DIY: Nest Box

Ever thought about building your own nest box, or want a box with a specific hole size for a species in your garden? Look no further than this simply guide to creating and building your own garden nest box.

To begin, you will need:

• Tape measure and Pencil
• Wooden plank from a sustainable source (we used a 1280x150mm plank)
• Screwdriver and screws
• Hammer and nails
• Hole saw (you can get away with a drill and a file!)
• Metal or recycled rubber hinge such as welly boot material

Step 1: Mark our your piece of wood with the measurements below, this will use up your piece of wood with no waste.

Step 2: Cut out your pieces of wood (ask your parents to help if you’re younger) and use a saw. You can also drill holes into the pieces of woods to allow you to drill your screws in later.

Step 3: Using your drill, screw the sides onto your back piece. Then, screw your base onto both of the sides allowing a gap between the base and back for drainage.

Step 4: Carefully drill your hole with a hole cutter. If you do not have a hole cutter, drill the largest hole size you have, and use a file to file to the correct size.
26–30mm (1–11⁄4in) hole: Suitable for: tree sparrow, blue tit, marsh tit, coal tit.
28–38mm (11⁄4–11⁄2in) hole: Suitable for: nuthatch, pied flycatcher, great tit, house sparrow.

Step 5: Attach your front and roof to your box. Here is when you can either hammer in your hinges with nails, or you can hammer your recycled welly hinge.

And you’re all done! Put up your nest box in a secure location away from the sun and rain. As these are for smaller garden birds, ideal height is around 6ft.