Nestboxes for Wildlife

Samford Scouts - Nestboxes for Wildlife Project – Creating a Better World

Every day all around the world Scouts are working together to Create a Better World.
As Scouts, lots of time is spent outdoors and subsequently a close relationship with the environment is developed. Therefore, sustainability and using resources wisely is an important aspect to all Scouts.
As part of our Better World Framework at Samford Scout Group, we are operating a ongoing Scout environmental project to help our local wildlife survive and prosper with our program of animal nestbox construction, supply and monitoring.

Why our local wildlife needs nestboxes

Nesting boxes are artificial hollows that provide habitat to native wildlife. They are useful in providing supplementary habitat, particularly in suburban areas, where older trees are lacking.
Many of our Australian wildlife species rely on tree hollows for roost and nest sites (17% of bird species, 42% of mammals and 28% of reptiles). This includes possums, sugar gliders, parrots, microbats, phascogales and owls.
Natural tree hollows can take upwards of 100 years to form. Land clearing, urbanisation and other human impacts such as fire means that hollows are not as readily available as they once were.

How Samford Scouts are helping local wildlife with nestboxes

To date the Samford Scouts have constructed almost 60 nestboxes and are deploying these in specific sites within the Samford area to assist local wildlife.
Our most popular nestboxes supplied to suit Samford local wildlife have been:
- Small Parrot - to house small parrots and lorikeets and multi species use.
- Possum - to house brushtail and ringtail possums and multi species use.
- Small Glider - to house sugar or squirrel gliders, small lorikeets and multi species use.
- Micro Bat - to house these tiny bats that number about a quarter of all the mammals in Australia
- Owlett Nightjar - to house Australia's smallest nocturnal bird and multi species use.

Nestbox project to create more local habitat for Barn Owls begins

Rodents are a danger to our community because they damage farm crops, buildings and property. For the last 100 years, chemical pesticides and rat poisons have been used to kill rodents, but these chemicals harm the ecosystem, humans, and all sorts of wildlife, including migratory birds. Barn owls are a natural solution to this problem as these nocturnal birds of prey are common over most of the world and can act as biological pest-control agents.
The Barn Owl nestbox is a large capacity box so seek assistance when mounting it. The box is also attractive to climbing possums or cats so fit 1 metre lengths of tree shield on the possible approach side/s of predators.
The Samford Scouts have added the availability and deployment of Barn Owl nestboxes to their program as these are so vital to assist our community.

How our community members can help wildlife with nestboxes

You can help our local wildlife survive and prosper by purchasing a nestbox and placing in on your property.
Some types of wildlife — over 300 species in Australia — are "hollow dependent". This means they can't create their own nests or other sleeping spots. Instead, they rely on hollows in trees for their habitat. Nest boxes are artificial forms of tree hollows, and are essential in areas where we've lost big, old-growth trees.
If you're placing your nest box in a tree, four metres off the ground is generally the ideal height.
Nestboxes may not attract wildlife on their own. Animals need food and water to cater for their daily needs, which can come in the form of a native garden or wildlife corridor.

How to purchase a nestbox for your property

Our nestbox supply partner is Nesting Boxes Australia and their range of nestboxes are manufactured from structural grade exterior plywood, sourced from renewable resources. The good news is that if you order your nestbox using the special order code below, you will receive a discount and Samford Scouts will receive a donation from the nestbox manufacturer to help us expand our program.
So to order, all you need to do is:
1) go to the website www.nestingboxes.com.au
2) select the nestbox type/s to suit your need (you can see the range available below)
3) select whether you want the nestbox supplied as a d-i-y flatpack, or prebuilt for you ready to hang
4) select whether you wish to collect your order from the factory, or have it delivered to your address.
5) At the checkout stage you will earn an additional 5% discount when you type into the “Enter coupon code” section “SAMFORDSCOUT” then press the redeem button directly below it and the price will be recalculated.