Looking for love

With Valentine's Day on the horizon, we're not the only ones who are looking for love...

Each year, National Nest Box Week coincides with Valentine's Day. Starting on 14th February, it gives us the opportunity to consider that it's not just us getting cuddly and snuggly - birds in your garden and in our countryside are hunting for partners and searching for suitable nesting spots in which to raise a family.

The last few days have felt like spring has sprung already. The sun has been shining and the ornamental cherry in my garden is bursting into bud. Even though winter still might throw something at us, it feels like spring 'proper' is just around the corner. It sounds as though the birds are thinking this too - I've been hearing lots of birdsong in the garden and on my daily walks. Now is the time for testing potential mates and to find somewhere to settle down. A pair of blue tits in my garden have already laid claim to the nest box and I'm sure it won't be too long before they start carrying in nesting material.

Two bullfinches (female on left and male on right) sitting on a length of barbed wire by Brian Eacock — Bullfinches by Brian Eacock

Some birds, such as bullfinches, mate for life but others only stay together for a breeding season and need to find a suitable partner each year to help pass on their genes to the next generation. Whilst there's quite some time yet before mouths need feeding, finding the right nest site, building the nest and laying eggs takes a huge amount of energy.

First up is finding a partner. The birdsong that I mentioned earlier serves several purposes but at the moment it's all about males declaring their presence and defending their territories. They're also advertising their presence to females and the purity or complexity of a song, depending on the species, will also alert females to what kind of partner and father they might make.

Next is the search for a site. Male wrens will construct several nests before taking potential partners around these show-homes. It's the female who makes the final choice but it's a busy male wren who's such a great nest-maker that they attract multiple females to their nests! Different birds look for different locations – blue and great tits, starlings and house sparrows look for holes (or nest boxes in your garden), blackbirds and robins hunt for easy-to-access but hidden sites whereas goldfinches and long-tailed tits search for spots concealed in thick hedges, shrubs and other vegetation.

Blue tit about to fly out of a nest box by Theresa Salmon Dillworth — Blue tit and nest box by Theresa Salmon Dillworth

If you've got a garden and you have space, why not put up a nest box? Place it high enough to be out of the reach of cats and somewhere sheltered from the prevailing wind or direct sun. House sparrows nest colonially so a large box with separate openings and compartments is perfect for them. If you've got thick vegetation, why not hide an open-fronted box in it for robins or blackbirds? If you're popping up a box on a house, shed or garage wall, do you want one with smaller holes for blue tits or do you want to give starling numbers a boost and use one with a slightly bigger hole? We've got information on how to build a nest box or you could buy one.

Before being able to breed, birds need to feed up to come into tip-top condition - it takes a lot of energy (and calcium resources) for a female bird to lay eggs. A blue tit in my friend's nest box a few years ago laid an astonishing 14 eggs - that's a lot of energy for the female and a lot of energy for the pair to feed so many mouths. Continuing to feed the birds through spring can really help - high-fat foods like suet balls, sunflower seeds and peanuts are great (but ensure that nuts are not available whole as they can be a choking risk to baby birds). There will hopefully be a plentiful supply of natural food too and most adult birds will dine from your feeders but search out juicy caterpillars and the like to feed to the little ones.

Back to our Valentine's Day. If, like our feathered friends, your partner makes your heart sing, why not rent a nest box on one of our nature reserves for them? This thoughtful present will help to keep our woodlands alive with birdsong. Although there are plenty of natural nesting opportunities for birds on our nature reserves, we supplement these with nest boxes to add even more choice. For £15 for the year, you'll get an update of which birds choose to use your box and may even get the chance to visit the box itself.