Swallows nest cup - terracotta

3.0 out of 5

5

Very poor quality, cheaply made and shoddily put together. Exactly the same problems as others have reported - Screws sticking out into nest area, not put together properly (it’s not that complicated) and on the whole a very poor product. The response saying that they haven’t had any issues is untrue. I pointed out the faults some three years ago so nothing has been done about improving the quality and essentially it is poorly designed, poorly made cheap tat. Unfortunately the expectancies from the RSPB are that products would be designed properly, fit for purpose and have birds’ needs put foremost. It is priced higher than other products so the expectancy is that it will be bettter. But unfortunately this isn’t the case. Very disappointing for customers and moreover for Swallows.

I have returned the nest cup as it was faulty - screw heads sticking out inside the nest. I am also not convinced it is the right shape - it is very narrow and deep and bears no resemblance to our many Swallow nests here. I feel it is too deep and could lead to a chick in a brood of 4 or 5 becoming trapped in the bottom/unable to be fed properly.

We bought this nest as the old one built by the swallows had fallen down and the poor things were looking for it. We installed the new nest close to where the original nest had been and within a day the swallows had taken to it. We now have four little hatchlings in the nest.

Absolutely fine. I didn't need the backing board as I'm fixing directly to beams anyway - other designs don't have that option.
You can get this exact same item on other retail websites and it's given good reviews too, and I don't mind paying a little extra here to support the RSPB.

The nest was set crooked on the wooden backing, with screw-heads left sticking out into the actual nest area. The screw-holes for fixing the backing to a wall were partially covered by the nest-bowl so were unusable. The screws provided for fixing were not long enough to fix the nest safely to anything solid. Whole impression is the nest was really cheaply and shoddily put together. Also not convinced that it is (as advert says) the best shape for swallows to nest in - seems too deep and too narrow, at least compared to the swallow nests we have had in our barn - but I’m willing to be proved wrong on this. First though we’ll have to sort out the various issues with screws/construction before we can put the nest up. And it wasn’t cheap.