several years ago i had a dozen cedar fence planks leaning against my shop. a robin decided to build a nest on top of them. robins, cardinals, & brown thrashers to name a few prefer open nest boxes. i needed the boards so i built a nest box & put the nest box on top of the boards. the robin kept using it. i then moved the box to under the eaves. she stayed on. except for 1 year when sparrows tried to take it over robins have nested there ever since.