In the first lockdown, I made three nest boxes. Two of them were very simple ones based on the drawings on the RSPB website (made out of Cedar of Lebanon as I had lots of it). They were designed with holes sized for starlings (as we had previously had starlings nesting in our roof and were replacing the fascia boards which would make it hard for them to get back in!). They were mounted high up on the wall, close to the location of the previous nest:
Despite having sized the holes for starlings, a pair of blue t.i.t.s moved into the nest. However, they didn't stay long - presumably because of some starlings having a look into the box and scaring the blue t.i.t.s off. The starlings chose to move into the eaves of next door's house instead of using the boxes I made
The other one was mostly me experimenting with a few different techniques and was made with oak and lead, with the hole sized for house sparrows as we get loads of them in the garden:
This one is placed fairly low down (about 2 metres from the ground) on the side of my garage. I didn't really expect any birds to move in given how close to the ground it is and given that it's right next to my shed door so I would be very near to it quite often.
However, having evacuated the starling boxes, the blue t.i.t.s moved into the sparrow box and their young have just fledged - I think this is one of the young'uns:
Link: https://youtu.be/H-rliJlOJFI
I think I'll add some stainless steel (probably) hole liners once the nesting season is over to reduce all the holes down to t.i.t size: some of the bigger birds have been investigating the nest box. I don't think they've been able to get far enough in to harm the chicks, but a bit of extra certainty feels like a good idea.
Link: https://youtu.be/OJoZjI2JBnk
Link: https://youtu.be/wPK3E7ZOe_M
Link: https://youtu.be/cT1GD2K9PKE