positioning of boxes

[emily_c]

Hello,

just looking for some advice on where to place my nestbox. The rspb site says 2-5 mtrs up a wall but the highest walls in my garden are 2.3 mtrs and have cats don't have any suitable trees and don't really want to site on the wall of the house as it is multi occupancy and I am not sure how much noise a family of tits would make.

Please help as I would love to put up a box this year but would rather give it to a friend with a more suitable site than waste it somewhere its not going to be used...

thanks,

Emily

[tracy]

Hi,you could try putting something sticky along the walll by the box as cats hate getting their paws mucky or wire some prickly shrubs like holly or pyracantha around the top of the box to keep cats off.I do this with the box on my oak tree to keep the squirrells off.I find a box at about 5-6 foot off the ground is fine.Do you not have a shed you could attatch it to? With regards to noise we had a family of blue tits nest in the cavity of our bedroom wall,they squeezed in through a gap left when we had new
windows put in and they made no noise at all,i didn't know they were there untill i was cleaning the inside of the glass and saw one fly out!! Please just remember to make sure the box faces east or north..Good luck

[Metermaid]

As an aside to this - has anyone had blue tits breed when nest box is very close to a feeding station?.....hard for me to re-position either but wondering whether they will see the proximity of food as a bonus - or be disturbed by other birds feeding?

[dampflippers]

How close are you talking about, and what is between box and feeders?

[Metermaid]

Only about 8 feet, with a garden seat in between (nest box is on a large oak tree :)

[emily_c]

Thanks for the advice... think I will go for the side of the house,

Em

[Kiscokid]

I have had an interested looking blue tit already this year and my box is about 6 ft from the feeder - although obscured in part by a hedge.
When I got home this afternoon I saw that some of the wood around the hole had been pecked out and the box was slightly at an angle ... should I re-angle it or just leave it all as it is ??? Advice would be good - thanks