Bird Box Cam Tips & Advice

The following tips & advice are here to ensure that you achieve the best from your Eshwood BirdBox Cam.

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Prior to fixing your Bird Box Cam, place the box outside and connect the cable to your TV or VCR. Check that you are tuned in to an AV channel on your TV, if so then you should have picture and sound.

If your TV / VCR does not have any phono sockets (These can often be hidden behind a small flap on your TV) to connect your camera to, you can still use your Bird Box Cam. You will need a phono to scart adapter. These are available from us or most major high street electrical retailers as well as shops like Maplins. Simply plug your extension lead into the adapter and then into a scart socket on your TV.

Find a location ideally facing between North and South East away from bird feeders and other nest boxes. It should be fixed at least 2 metres above ground and as out of reach of predators as possible. When you are happy with your location test the on screen image prior to attaching you Bird Box Cam. Our cameras do require ambient light so avoid the very darkest of location. You can always fine tune your picture with the colour, brightness and contrast settings on your T.V.

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Don’t leave it too late to site your Bird Box Cam. Birds start looking for likely nesting sites early in the year.

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Eshwood Bird Box Cams are weather proof. They are not however water proof. Do not submerge the camera or wash it during cleaning of the box. Rain falling will not enter the box when the lid is correctly attached, however water coming from below e.g. from a lawn sprinkler or hose pipe may enter the ventilation slots under the eves of the roof.

Clean old nest debris out of the box around October each year. You can easily remove the roof to do this. You can also gently clean the camera lens using a soft lens cleaning cloth which are widely available.

Nesting boxes would normally be left outside all year round as birds may roost in them during winter. Eshwood Bird Box Cam can be left outside all year or you can remove it in October and re fit it in early January. You could even put a temporary nest box up as a roosting box in its place.

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Unplug the extension cable from the underside of the Bird Box Cam when the nesting season is over. Unplug the three pin power supply adapter from your room socket when not using your Bird Box Cam.

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Like any other cable, the extension cable can be damaged. Avoid kinking it trapping it between a door and the door frame and they certainly don’t like lawn mowers or pets that chew wires. The camera operates on 12 volts DC so they do not pose a safety risk.

You can encourage birds into your garden by feeding them wild bird food. This can be done throughout the year. Do please remember to keep feeders away from nest boxes. Clean water is also vital for drinking and bathing and a shallow dish would be ideal for this. By providing these you will very quickly be rewarded by a greater number and diversity of bird calling your garden home!!

The hole size on an Eshwood Bird Box Cam can be changed by attaching the adapter plate. The standard hole diameter is 32mm. This will allow a far wider range of birds to use the nest box than when the adapter plate is used which has a 25mm diameter hole and is suitable for Blue Tits only.

You can mount one of our external video cameras to monitor the outside of the Bird Box Cam. These gave fantastic views of the parents returning to feed the young as well as capturing the first tentative flight of the chicks.

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For more information on nesting birds and bird topics in general check out our links page

If you have any queries or question concerning our products then please feel free to contact us

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