Nest Boxes and Chestnuts!

On November 16, two dozen volunteers gathered at the Senhora da Alegria Bio-Reserve for a truly fulfilling day! The main goal was simple: to build and to install 15 nest boxes in this important Milvoz nature conservation area.

Although the reserve’s forest is made up of a remarkable variety of native trees, it is still relatively young and lacks older specimens with natural trunk cavities. This is a widespread issue across the region, where the few remaining native woodlands are relatively recent and face multiple ongoing threats, such as wildfires, logging, invasive species, and conversion into monocultures. That’s why it is so crucial to equip conservation areas with tools to mitigate the scarcity of tree cavities - installing nest boxes is thus one valuable solution.

In the Bio-Reserve, these boxes have been widely used by great tits and blue tits, as well as, less frequently, coal tits and nuthatches. However, the high humidity of the slope’s microclimate makes it necessary to regularly maintain and replace the boxes. The ones installed five years ago were no longer in good condition and needed replacing.

That was the perfect motivation for our volunteers, who spent the morning carefully assembling the nest boxes—measuring, hammering, and nailing the wooden pieces together until they were complete. After lunch, we headed down to the Bio-Reservae, where we introduced the conservation work carried out by Milvoz and strategically installed the nest boxes in key locations. As the afternoon came to an end, a well-earned and awaited "magusto" (chestnut feast) provided the perfect opportunity for participants to relax and share ideas, many of which will surely become future projects and activities!

We thank all the volunteers who joined the Milvoz team for this incredible day of teamwork and nature conservation! The Senhora da Alegria Bio-Reserve is now equipped with a new set of nest boxes, helping to improve breeding conditions for small passerine birds in the years to come.