House Martin Houses & Nest Boxes

2 products

    Nesting in small colonies, you might have seen the House Martin, with it's distinctive forked tail and bright white throat, nesting the eaves of homes. In fact, that is actually where they get the name ‘House Martin’ from! Traditionally, House Martins would have nested on cliff faces, but in more recent years they have become associated with man made buildings.

    Our House Martin Houses and Artificial Nest Boxes are the perfect way to encourage the small bird, House Martins, back into our gardens and provide a safe space for them to breed. 

    All of our nest boxes provide House Martins with a nest similar to what they would build in the wild and are made of high quality, natural materials. An Awesome Wildlife Company House Martin nests box provides the perfect environment for House Martins so that they will continue to come back year after year. 

    By law, you are not allowed to disturb these birds whilst there are active nests, so once you have a nest box up try and leave these birds to nest in peace. 

    2 products
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    House Martin Nesting Cup Plywood
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    House Martin Double Nesting Cups
    House Martin Double Nesting Cups

    When do House Martins nest?

    House Martins arrive the UK in from late march ready for breeding season from May to August. House Martins migrate in the summer, coming to the UK for the warmer months and leaving before the winter weather to head back to the warm weather in North Africa.

    The female lays up to five white eggs and these chicks are ready to fledge after around 22 days.

    On average, it will take breeding House Martins about three weeks to construct a nest and they generally prefer to use old nests. So if your artificial nests are in the perfect place, you’ll have a regular visitor in this species.

    Where to put a House Martin nest box?

    These nests should be situated on north facing walls directly under the eaves of a house. If you can, put them out of direct sunlight and in a spot that is protected from bad and wet weather. 

    Are House Martin birds likely to use nest boxes?

    Yes, the summer migrants, House Martins, will happily nest in nest boxes and a nest cup as long as they are placed in the correct position. 

    How to attract House Martin birds to a nesting box

    By putting up one or two nest boxes, you will encourage colonies of the common House Martin to nest as they are colonial nesters, and this may even encourage these small birds to build nests alongside the nest boxes during the summer months.

    House Martins nests is a mud nest that uses wet mud from the bottom of ponds, so if you don’t have any in your garden, they probably won’t nest. The simplest way to resolve this is by making sure there is wet mud available to them so that they can build their mud nests.

    House Martins feed on flying insects and aphids which they catch whilst in flight, but to attract them to bird feeders make sure you are feeding them some of their favourite food on offer. House Martins, like many other birds, eat seeds like Sunflower hearts and Suet pellets.

    Where can I buy a House Martin House?

    At the Awesome Wildlife Company, we have a whole range of House Martin nest boxes available. With multiple designs and sizes, we have got nest boxes and nest cups to fit all types of houses.