Oh, I love this. I have two chickadee roost boxes with holes at the bottom with no success, but now I think I will try to flip the door and add wood chips!!
Definitely!!Chickadees are a bit funny. They roost when it's really cold...but not often otherwise. That said a friend of mine occasionally has them roosting when it's mild. Silly birds, can't they be consistent for us?? Bonus is that nesting season is upon us and they might roost for a bit then stay and nest in it!
@@habitatYEG I am very fortunate to have chickadees nest in my yard every spring! Last spring my sweet Dee laid 13 eggs!! & 11 hatched and fledged!! They nest in a custom built bluebird box that I had made for them with a reduced hole, monitoring camera and wren guard! I got a solar panel for the camera this past Christmas so that will be a new project for spring! LOL! I've been worried about them as I haven't seen chickadees in my yard most of the winter, I believe, due to all the house sparrows that have been hanging around. But I'm reconfiguring my feeders, using many of your suggestions, and today while I was hanging a small, single duncraft globe feeder with safflower for them, the chickadee couple was in the tree next to the feeders dee deeing at me until I left the feeder and was able to watch them feed from a distance I was so happy to see them!!
I'm so glad I watched your video before wasting money on a roost box with the hole on the bottom. The reason for it being located at the top makes perfect sense. It's the same reason why in our human homes, a peep hole in the front door is placed at eye level, not at knee level!
Thank you so much 😁 I'm new to birding and I just love them ❤ I really appreciate you're information on roost boxes ,and all birding thing's ❤ ,God bless you and your family, Thanks again.
Yeah, I've always thought the hole-on-the-bottom roost box was dumb. I blame Birds Unlimited. They want to sell you a nest box and a roosting box. Heat may rise but the box is very close to the ambient temperature and birds do not put out much heat. They rely on their feathers for insulation so any heat they produce in the box is negligible. I had an entire family of bluebirds (young hatched that Summer) over-winter together in a large owl box I built but remained vacant. They huddled together during the cooler Winter temps in Nor Cal and they moved up from a nest box to a veritable mansion.
Hi! Yes, no perches. Unless they are guarding the hole they prefer sleeping on the floor of the box. If they are guarding the hole you can just do some grooves on the inside under the hole.
So, when we were overthinking and putting the hole at the bottom just because everyone else was doing it, we were ironically, acting like a flock of birds? :)
Yeah. I thought the same for a long time. The hole on bottom “roost box” is yet another marketing gimmick. We have bluebirds that both nest & gather in our nest boxes.
I’m new to birding so I don’t really know what I’m doing yet, I have a nest box at the back of our property that was hung up this past summer. Haven’t had anyone nesting in but it was pretty late in the season for anyone to feel secure inside of something that was so new. I’ve had a ton of interest from the bluebirds recently, should I put something in the bottom of that box to help keep them warm and if so what do recommend?
We don't have eastern bluebirds here, and mountain bluebird stay outside of the city! But, I did a quick search and they do like a bit of pine or aspen shavings at the bottom of the box like chickadees and nuthatches do. What you definitely don't want is saw DUST, but if you go to a pet store you can find 100% pine or aspen shavings that guinea pigs etc would use. But not the paper bedding that will be in the same area. Is the box actually hanging or is it secured?
Hello! Sorry for the confusion. The Flicker box is a totally different box with different dimensions and a 2.5 inch entrance. The downy boxes have a 1.5 inch entrance and the box overall is quite a bit smaller, blue bird box sized.
Oh, I love this. I have two chickadee roost boxes with holes at the bottom with no success, but now I think I will try to flip the door and add wood chips!!
Definitely!!Chickadees are a bit funny. They roost when it's really cold...but not often otherwise. That said a friend of mine occasionally has them roosting when it's mild. Silly birds, can't they be consistent for us?? Bonus is that nesting season is upon us and they might roost for a bit then stay and nest in it!
@@habitatYEG I am very fortunate to have chickadees nest in my yard every spring! Last spring my sweet Dee laid 13 eggs!! & 11 hatched and fledged!! They nest in a custom built bluebird box that I had made for them with a reduced hole, monitoring camera and wren guard! I got a solar panel for the camera this past Christmas so that will be a new project for spring! LOL! I've been worried about them as I haven't seen chickadees in my yard most of the winter, I believe, due to all the house sparrows that have been hanging around. But I'm reconfiguring my feeders, using many of your suggestions, and today while I was hanging a small, single duncraft globe feeder with safflower for them, the chickadee couple was in the tree next to the feeders dee deeing at me until I left the feeder and was able to watch them feed from a distance I was so happy to see them!!
Oh! Okay...so if they are nesting why are you putting up a roost box? They are already probably using the nest box for roosting! :)@@joannes8485
I'm so glad I watched your video before wasting money on a roost box with the hole on the bottom. The reason for it being located at the top makes perfect sense. It's the same reason why in our human homes, a peep hole in the front door is placed at eye level, not at knee level!
HAHAHA! yes! That does put it in perspective doesn't it?! lol
Very informative. Thank you!
You're so welcome!
Love your video! Thanks for the advice.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you did!
Great info, TY
You're welcome!
Thank you so much 😁 I'm new to birding and I just love them ❤ I really appreciate you're information on roost boxes ,and all birding thing's ❤ ,God bless you and your family, Thanks again.
Thank you! I'm so glad I could help
Yeah, I've always thought the hole-on-the-bottom roost box was dumb. I blame Birds Unlimited. They want to sell you a nest box and a roosting box. Heat may rise but the box is very close to the ambient temperature and birds do not put out much heat. They rely on their feathers for insulation so any heat they produce in the box is negligible. I had an entire family of bluebirds (young hatched that Summer) over-winter together in a large owl box I built but remained vacant. They huddled together during the cooler Winter temps in Nor Cal and they moved up from a nest box to a veritable mansion.
That is ADORABLE! You're so lucky to have been a part of that!
I’m gonna redo my roost box now
I'm just amazed we were all duped for so long with a common thing that had no observed data to support it!
You don’t have perches inside the box. Why is that? I’m looking at a bunch of designs before I build one. Thanks
Hi! Yes, no perches. Unless they are guarding the hole they prefer sleeping on the floor of the box. If they are guarding the hole you can just do some grooves on the inside under the hole.
So, when we were overthinking and putting the hole at the bottom just because everyone else was doing it, we were ironically, acting like a flock of birds? :)
HAHA!! Exactly!!
Yeah. I thought the same for a long time. The hole on bottom “roost box” is yet another marketing gimmick. We have bluebirds that both nest & gather in our nest boxes.
Total gimmick! I think a big problem is people making bird products who don't know anything about birds.
I’m new to birding so I don’t really know what I’m doing yet, I have a nest box at the back of our property that was hung up this past summer. Haven’t had anyone nesting in but it was pretty late in the season for anyone to feel secure inside of something that was so new. I’ve had a ton of interest from the bluebirds recently, should I put something in the bottom of that box to help keep them warm and if so what do recommend?
We don't have eastern bluebirds here, and mountain bluebird stay outside of the city! But, I did a quick search and they do like a bit of pine or aspen shavings at the bottom of the box like chickadees and nuthatches do. What you definitely don't want is saw DUST, but if you go to a pet store you can find 100% pine or aspen shavings that guinea pigs etc would use. But not the paper bedding that will be in the same area. Is the box actually hanging or is it secured?
What size was the hole in this? I assume larger than 1.5" if the flicker was able to fit. You make a compelling case for the hole on top.
Hello! Sorry for the confusion. The Flicker box is a totally different box with different dimensions and a 2.5 inch entrance. The downy boxes have a 1.5 inch entrance and the box overall is quite a bit smaller, blue bird box sized.
@@habitatYEG Awesome, thank you! What I would not give to get a flicker hanging around out here...
I hope you get one!! This is a good time of year to attract them with a possible nesting site and some suet! @@limitedassurance