Birds aren’t just wonderful to look at or popular for their song alone; they’re effective garden helpers: they eat all manner of insects, beetles, and caterpillars, some of which are emphatically unwelcome in the plot. So much the better when we can help out the birds! Now, in spring, the time is right to retrieve nesting boxes from winter storage, clean them as needed, and hang them out. Nesting boxes should be securely attached to a tree, ideally facing south or southeast, so that the inhabitants will be sheltered from weather.