Advice on south facing bird box?? please

Good afternoon birdy lovers :)

Could you give me a little advice please those in the know. I want to hang a bird box at the rear of my property but it's south facing. There truly is only the house wall the attach too. I thought if i made the entrance hole on the east side of the box and extended the roof to create shade it might help. Am i being silly and forget trying or has anyone else managed to fit a south facing box with a shade etc?

Many thanks

Shade and some insulation , if possible , is worth trying. The birds will decide if it's suitable or not. Good luck.

Thanks Galatas :)

I hate the thought of little chicks getting too hot. Im up north that helps i guess.

I'm "up north" too. If last summer is anything to go by there won't be a problem :-)

I put my first nest box up a couple of weeks ago. It's on the back of the house and faces north so I'm hoping something uses it in the next month or two. I've had Robins nest in my shed for three years running.

A nestbox on a south facing wall is not usually recommended. The young birds can overheat and may die. If you can provide shade that may help. Have you looked at the RSPB advice on the siting of nestboxes.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/nestboxes/smallbirds/siting.aspx

Get a box with the entance on the side instead of front or adapt and fit the box sideways pref facing east

 Ray

Wherever the hole is, I think the box will still overheat if you have full sun on it for long enough.

Always thought North and East facing but South is a bit iffy to me.If it is well sheltered though by trees etc then fine, but if it gets full sun a big no no for me.

as others say shade is very important

    Ray

You may be lucky if you can shade the whole box, but as a rule, it's a no no. Mind you, I have discovered sparrow nest directly under roof ties, on top of a dip in the roof felt. That must have been pretty hot.

Thanks everyone for your replies. It seems i might not be able to put the box up really as i only have a south facing wall with no trees about. I have drilled the entrance hole on the east side of the box and extended the roof as to shade the box from full sun and was going to cover the roof with cane. Such a quandry hehe. I have fitted the box with an old webcam i had lying around. I may save it for when i move house in the future.

Thanks again for all your advice and happy birdy watching.

PS.I got my first pair of bullfinches on my bird table last week (male and female) it was great.

I have put up a box for the first time, I took advice from a friend who said always face a nest box with a north entrance

Hi Marzipan,

North, East, or West. Just not South.