Nestboxes better than nothing but not as good as the real thing

Preserving /conserving existing habitat and planting for future habitat is the most important thing for all of us to do/encourage or fund.

Gibbons and Lindenmayer (2002) estimate that:
83 mammal species
114 bird species
79 reptile species
27 amphibian species use hollows on mainland Australia. 

That's 303 species!

There just arn't enough hollows to go round. And as if that wasn't bad enough, introduced and feral pest animals also use hollows. For some creatures, they cant wait for governments to do the right thing and stop the clearing or degradation of habitat or for forest to regenerate.

Nestboxes are never as good as natural tree hollows but do provide an option to help create resting and breeding places.

There are many factors to consider when buying a nest box.

• Which animal needs a box most?
• Which animal is it designed for?
• Where will it be located?
• How long will it last?

I will help answer all these questions in future posts as my boxes are designed for species that need help. I will also explain the pros and cons of the materials I use.

David Lindenmayer has written about how nest boxes installed to offset habitat clearing to widen the Hume freeway didn't help threatened species.
http://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/news/offset-fails-to-tick-the-box

Nestboxes can help but real trees with real hollows are best.

While we wait 120 -150 years for trees to develop hollows put up some boxes now.

Microbat box (unsealed)

Feathertail glider/ Pygmy possum or Antechinus nest box (unsealed)