Nest Box/Retriever Plans
Left Top: Oak Titmouse at box on tree. Left Bottom: Violet-gree Swallow on Noel Guard. Photos: Maren S. Smith. Center: Monitor, Sue Cossins, uses a retriever to place a box high in a tree. Photo: Bob Cossins. Right: Western Bluebird feeding at box on a pole. Photo: Sylvia Wright
Learn how to build your bird boxes and retrievers.
Nest Box Plans:
We have used these designs for nest boxes for decades and have had great success with them.
Retriever/Lifter Plans:
This section provides references for building Retrievers, long poles to place and collect boxes high up in trees, and a video showing how to use the Simple Retriever. A Pulley System for accessing large nest boxes is included.
Lee Pauser Simple Retriever
Watch the video to see Lee place and remove a high hanging nest box with the Simple Retriever.
Lee Pauser Pulley System
Accessing large nest boxes is a problem of varying magnitude. To address this issue, Lee Pauser developed a pulley system to easily access a nest box mounted on a 2” ID galvanized metal pipe. Specifically, the system enables the raising and lowering of a large pole-mounted nest box from the ground thereby negating the need to port a ladder to the box. A lock secures the box in its raised position. The pulley system is most beneficial when used with boxes that are remote and accessible only by foot.