Hey! I’m Daveio from Northern California (1 Viewer)

[Daveio]

I have a question about trying to get chickadees to nest in my birdhouse..
which thread?
Thanks

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Daveio and a warm welcome to you from those of us on BirdForum
I'm on the east coast and my Chickadees don't use my nestboxes but nest in trees, which I have may of thankfully
Here's the Bird and Birding section on the Forum: Birds & Birding Good luck

 

[delia todd]

Hi Daveio and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. I think that KC may have put her finger on it, some birds just don't like nest boxes and prefer to build their own homes from scratch. As well as KC's suggestion, here's a link to the Garden Birds section: Garden Birds, Bird Feeding & Nestboxes

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Elkhornsun]

Nesting boxes are also species specific and plenty of websites providing information on optimum dimensions for the box and for the diameter of the entrance hole.

In general it is the cavity nesting birds that are most likely to make use of a man made nest box.

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[Lisa W]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I think you will find us a friendly and helpful group. Sorry, can’t help with your question.

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum

 

[Mendobirder]

I have a question about trying to get chickadees to nest in my birdhouse..
which thread?
Thanks

Hi Daveio, I too live in NorCal and have no difficulty with Chestnut-backed Chickadees using my nestboxes. PM me if you need details. They are picky about the nestbox dimensions, entrance-hole size, and location. For CBCH you want a minimum inside floor space of 4x4 inches (a little more is better), a drop of at least 5" from the entrance hole to the floor (many "birdhouses" fail this), and an entrance hole diameter of 1-1/8". Set the box up at least six feet off the ground, in a way that precludes access by raccoons or rats. I use a 10' stick of 1/2" metal conduit, zip-tied to a T-post; neither rats nor raccoons can climb that.
Mounting a nestbox on the side of a building or on a fencepost or tree is basically providing a free lunch to predators, so don't do that. The distance from the entrance hole to the floor is also critical to prevent Jays from reaching in and grabbing the chicks.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.