Wouldn’t it be a thrill to see a screech owl peering out of your roosting box? (photo by Kurt Hasselman) The Coveside Convertible Nest Box–Roosting Box can be modified to act as a nest box during spring and summer, and a roosting box during fall and winter! It’s available at BestNest.com

Some cavity nesting birds will use nest boxes as roosting sites during fall and winter, and you can help provide an even better option from harsh weather with a specially designed roost box. Small owls, bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and even small woodpeckers may seek refuge in roosting boxes, which differ from nest boxes in a few ways. The best roost boxes are designed to prevent a bird’s body heat from escaping, so unlike a nest box, the entrance hole is near the bottom of the box so the rising warm air produced by the bird or birds doesn’t escape; plus it has fewer ventilation holes and is more air tight.

Also, inside a roosting box, especially those provided for smaller birds, builders often install a couple perches – small wooden dowels – staggered at different levels. The inside front and rear walls may also be chipped, scored, or covered with hardware cloth so small woodpeckers can cling to them. To exclude aggressive starlings it’s best to keep the entrance hole 1½ inches in diameter. Larger birds, such as screech owls, saw-whet owls, and larger woodpeckers need a 3-inch entrance hole. But do you really need an entirely different roosting box in addition to a nest box? The best answer we have found is to refer you to a “convertible nest box–roosting box.”

A Convertible Bluebird Nest Box–Roosting Box for Your Yard

It’s easiest to provide shelter throughout the year by adding a Coveside Convertible Nest Box–Roosting Box to your yard, which is available from BestNest. The unique design of this bird box allows it to be used as a nest box during the spring and summer, then you can easily convert it to a roosting box for fall and winter use.

This Coveside model has a reversible front door panel, so you can switch the entrance panel up or down during different seasons. During fall migration and through colder months, you position the front door panel so the entrance hole is near the bottom of the box, which allows warm air from the bird or birds to rise and remain inside the box, thereby creating a warmer sheltered location for birds to overnight or seek shelter during a winter storm. To provide access for more than 1 bird – bluebirds and chickadees sometimes roost together for added warmth – there are 3 removable dowels inside the roosting box to provide comfortable perches during winter. Then during spring and summer you can easily remove the dowels and invert the front panel so the entrance hole is near the of the box for the nesting season.

The 1½ diameter entrance hole is sized for bluebirds and small woodpeckers, although it may be used by a variety of cavity nesting birds ranging from chickadees to nuthatches. The ¾-inch thick pine boards offer good insulation, and the down-sloped roof directs water away from the entrance and cavity. For more information about this unique convertible bird box, see Coveside Convertible Bird House/Winter Roost at BestNest.com

Small Owl Roosting Boxes

Although we didn’t find a similar larger convertible box for small owls, which require an entrance hole twice as large as a bluebird box, it’s likely you could enlarge the entrance hole to 3 inches on a bluebird roosting–nest box. Or it would be even better to retro-fix a Big nest box in the fashion of a convertible box. You can find a variety of Screech Owl nest boxes for sale that you can retro-fix into a ‘convertible roosting box’ by adapting the front panel at Owl & Kestrel Houses at BestNest! Of course, if you’re looking for a little woodworking project, you can build your own convertible box, and you may find it’s a rewarding woodworking project to share with young birders in your life.

When you are ready to install a roosting box, the preferred nest height for Eastern and Western Screech Owls is 10 to 30 feet high, although Northern Saw-whet Owls prefer 12 to 15 feet high and Northern Pygmy Owls like 8 to 20 feet best, so a common height would be to position the roosting box in the range of 12 to 15 feet high. As with bluebird roosting boxes, place the roosting box in a sheltered spot out of prevailing winds; and remember that south-facing roosting boxes receive the most solar warmth from the sun during fall and winter.

To learn more about how to build nest boxes to attract the large and small cavity nesting birds you most wish to attract, see NestWatch | Features of a Good Birdhouse - NestWatch You can also get Roosting Box plans from Pennsylvania Commission at plan5.pdf (pa.gov)

When you are ready to install a roosting box or nest box, you can get information for each species’ preferred location and habitat, preferred height, and more at NestWatch | Nest Box Placement - NestWatch – Good Luck!

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