxes where cows (who rub on boxes), or horses (who eat them) can reach them. If that’s a problem, place rocks around post as cows don’t like to walk on large rocks.
4/ Some use laminated tags stapled on box to name them. Use a name such as BW 123 or BDW 123 or any other name to help identify the trail. An example would be WL xxx (West Lethbridge).
5/ Don’t place boxes near houses as sparrows will move in, or near trees as wrens will move in.
6/ Tree swallows and wrens are protected, sparrows are not. Destroy sparrow nests, leave wren and swallow nests alone. Sparrow nests are a mess of almost everything and they fill up the box.
7/ Tree swallow nests are made of grass, lined with feathers and the eggs are white.
8/ Wren nests are made of twigs, with brown eggs.
9/ Bluebird nests are grass only and the eggs are blue or sometimes white.
10/ Remove any dead nestlings, and check nestlings for blowflies, except don’t handle wrens as they are excitable and will die of heart attack.
11/ Raccoons can be a problem, as they will eat eggs and birds. If raccoons attack a nest you can put a wire screen around the opening.
12/ After nesting season (usually late August), clean out boxes to prevent mice from over wintering.
13/ Avoid placing boxes on heavily traveled roads to reduce bird mortality or near water bodies which can attract raccoons.