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I have 5 nesting boxes for the tit family and robins in my small garden, but have never had any luck in attracting birds to nest in them. Is there any way to increase the chance of attracting some of the dozens of birds which visit my many bird feeders?

Today for the first time I saw a great tit take a quick look at one of the boxes but it didn't go right inside. The boxes have been up for three or four years already - should they be taken down and cleaned - or not?

Glad of any advice.

Tricia

This fact sheet may be of interest to you (apologies if you've already seen it).

http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/factsheets/nestbox.php#siting

I'm afraid I didn't get round to cleaning my nesting boxes this year, but the blue tits are now using them again.

Are they facing the right direction? Are they too exposed?

terrier's already given a useful link to information about siting etc.  Here's another
http://www.bto.org/nnbw/essentials.htm

Thank you terrier and hopalong for the links.

Three of my boxes are sited on east-facing fences. I don't have any other suitable locations for them, unfortunately. Wind and rain is usually from south or southwest so that shouldn't be a problem - but maybe the early morning sun is not to their liking. Also my bird feeders are not more than 3 metres from the fence as I only have a small garden!

A great tit was pecking round the entrance of one of them yesterday, so hopefully he will return.

Tricia