Nest Boxes provide a safe and cosy home for Native Birds at Nyah.

“Nestboxes in the Mallee”   By Malcolm Thompson.
 
I have been observing the benefits of “Nestboxes” being placed in young trees at our Land for Wildlife family property at Yarraby Rd Nyah.Vic. We installed the nestboxes because of a lack of natural hollows at our recently developed property ( 20 years) and the increasing number of Birds ( Eastern Rosellas, Red Rumps, Yellow Rosellas, Owlet night jars to name a few ) that are roosting in our trees at night.
 
Our home / property is “1” Ha planted with Native trees and shrubs. Our property  adjoins the Nyah Bushland reserve 380 Ha (Mallee Vegetation) and is in nearby proximity to The Nyah State Forest  (Red Gum, Black Box ) and the Murray River.
Nearby farming enterprises consist of Grain growing ( Wheat, Barley ) along with grapes ( Sultanas, Wine ), Stonefruit and Irrigation pastures ( Cattle, Sheep).
 
 With our property set amongst this diverse array of Natural Indigenous Vegetation, and the Changed Productive Landscape, along with the Murray River environment, this area is a fantastic place for myself, my wife Sandra and our children Trent and Emma to live and enjoy the Mallee environment.
Not only is it a great home for us, but since installing a few Nest Boxes in our young trees, that have no hollows, Birds almost immediately started using the Nestboxes as their place to live as well. Eastern Rosellas( similar to the pretty parrot that is on the Rosella Tomato sauce bottle)  are nesting and have young in the boxes presently
( what a great thrill ), Owlet nightjars and Pardalotes to name a few are using these ‘False Hollows’ they call home.
 
Unfortunately sparrows and starlings also like to inhabit the Nestboxes and require an eviction from the home on occasions. We check our Nestboxes for Pest birds regularly.
 
The Nestboxes, we have chosen are about the size of a large shoe box and were built by local Swan Hill environmentalist, and retired builder, John Obree.
 
Nestboxes come in all shapes and sizes for different sized Birds such as Kookaburras, Parrots and Finches, along with small animals, such as Bats, Sugar gliders and Possums.
 
Our Nest Boxes are placed approx 3 metres above ground level in strong young Eucalyptus trees.
In the nest boxes we have installed, we placed saw dust and dry soil in the bottom of the box for a cosy bed for the birds to nest and lay eggs into.
 
 
At our property we have an excellent colony of Bats that appear just on dusk.  We are now going to instal nest boxes for the bats to live in. It is great to lay on your back just on dark and view the dozen or so bats, darting across the tree tops, feeding on insects and hopefully mosquitos.
 
The Nest boxes that we have installed have certainly created plenty of interest for our family. When visitors come to visit, it gives us all a great deal of pleasure to show off both our revegetation of Native Trees and also our Bird Box activity.