Unlike tits and other hole-nesters, the Great Spotted Woodpecker normally excavates its own nest itself and rarely takes a ready-made nest box into use. A woodpecker-adapted nest box therefore requires different dimensions and a different interior than an ordinary tit box.
Entrance hole: about 50 mm in diameter — considerably larger than the Great Tit's 32–34 mm.
Bottom: fill the box with a layer of sawdust or chippings in the bottom, since the species chisels and shapes the nest in the substrate itself instead of building with moss and other material as the tits do.
Height: put the box up high on the trunk, 3–5 metres above the ground.
Aspect: turn the opening away from the prevailing wind and rain direction — avoid pointing the hole straight to the south or west.