A Winter Roosting Box
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Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Jun 26, 2006 |
I've been thinking about different ways to provide bird shelter on a small property, and whether I could attract some birds to nesting boxes in the summer time. I've stumbled across something that I had completely forgotten about - the idea of providing a roosting box for birds in winter.
A roosting box is usually bigger than a nesting box because the idea is to make space for lots of birds to huddle together through cold winter nights and inclement weather. A building plan for a nesting box usually includes two other features that differentiate it from a nesting box. The first is that it contains perches or shelves at various heights for birds to sit on, and the second is that the entrance hole is closer to the bottom of the box (heat rises, so a hole near the top would allow warmth to escape).
I am wondering if you need to vary the plan according to the type of bird you expect to attract. In areas where Eastern Bluebirds are common, one might want to dispense with the perches and put the hole higher, as some accounts indicate that the Bluebirds ignore the perches and huddle together at the bottom of the box. We don't get Eastern Bluebirds here in Nova Scotia, so I'll have to investigate further before planning my own roosting box.
I'm also pondering whether I could design a box that would be a roosting box for smaller birds in winter and a nesting box for something larger, perhaps a Yellow Shafted Flicker, in summer. The design would have to include some way to remove the perches and move the hole to the top for summer use. Maybe a removable front panel would work. I'll report back here if I figure it out. (Link below)
Even if it didn't get used in summer, a roosting box for winter would be a welcome addition to the yard - and it would relieve some of the anxiety I feel when the weather is particularly fierce, and I'm thinking of the many small songbirds that frequent my feeders. It would be fun to watch and see if I could spot the birds going in and out.
If you have any comments on this, start a discussion under my recent article on providing shelter for birds.
Related articles:
How to Make a Winter Roosting Box
What is a Winter Roosting Box?
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