Why tits avoid your garden despite an attractive nest box

Why tits avoid your garden – despite an attractive nest box

Buds are opening everywhere, yet many gardens remain surprisingly quiet: no tits, no cheerful birdsong and no nimble acrobats darting through the branches. Why is that? Although a bird box on a tree may seem like a committed gesture, it is often not enough. A bird conservation expert explains which rather unusual measures can suddenly make your garden irresistibly appealing to tits.

Many amateur gardeners proudly put up new nest boxes in March or April, then eagerly await their feathered occupants. Yet the boxes remain unoccupied. The explanation is simple: tits consider more than just the “home” – the entire surrounding environment matters.

“A single nest box surrounded by closely mown lawn is about as appealing to tits as a hotel without a restaurant, without escape routes and in the middle of a car park.”

What tits need in the garden

The birds are looking for a place where they can:

• breed safely,