Backyard Nature Nestbox Size Chart

Mount a bluebird trail of several bluebird nestboxes near an old field, orchard, park, cemetery, or golf course. Bluebirds prefer nest boxes on a tree stump or between three and five feet high. They are attracted to fencepost locations because they use the fencewire for a perch from which to swoop down when hunting insects. Starlings and house sparrows sometimes kill baby bluebirds as well as adults sitting on the nest. The most important measurement is the hole diameter. An inch and a half is small enough to deter starlings. Discourage predatory cats, snakes, raccoons, and chipmunks by mounting the house on a metal pole, or use a metal predator guard on a wood post.

Chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches share the same food, feeders, and habitats. If you put a properly designed nestbox in a wooded yard, at least one pair is sure to check it out. You can encourage these birds to stay around by filling suet and peanut feeders throughout the year.

The great crested flycatcher and its western cousin, the ash-throated flycatcher, are common in wooded suburbs. These flycatchers may nest in a nestbox placed about ten feet up in a tree in an orchard or at the edge of a field or stream.

Prothonotary warblers prefer slab bark to be attached to the front of their houses, and placed over water.

Tree swallows prefer nest boxes attached to dead trees. Space the boxes about seven feet apart. The ideal setting for these insect-eaters is on the edge of a field near a lake, pond, or river. Violet-green swallows nest in forested mountains of the west; place boxes on large trees in a semi-open woodland.

You can attract all species of woodpeckers with a suet feeder, but only the flicker and the red-bellied are likely to use a nest box. They prefer a box with roughened interior and a floor covered with a two-inch layer of wood chips or coarse sawdust. Flickers are especially attracted to nest boxes filled with sawdust, which they "excavate" to suit themselves. Place the box high up on a tree trunk exposed to direct sunlight.

Wrens are very creative about where they nest. Wrens are notorious for filling up any conceivable nest cavity with twigs, regardless of whether they use the nest. Since male house wrens build several nests for the female to choose from, hang several nest boxes at eye level on partly sunlit tree limbs, walls or fences. Wrens will accept nest boxes quite close to your house or other buildings.

Purple Martins east of the Mississippi are most likely to nest in crafted nesting apartments. A house on the edge of a pond or river, surrounded by a field or lawn is most attractive to them. Martins need a radius of about 40 feet of unobstructed flying space around their houses. Convenient perches, such as a telephone wire or supplemental roof perches gives them a place to perch in sociable groups. Martins nest in groups, so you'll need a house with a minimum of four large rooms.

Robins prefer to build their nest in the crotch of a tree. If you don't have an appropriate tree, you can offer a nesting shelf. Place the nesting shelf six feet or higher on a shaded tree trunk or under the overhang of a shed or porch. Providing a "mud puddle" nearby assists robins in finding the mud they use to line their nests.

Swallows are very sociable...and they will even nest on a ledge right over your front door. To avoid a mess by your door, offer the birds a nesting shelf on a nearby building where you'd rather have them.