Borbhouse

Description

While traditional wooden nest boxes have played a key role in bird conservation, their shape and construction material have several major drawbacks: namely, that they are difficult to clean, and offer only moderate insulation from extremes of heat and cold.

Enter: the Borbhouse! 3d printed from 100% plant-based materials, neither the inside nor the outside of the box absorb water. While wooden boxes will soak up rain on the outside and filth on the inside, leading to rot and unhygienic conditions for its occupants, the Borbhouse can be easily cleaned after every clutch, and stands up to the elements for years to come!

What’s truly revolutionary about the Borbhouse is its shape: the spherical design means that it exchanges minimal heat with its environment. This, combined with the fact that the walls themselves are almost completely hollow, means that whether it’s February or August, eggs and nestlings inside are protected from extremes of temperature. The flat front also makes it so that, when faced east towards the sunrise, the warming that does come through serves to keep the box comfortably dry. The roof which overhangs the entrance hole – itself designed to facilitate air circulation – provides shade and keeps out rain, though of course there is also in-floor drainage in case of any truly record-setting wet.

Doors are available with entry holes of two different widths. The standard (40 mm) size allows birds as large as Mountain Bluebird, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Ash-throated Flycatcher to enter, as well as Eastern and Western Bluebirds, Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens, Tree and Violet-green Swallows, and White-breasted Nuthatches. For those wanting to offer a home to smaller species that might otherwise be bullied away by their larger, more aggressive neighbors, the small bird (30 mm) size is suitable for Tufted Timouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Prothonotary Warbler, House Wren, and all species of chickadees. Remember that the diameter of the entry hole only sets the upper size limit: regardless of which size you choose, birds that are smaller than those listed will still be able to enter and utilize the box.

The Borbhouse is designed to attach via the included mounting bracket to a metal pole of 0.75″ outer diameter (the Oak Ridge Bird Man standard), but can also be mounted to wooden structures (e.g. a 4″x4″ post) with wood screws, which are not included. In any mounting setup, *please* include a cylindrical or dome-shaped baffle (available from the Oak Ridge Bird Man shop) to deter nest predators. Flat sheets of metal, Slinkies, petroleum jelly, and other methods are simply not effective and will expose eggs, nestlings, and adults to harm.

This nest box, like all ORBM designs, is 3d printed from sustainable and recyclable materials. Made to order; price includes TN sales tax.