Building Birdhouses and Feeders: Supporting Garden Wildlife Through Winter

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Alright, this one’s a bit different from the usual “how to grow stuff” posts, but bear with us because it might be one of the most important things you do for your garden all year. Building birdhouses and feeders. Now I know what some of you are thinking — “Tony, I’m a gardener, not a birdwatcher.” And fair enough. But here’s the thing: birds are the single best pest control system money can’t buy. A single blue tit family will eat thousands of caterpillars, aphids, and other pests during the nesting season. One blue tit family. Now multiply that by every nest box on your plot and you’ve basically got a free, organic, self-replicating pest control army. You’d be daft not to encourage them.

I got into this properly when Audrey pointed out that the plots with the most bird activity always seemed to have fewer pest problems. And she was right. My neighbour JB, who has bird boxes and feeders everywhere, barely has to worry about caterpillars on his brassicas. Meanwhile, I was spending half my summer picking the little green buggers off by hand because I had about three birds visiting my plot. So I decided to sort it out, and within a couple of seasons, the difference was unbelievable. More birds, fewer pests, and honestly? It’s just lovely having them around. Sitting on the plot with a cuppa listening to the birds singing is one of life’s simple pleasures.

Why Winter Is the Perfect Time to Do This

You might wonder why I’m talking about birdhouses now, in the colder months. Couple of reasons. First, birds start scouting for nest sites as early as January and February. If your box isn’t up by then, they’ll go next door. Second, you’ve got more time in winter — the plot isn’t demanding your attention every five minutes like it does in summer, so it’s the perfect time for a project like this. And third, feeding birds through winter is when they need it most. Natural food sources are scarce, the days are short, and a bird can lose up to 10% of its body weight in a single cold night. That seed feeder you put out might literally be the difference between life and death for them.

My Daisy loves the bird feeders too, by the way. Well, she loves sitting underneath them watching the birds. She doesn’t chase them — she’s too lazy for that. She just lies there watching like it’s Doberman telly. Proper entertained she is.

Building a Basic Nest Box — Dead Easy, I Promise

Right, let’s build a nest box. I’ve built about fifteen of these over the years and every single one has been used. They’re one of the easiest woodworking projects going — if I can do it, literally anyone can. You need one plank of untreated timber, some screws, and about an hour. That’s it.

The most common box is a hole-entrance box for blue tits and great tits. Here’s what you need: a piece of untreated softwood (pine or spruce) about 15cm wide, 1.5cm thick, and roughly 140cm long. From this single plank, you’ll cut all the pieces you need. You also need a handful of 3cm screws, a drill with a 25mm hole saw bit (or 28mm if you want to attract great tits instead of blue tits — the hole size determines which species uses the box), and a couple of hinges for the roof if you want to be able to open it for cleaning.

Cut your pieces: Back panel — 45cm. Front panel — 30cm. Two side panels — 25cm tall at the back, sloping to 20cm at the front. Base — 12cm x 12cm (inside dimensions). Roof — 21cm x 18cm (overhangs the front and sides).

The front panel is shorter than the back panel, which creates the sloped roof that lets rain run off. Drill the entrance hole in the front panel about 2cm from the top. Make sure there’s no perch below the hole — perches actually help predators more than they help the birds you’re trying to attract. Blue tits don’t need a perch; they can cling to anything.

Assemble it: Screw the sides to the back panel first. Then screw the base in between the sides (drill a couple of small drainage holes in the base corners). Screw the front panel on. Finally, attach the roof with hinges at the back so you can lift it for annual cleaning. Make sure everything fits snugly but don’t worry about tiny gaps — a bit of airflow is actually good for preventing damp.

Don’t paint the box or treat it with preservatives — the chemicals can be harmful to birds. Untreated wood will weather naturally and last 5-10 years. If you want it to last longer, use hardwood like oak, but softwood is absolutely fine and much cheaper. My oldest box is made from pallet wood and it’s been occupied every year for seven years. Looks a bit scruffy but the birds don’t seem to mind.

Where to Hang Your Nest Box

Location, location, location. It matters just as much for birds as it does for houses. Get the positioning wrong and your box will sit empty while the birds nest in your neighbour’s box instead.

The ideal spot is on a tree trunk, fence, or wall at a height of about 2-4 metres. The entrance should face somewhere between north and east — this avoids direct afternoon sun (which can overheat the box) and keeps the worst of the weather out (our prevailing wind and rain come from the south-west). If you can’t face it north or east, just avoid due south. Slightly tilted forward is good too, so rain runs off the roof rather than dripping into the entrance.

Make sure there’s a clear flight path to the entrance — birds need to be able to fly in without navigating through branches or obstacles. But also make sure there’s cover nearby — a tree, a hedge, a climbing plant — where the parent birds can perch and check for predators before going to the box. It’s a balance between accessibility and security.

Don’t put multiple boxes too close together, especially for the same species. Tits are territorial and won’t nest within about 15 metres of another pair of the same species. But you can have a blue tit box and a robin box quite close together because they’re different species and don’t compete. I’ve got boxes for blue tits, great tits, robins, and wrens on my allotment, and they all coexist happily.

Building Bird Feeders — Easy and Cheap

Now let’s sort out the feeders, because year-round feeding is what’ll really get the birds coming to your plot regularly. You can buy feeders, obviously, and the Gardman and Jacobi Jayne ones are good quality. But you can also make perfectly functional feeders for free from stuff you’ve probably got lying around.

The simplest feeder ever: Take a pine cone, tie string to the top, smear it with lard or suet, roll it in bird seed, and hang it from a branch. Takes about five minutes and the birds absolutely love them. I make these with my niece’s kids and they get proper excited when the birds start visiting.

Coconut shell feeder: Cut a coconut in half (drink the milk first, obviously), drill three holes in the rim, thread string through, and fill the shell with a mix of melted lard, seeds, oats, and dried fruit. Let it set and hang it up. When the food’s gone, refill it. The shell lasts ages and looks quite nice too.

Bottle feeder: Take a clean plastic bottle, cut two small holes near the base (opposite each other), push two wooden spoons through so the handles poke out as perches and the bowls catch seed below the holes. Fill the bottle with seed through the top. The seed feeds through the holes as birds eat from the spoons. It’s a bit fiddly to make but works brilliantly once it’s set up.

What to Feed — Getting the Menu Right

Different birds like different foods, so offering variety is the way to attract the widest range of species. Here’s what I put out and what visits because of it.

Sunflower hearts: The number one all-rounder. Almost every garden bird eats these. They’re more expensive than regular sunflower seeds but there are no husks to clean up, which matters if your feeder is near crops. Tits, finches, robins, blackbirds — they all love them.

Nyjer seed: Small, black, oil-rich seeds that goldfinches go absolutely mental for. You need a special feeder with tiny holes (regular feeders let the seeds fall straight through), but watching a flock of goldfinches feeding is worth the effort. Proper beautiful birds.

Fat balls and suet: Essential in winter when birds need high-energy food to get through cold nights. You can make your own by melting lard, mixing in seeds, oats, and dried fruit, and letting it set in moulds. Old yoghurt pots work well. Always remove the net from shop-bought fat balls before hanging them — birds can get their feet tangled in the netting.

Mealworms: Live or dried, these are like bird crack. Robins especially go wild for them. I put a small dish of dried mealworms on a bird table near my shed and the same robin turns up every morning at about 7:30, like clockwork. I’ve named him Dave. Julie thinks I’m mad. She’s probably right.

Fruit: Windfall apples, halved, left on the ground. Blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares, and redwings will descend on these in cold weather. It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to feed ground-feeding birds. I chuck a few bruised apples under the hedge every week in winter and the blackbirds love it.

Water — The Often Forgotten Essential

Birds need water as much as food, for drinking and bathing (yes, even in winter — keeping their feathers clean is essential for insulation). A simple shallow dish of water on the ground or on a raised surface will attract birds that might not visit feeders. Change the water daily and keep the dish clean. In freezing weather, swap out the frozen water for fresh every morning, or float a tennis ball in the dish — the movement of the ball in the wind prevents the surface from freezing over. Ronny uses this trick and swears by it.

Attracting Specific Pest-Controlling Species

Now let’s bring this back to gardening, because that’s really why we’re here. The birds you most want on your allotment for pest control are blue tits (caterpillars and aphids), great tits (larger caterpillars), robins (ground-dwelling pests, leatherjackets, wireworms), wrens (tiny insects and spider mites), and thrushes (snails and slugs). Song thrushes are particularly brilliant — they smash snails against rocks and eat the contents. Free slug control. Can’t beat it.

To attract these specific species, provide their preferred nest sites: hole boxes for tits, open-fronted boxes for robins, dense hedging for wrens, and leaf-littered areas under trees for thrushes. Combine this with year-round feeding, fresh water, and a garden that includes native plants (which support the insects that birds feed to their chicks), and you’ll build up a resident population that keeps your pest problems under control naturally.

JB’s allotment is basically a bird sanctuary. He’s got twelve nest boxes, four different feeders, a bird bath, a native hedge, and a wildflower strip. His caterpillar problem is virtually non-existent compared to mine, and he hasn’t used any pest control spray in years. The man’s a genius. Don’t tell him I said that.

Look after yourselves. Take good care. 🌱