The Official Home of National Nestbox Week
Making more homes for Britain’s birds since 1997
Advice for Architects, Developers and Land Managers
Most modern buildings in towns, gardens and cities offer few gaps and holes for birds to nest and roost. As a result, bird populations in many areas have declined and in some cases almost disappeared.
Installation of nestboxes into new houses, office blocks, precincts and other modern buildings is now a frequent requirement for obtaining planning permission from local authorities.
The information here offers a wide range of nestbox solutions for buildings, parks and gardens and covers most of the common birds that nest in urban areas.
Most of the bird boxes here are brick boxes - hollow blocks sized to hold a nest - that are simply cemented in place during brickwork construction. Other solutions, mostly for Swift or House Martin, involve fitting nestboxes under the eaves of buildings.
Swift
House Sparrow
Starling
Blue and Great Tit
Robin, Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Wagtail
House Martin
Kestrel, Jackdaw and Swift
Town planners are increasingly asked to allow for wildlife biodiversity in plans for new parks, gardens and other green areas, and it is becoming standard practice to provide nestboxes.
There are many different commercial nestboxes available. Many are not fit for purpose, so it is important to choose carefully.
All the nestboxes below are designed to be fixed to or hung from a tree, post, wall or building.
Small Entrance Hole
Medium
Entrance Hole
Large Entrance Hole
Low Open-Fronted Entrance
Medium
Open-Fronted Entrance
High
Open-Fronted Entrance
Excessive management of river margins and banks, as well as recreational pressures on lakes and other large water bodies, means there are less nesting opportunities for many riparian bird species - such as Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Sand Martin. The installation of well-designed nestboxes and artificial nests is often a good solution. Many are quite specialised and require advice from ecologists during installation.
Kingfisher and Sand Martin
Dipper and Grey/Pied Wagtail