Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, House Wren, Black Capped Chickadee, Eastern Phoebe, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmous, Flickers, Nuthatches and other smaller birds.

Western Bluebird and Eastern Bluebird love The Peep Show but are picky about the hole size. We have a bluebird specific faceplate for attracting them.

Most birds use a birdhouse during the spring nesting season. The majority will raise one nest, but some species may have several broods like Bluebirds. There are exceptions, a Flicker in Florida set up permanent home in a Peep Show for year round viewing.

Depending on where you live and the species of bird, nesting frequently starts in March, April, or May. Arrival times for seasonal migratory birds differs greatly throughout North America. A great resource for learning more about local bird life is your local chapter of the Audubon society. To find your local chapter, visit them online at Audubon.org.

No. Although we have scientifically created The Peep Show to the highest of ornithological standards, what we believe to be the most comfortable birdhouse possible for feathered visitors, sometimes mother nature has other ideas. Location, migratory bird patterns, environmental noise can all deter a successful nest. For ideas on how to achieve nesting success, www.nestwatch.org is a quality resource.

The experts at NestWatch wrote a useful article on locating your birdhouse: Nest Box Placement.

We do what is best for the birds and perches make it easier for snakes, squirrels, predator birds and other nest invaders to gain access to the nest.

Birds don't require perches choosing to perch on a nearby tree or atop the The Peep Show itself.

So why do you see so many perches on birdhouses online and in the big box stores? They don’t follow ornithological guidelines.

The size of the entry hole influences which birds are attracted to a birdhouse. The Peep Show® uses a 1-3/8” hole which is designed for the vast majority of smaller cavity nesters.

Cornell Lab’s NestWatch has done considerable research on this very topic and has this fascinating chart available: Educators' Guide to Nest Boxes.

The Peep Show went through four years of testing in the extremes: in Alaska, it saw temperatures of -57° F; and in Florida it was subjected to salt air, temperatures of over 100° F and extreme humidity.

Each year, during prototyping, refinements were made until The Peep Show® could handle anything nature could throw at it.

If something ever does wear out, know that each part is replaceable, so you don’t need to throw away a perfectly good product. hello@thepeepshow.com

We use solid, vertical grain, Western Red Cedar sourced locally in the Pacific Northwest which is naturally water and warp resistant. We do not paint or stain the wood, allowing it to age gracefully as only real wood can.

Sanded smooth on the outside, the wood surfaces inside the nest box are intentionally left rough, making it easier for fledglings to climb to their first flight.

The Peep Show itself is ready for inhabitants from the moment you take it out of the shipping box. While the nesting box itself does not require assembly, it does need to be attached to a pole or wall in a bird-friendly location before it will attraction possible tenants. See NestWatch's article on Nest Box Placement for details.

For pole-mounting, you will need to dig a hole, then set a pre-cut pole you purchase from a local hardware store in either concrete or expansion foam.

Alternatively, mount your Peep Show to a wall or tree. See our Quick-Start guides for details.

See the Quick-Start guides for details, but here is the gist:

Your Peep Show ships with a pole mounting bracket to make it easy to mount atop a pole. As you can guess from the dimensions of the shipping box, your Peep Show does not include the actual pole. When considering the various possibilities for a pole-mounted solution, I had high standards, wanting something that was durable, all-weather, paintable, available in various lengths and economical.

The perfect solution is found at your local hardware store or big box store (think Lowe’s or Home Depot) and is called EMT or electrical metal tubing. Ask specifically for “EMT thin-wall conduit” which is lighter weight and less costly than heavy duty rigid conduit. My local hardware store cuts the metal tubing to the desired length for free. I use 10-foot lengths for most of my nesting boxes. You will want to ask for “1.25 EMT” (which has an outside diameter of 1.5”), the correct dimension to fit your Peep Show mount. PRO TIP: bring the white aluminum mounting bracket (included in your Peep Show box) with you to the store to validate that the pole will fit correctly. Once home, you can easily paint it with latex house paint or exterior spray paint–or just leave it bare metal as it won’t rust.

The Peep Show does not include the option or hardware for a hanging mount mainly due to the challenges wind introduces. Although some birds don't mind a bit of “swing” in their nests caused by wind, other species will avoid less-stable houses.

I include two mounting options with each Peep Show: for mounting either onto a pole or onto an existing vertical structure, such as a barn wall, tall wood pole, or shed awning. With their home attached to a fixed tree, building, or pole birds will feel secure and comfortable enough to raise their hatchlings. See the Quick-Start guides for details.

I always defer to the amazing research done by Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program. In short, placement will depend on the type of bird you want to attract. For instance, at my dad’s place in Alaska I mounted his Peep Shows on 15-foot poles for Violet Green Swallows. In Seattle, I mount on 10-foot poles for Black Capped Chickadees. For Bluebirds, they seem to prefer 5-foot poles. Here is a helpful guide which breaks down birdhouse placement by species: Nest Box Placement.

Yes. We have tested The Peep Show in Fairbanks, Alaska for the past three winters and even at -40° F, we were able to video some local winter birds inspecting the nest. We still recommend replacing the batteries each spring, before migratory birds arrive.

Not yet. The bioplastic shell that holds up so well under normal wear requires environmental conditions found in industrial composting facilities, not in the average consumer’s backyard. We are working on a good solution for recycling faster. Meanwhile, we recognize that the fact that TPS is sourced from reused plastics is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Like you, we also don’t want to see Peep Shows in landfills, so we’re committed to finding a good path forward.

I’ll be honest. Cleaning out the nesting box each spring was never my favorite task so when I designed The Peep Show, the ability to maintain it conveniently was paramount. To open the nesting box, lift up on the drop pin located on the top of the birdhouse and remove the front panel. No screwdriver or specialized tools are needed. Once the front panel is removed, slide out the elevated nesting bed and dump the old bedding material in the trash (or compost) and wipe the interior with a clean rag to remove any remaining nesting material. To sterilize the nesting box, spray the interior with a weak bleach solution followed by a water rinse and let it air dry in the sun. Bright sun is a fantastic disinfectant. While your Peep Show is drying out, check to ensure the ventilation and drainage holes are not clogged and replace the camera batteries. That's it till next season!

Not at this time. We leave tech support to the nice people at Blink. Once you register your Blink camera and create an online account, you will have access to their customer support, including online FAQs, an owner’s forum, online chat and most importantly, a toll-free support line staffed by Blink. We know birdhouses. Blink knows cameras.

Bioplastics are a type of plastic derived from renewable sources, the plastic we for The Peep Show® corn derived.

Fun fact if something goes wrong and accidentally gets overheated during production The Nest (headquarters) smells like kettle corn.

Bioplastics are biodegradable and through commercial composting they can break down while conventional plastics are around for hundreds of years, posing risks to wildlife and ecosystems.

Although the white bio-plastic shell of The Peep Show® can be painted, most ornithologists strongly caution against painting a birdhouse a dark color to prevent excessive heat buildup in the nest.

If you want to paint the shell of The Peep Show®, an exterior spray paint designed for plastics will work. Just make sure the shell is clean and free of dust/debris/dirt or paint it when you first open the box from us.

Cleaning out the nesting box each spring was never a favorite task The Peep Show®, was designed with the ability to maintain it easily.

To open the nesting box, lift up on the drop pin located on the top of the birdhouse and remove the front panel. No screwdriver or specialized tools are needed.

Once the front panel is removed, slide out the elevated nesting bed and dump the old bedding material in the compost and wipe the interior with a clean rag to remove any remaining nesting material.

To sterilize the nesting box, spray the interior with a weak bleach solution followed by a water rinse and let it air dry in the sun. Sun is a fantastic disinfectant.

Check to ensure the ventilation and drainage holes are not clogged and replace the camera batteries.

Blink Ourdoor 4 camera that comes with The Peep Show® has a free subscription option.

Yes! Blink Camera Outdoor 4 has infrared night vision.

The Peep Show® comes Blink Outdoor 4 camera which needs to be mounted no more than 100 feet your home's the wifi signal.

We have found the actual distance depends a lot on the construction of your house’s walls. A timber frame will give you more distance vs a concrete wall.

Once you have a good signal from your Peep Show to your home wifi, you can use the Blink phone app anywhere in the world to watch your baby birds.

To ensure the full two-year life of the battery on the Blink Outdoor 4 camera, you won't be able to stream live 24/7 as that would drain the batteries rapidly.

You can, however, tune into a “live view” of 60 second on-demand intervals anytime. You can then record HD video and/or high quality still images that you can save locally or share as desired.

Our Birdhouse Bliss Warranty is a 60-day no-questions-asked return policy. Contact us hello@thepeepshow.com to initiate.

Yes! We have a a full one-year warranty for parts or construction defects.

Yes. Donation requests are handled on a case-by-case basis and generally reserved for non-profit organizations. Please email us hello@thepeepshow.com

Yes, we value constructive feedback to understand better what is working as intended and what is not. We’re open to being surprised.

For example, in 2018, our Floridian test models extended our understanding of bird migration patterns. The homeowner notified us that a Flicker took up residence in her Tampa-area Peep Show nest box, even though these birds were thought to only travel as far south as latitude 35. (This PS was located at latitude 28 north.)

If you as a backyard birder or someone you know studies North American migratory bird research and might be open to a field collaboration with The Peep Show, please contact us at hello@thepeepshow.com. We and our parent company, The Urban Bird, would be thrilled to contribute to the body of academic research in ornithology, conservation biology or ecology. We are personally committed to leaving the world a better place than we found it, in whatever ways we can.

Yes we do. We are super excited to work with you. Please email us hello@thepeepshow.com for more information.

Please email us hello@thepeepshow.com with a short bio, links to your socials, and your vision for the collab you would like to do with The Peep Show®.