At the bird feeding station, scattered food should not be offered to the birds on bare soil: after all, it gets moist, dirty and other animal guests that you probably do not want to have in the garden could also be attracted. The classic solution is the bird feeding station. In a bird house made of wood, the bird feed is protected from the weather and kept clean in both summer and winter. A bird house for the balcony and garden is a popular attraction for tomtits and the like in winter. For people, a modern bird house is a beautiful sight, and for the bird the practical use is invaluable.

Excessively well-maintained parks as well as intensive forestry and agriculture make it difficult for birds to find suitable, natural nesting opportunities. With a nesting box that you can buy in the Maxi Zoo online shop, you can support tree inhabitants such as sparrows or tomtits in their tedious search and offer them new living space. Our nesting boxes are made of wood or wood cement – materials that are best suited for nesting boxes. Thanks to the particularly thick wood, the feathered long-term guests will enjoy their new nesting places for a long time. Most domestic singing birds, by the way, feel comfortable in nesting boxes, which have an inlet hole of about three centimetres in diameter – like many of our models.

Whether you hang the bird house or prefer a variant with a stand depends on the spatial conditions at the planned location. It is important that it is not set up in direct sunlight or without shelter from the weather. If the bird house is placed standing in the garden, make sure that free-range cats have no chance of stalking the birds distracted by the bird feed. Make sure that there is sufficient distance to the next bush and that cats cannot climb up or jump on the roof. A simple trick: put a fence on the ground to enclose the bird house on the bird house stand. By the time a cat has made it over the obstacle, the birds have long since noticed it.
If you have many larger birds such as wood pigeons in the garden, it is best to opt for a large bird feed house where these guests can also find enough space.

Similar to bird feed houses, it must also be ensured that nesting boxes are installed as weather-protected as possible and are not exposed to direct sunlight during the day. If possible, the entry hole should point towards sunrise. Unless otherwise described in the attached installation instructions, the nesting box is to be hung above head height and a little bit away from the areas you frequently use so that the birds can dedicate themselves to everyday breeding without interference. To attach a nesting box to the tree without damaging it, you can use fixed wire clips or stainless aluminium nails. A nesting box should never be tilted backwards, but rather tilted just slightly forward so that the birds cannot be disturbed by rain. Would you like to attach several nesting aids of the same type? Make sure you have a distance of at least ten metres between them.

Where there are many birds, feathers fall and bird droppings accumulate. Wild birds are very robust, but you should still ensure a certain level of hygiene. This includes regular cleaning of the bird feed house. With a few little tricks, it’s easy: in a bird house with stalls or a larger hanging food house, you can offer the loose food in a removable bowl, for example a flower pot holder or a discarded plate, which is removed and rinsed daily. At the same time you can remove coarse dirt with a hand brush. Every few weeks you should wash a wooden bird house with hot water. A bird feed house made of stainless steel offers parasites hardly any attack area.

Once the last fledgling leaves the nesting box in September, it will be time for extensive cleaning. You should clean the old nest of the parasites living in it and make it ready for the new brood for the coming year. You should often thoroughly sweep out the nesting box to get rid of unwanted guests such as ticks and bird fleas. Make sure to briefly knock beforehand to ensure that the last guest has also left the nest. If the box is heavily soiled or infested by parasites, it can be rinsed out with clear water and, if necessary, a little soda solution. Then let the nesting box dry out well – and it’s ready for new residents.

Just as you regularly make sure that there is enough food in the bird feed house, you should try to make sure you have enough nesting material in the nesting box. Clean and tidy gardens often do not make it easy for birds to find suitable branches, feathers, leaves, etc. In the Maxi Zoo online shop you will find the right nesting material, for example from the Trixie brand, in addition to animal feed houses and nesting boxes. The Trixie nesting material consists of sisal and cotton fibres. These are not only particularly soft and easy to pluck, but can also be easily digested by birds. Order the right nesting material for your nesting box and help our feathered friends to build a safe and warm nest.