New construction in appropriate locations should aim to incorporate nest sites and there are some off-the-peg solutions. Pre-fabricated nest boxes are available in a variety of shapes and sizes – not all of them suitable!
“Off the peg” nest bricks were used at new housing built for Wellhouse housing Co-op in the east end of Glasgow. These are Ibstock’s swift brick.This Manthorpe box was developed in 2017 for installation in brick-built houses.This woodcrete box by Swegler has proved popular. It was used at the Schroder Building in Dennistoun, Glasgow by George Wimpey, among others.
One problem with the Swegler woodcrete box is that the 55mm high entrance makes it available to starlings.
This model, used in Dennistoun Glasgow, comes with a “health warning” as the 55mm high entrance permits starlings to get in as you can see from the photos - even with the entrance below the box. Here, at Wellhouse Hub, the starlings have hung onto the box and pecked out the woodcrete to enlarge the holes! If this is likely to be a problem, then additional “starling baffles” are required.
A web search for "swift nest boxes" will show you a large variety of possibilities. The problem remains to choose the most suitable and appropriate – not necessarily the easiest!
