NATIONAL NESTBOX WEEK

To mark National Nestbox Week, we revisit a classic nest-box design. Small, practical adjustments make it easier to rebuild and better suited to outdoor conditions

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Running each year from February 14-21, National Nestbox Week is a good prompt to put up new boxes or replace old ones before the breeding season begins. We used the opportunity to build several simple wooden nest boxes, adapting the RSPB's basic design to suit readily available timber

BLUE TIT BOX

We followed the basic construction method shown on the RSPB website, with a few simple adjustments. The RSPB instructions specify timber measuring around 150mm wide and 15-18mm thick. As this size wasn't readily available, we used planed softwood measuring 144mm wide and 20.5mm thick.

Using thicker, narrower timber changes how the box fits together. In this build, the side panels form the outer structure of the box, with the front and base fitted between them, which slightly reduces the internal width. As a result, the floor panel was cut down during assembly so that it fitted cleanly, finishing at around 14x10cm. This provides the same overall floor area as the usual 12x12cm recommendation for a blue tit nest box. Small variations like this are normal when using different wood – what matters most is that the box is sturdy, well-drained and dry.

The diagram on the RSPB website shows the roof fitting between the side panels. In practice, this can leave exposed joints where rainwater may track down into the box. We found it worked better to fit the roof on top of the sides instead, even though this limits overhang when using a single board width. This simple change helps shed water away from the joints and keeps the box drier overall.

FIXINGS AND DRILLING

A combination of ring-shank nails and exterior screws was used. Two boxes were assembled using ring-shank nails (40-50mm, suitable for 20.5mm timber), while one was assembled using 4x50mm stainless steel screws. All roofs were fixed with screws so they can be removed for cleaning.