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Posted by Jim Duquesnel on 06:38:58 03/24/10
In Reply to: Flicker Nesting Box posted by Molly R
Molly,
The best nest boxes I have seen available commercially available are by Coveside at triple w dot coveside dot biz. If you would like to build your own, there is a very good book by Don and Lillian Stokes that can be purchased new for $4.00 through Amazon.
The wood is naturally weather resistant white cedar. The slate entry guard is a great idea, it effectively deters squirrels and other "hole enlargers." The overhangs and vents are at least adequate. The swinging service door allows easy annual access and cleaning from floor to ceiling without having to take down the house .
I am not so fond of the wire loop provided to hang the house from a nail (or galvanized staple) driven into the tree. I like trees, and I won't drive nails into mine. I use two bands of plumbers strap (one high, one low) to hang my cavity boxes. Plumbers strap is a narrow band of galvanized steel, with holes (as in a belt), one every hal inch or so.
I can attach the strap to the each side of the box and around the tree. However, with the Coveside boxes that would interfere with the side-opening access door. With these, I mount a vertical piece of 2 x 8 or 2 x10 on the tree with plumbers strap, and then hang the box with a large staple driven into the plank
I loosen the plumbers strap by a notch or two every year or two as the tree trunks grow, and clean out the boxes at the same time. Cleaning means a change of wood shavings annually and dunking in mild (10%) bleach solution every other year.
Good luck getting flickers to use whatever you choose to buy or make. I find they are among the least competitive of all cavity residents. I have seen them lose nest sites to a pair of smaller red-bellied woodpeckers that are not much more than half their size, but apparently more pugnacious.
Good luck.
Jim
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