Building and buying nest boxes: Why January is a good time

Created: 01/26/2022, 16:35

By: Franziska Irrgeher

Buying or putting up nest boxes in January can be a good idea.

The reasons for this are provided by the season itself.

Berlin – Many bird fans certainly associate nesting boxes with spring and summer, because then is the breeding season for the animals.

But even in winter, the small dwellings can be useful.

Just a few days ago, the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) called on Instagram to build and hang up nesting boxes back in January.

The reasons are obvious.

Building and buying nest boxes: Why January is a good time

Many a nature lover's fingers are probably itching, the first plants are sprouting, some pussy willows are already blooming* and, depending on the weather, birds are really in the spring mood.

So why not build or buy a nesting box and hang it up directly?

This has several advantages, as reported by 24garten.de*:

• Occupation: Gardening is suspended in winter, early sowing is possible in January* at most. Crafting is therefore a good bridge to the next gardening season, as suggested by NABU. This is a good opportunity, especially for children, to learn more about garden birds and their preferred breeding grounds, because every bird has different needs. The material for the nest box should always be of high quality, ideally the kit or instructions come from a nature conservation organization or were developed together with ornithologists.

• Protection from the cold: For the birds, early nesting boxes also mean protection.

  Ideally, the boxes are hanging before winter, but January is also a good time*.

  According to the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV), garden birds can lose up to ten percent of their body weight on a cold night.

  On the other hand, not only winter feeding and a natural garden with seed heads* help, but above all a nesting box.

  According to the LVB, tits like to spend the night in nest boxes, and wrens would even form cuddle groups.

• Incidentally, it does not stop with the birds, according to NABU, some boxes are also occupied by bats, dormouse or dormouse.

  NABU names February or March as the earliest cleaning date.

  Before that, you should not disturb the residents.

• Early search for a nesting site: This advantage is obvious, because if the birds are spending the winter in the garden anyway, the next nesting site can be selected straight away.

  Many a bird starts early and inspects one or the other box as early as January.

At best, nest boxes are hanging before winter (symbolic image), © Christine Roth/Imago

Ideally, the garden should therefore have several nesting boxes for different birds*, with tits there are different hole diameters for great tit and blue tit, sparrows sometimes like to breed in larger groups and are happy about a box with several nesting possibilities, and there are also special models for woodpeckers or starlings.

Pay attention to the minimum distance between the boxes and suitable locations for attachment.

This is also much easier in winter without leaves.