Usually only the female with incubate the eggs, but the male will visit the nest with food for the female and chicks once hatched.
Blackbirds have their own territory, which they defend all day. If another male enters the territory there will almost immediately be a fight in which the intruder is fought away.
Yes, the blackbirds have used this location for several years. Although each year they build a new nest.
The best height for your nest box is widely accepted as being between 1.5m and 5.5m high (5ft - 18ft respectively). However, if your area has a particularly high cat population it is best to site your box even higher.
If you only have an exposed site to offer, face the box somewhere between north through east to southeast, avoiding prevailing winds and strong sunlight. If siting in woodland, the dry side of the tree trunk offers the most protection. By their nature, open nest boxes require more cover; siting them near to climbing plants where they can be partially obscured is ideal. Siting your nest box near vegetation also aids young birds taking their first flights as it gives them both physical support and good cover.
A clear flight path into the box works best and avoid sites such as the top of fences that make it easier for predators to get at the box.
Although birds recognise colours, the colour of the nest box does not matter. However, birds prefer a breeding place that is as natural as possible. They do this in order not to be noticed by predators.
Visitors sometimes experience technical problems when trying to view the live stream cameras. A multi-lingual message usually appears on the camera display if we are aware of the issues. Please be patient, we will try and get the feeds back up and running as soon as we can.
