Description

After I lost a nest with 6 chicks to heat, I immediately modified the two other active nestboxes with ash-throated flycatchers in it with heat shields. I am happy to report I have not lost a single chick since, even during several days of consecutive high heat, that’s currently in SE AZ.

We have ground predators (snakes) and those which can jump from trees (squirrels, etc) . So I could not get the mounting pole very close to the trees for early afternoon shade and the sun is very high in the sky with temps in the upper 90s and even 100F right now.

I used 3/4” styrofoam boards and since I did not want to drill into an active nestbox, instead of using screws or tacks, I used self-adhesive Velcro tabs and natural rubber pot risers as spacers for the styrofoam plates. This was easy and quick and least “invasive”. All items were available at the local Home Depot. The Velcro tabs stick really well even with wind, and teh styrofoam plates can easily be removed again when not needed.

Category

Nests in boxes