BIRDHOUSES:
WORDS ABOUT BIRDS
WHY OWN A BIRDHOUSE?
According to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 51.3 million Americans are
avid bird watchers, and the number is growing. Did you know that
over 57 million Americans feed and house birds? It's an activity
second only to gardening as the most popular American hobby.
The beauty of bird watching, building birdhouses or mere observing,
lies in the fact that it can occur wherever you may be; city,
town, country, apartment house, high-rise building balcony or
right in your own backyard.
Watching birds
go about their business is sometimes taken for granted, but it
shouldn't be. Urban sprawl, lost forests, and precious breeding
grounds are being swept away for new development, severely threatening
the natural habitat of birds and their ability to breed. Birdhouses
help to provide nesting places to supplement those lost to willful
destruction.
Recent studies
have shown that the population of certain species, like Bluebirds
and Tree Swallows have actually increased through the use of
man-made birdhouses, and volunteer programs that track their
breeding habits. So if someone asks you why own a birdhouse,
just tell them because they need us as much as we need them.
ATTRACTING BIRDS:
If you build
a birdhouse, will they come? No, not necessarily. If you don't
attract them, they won't. If you want to attract birds to your
backyard or garden you must first determine what species you
are likely to find in your geographical area. One way is by observation.
A better way is to purchase a good field guide and a pair of
binoculars.
A regional
guide, specific to your location, is a good starting point. Later
you can branch out to cover a wider area since it is not uncommon
for birds from one region to show up in several others. It's
best to obtain a guide illustrated with drawings in lieu of photographs,
as photos can be misleading, since birds can vary from one another
within a given species.
Field guides
usually define the range of a species, which is a general reference
defining the seasonal geographical area that a particular bird
inhabits. Habitat is more specific, and defines where a bird
actually lives, such as, forest edges, meadows, parkland and
the like. Although scientists have established ranges for specific
species, it can vary, shift or decrease due to environmental
changes, climatic shifts, or human alteration of the environment.
Then too, a bird may have more than one range. So it's not uncommon
to see a particular bird only once in your garden, never to be
seen again, for whatever reason.
Aside from
the proper physical characteristics of a birdhouse, the most
important consideration for attracting birds is proper environment
that includes shelter, food and water. Water can be provided
in a variety ways, with a birdbath being the most common. Food
can come from commercial sources, or be provided in nature by
way of plants, shrubs or trees that exist, or can be planted
in your garden. Another nice feature for attracting nesting birds
is to provide them with nest-building materials.
Twigs, plant
stems, fibers, grass, bark, feathers moss, pine needles, cotton,
string, yarn and even strips of cellophane are all of interest
to the avian architect. It's even been reported that titmice
have pulled human hair right off a person's head to build a nest,
so you might want to keep your hat on.
With so many
natural sources for food available, you may ask the question
why is it so important in attracting nesting birds? Fair enough
but consider this; baby birds can eat up to 1 and 1-1/2 times
their weight each day. With several little mouths to feed, the
daily requirement for adult birds to provide, with all the comings
and goings, is an exhausting task. With a food source nearby
it makes the task that much easier. Okay, so you have provided
food, water and shelter, when can you expect the first bird to
nest in your birdhouse?
Well, I forgot
to mention one thing - patience. It may take several seasons
before birds find your house or feel secure using it. On the
other hand it could happen the first season out. Then too, you
could just be lucky, like my sister, who put the birdhouse I
gave her in the worst possible location; didn't provide food
or water; didn't set out nesting materials, and you guessed it,
she had a nester within a week. Which goes to show, birds are
unpredictable. However, don't dismay. Birds not only use birdhouses
to breed, they also use them to roost on cold nights, so who
knows what service you might be providing.
CAVITY NESTING BIRDS
I'm sure you've
seen books with lists of birds that will nest in your birdhouse,
and you'll find one here as well. But what about these birds,
and why do they use nesting boxes, while others don't? Hold on
now, one thing at a time. First of all, not all birds use birdhouses,
because they all don't all nest the same way. In North America
there are approximately 650 known species of birds.
Out of that
number only 85 build nests in natural cavities, and even fewer
will actually use a birdhouse. The ones that will use birdhouses
are known as secondary cavity nesters because they will use holes
made by other birds, or those found in nature by way of dead
or decaying trees known as snags. Primary cavity nesters are
capable of making their own holes and normally excavate a new
one with every breeding season.
It's the secondary
cavity nesters that are also known to use man-made birdhouses,
and therefore the focus of our attention. Not to confuse you,
but other species are known as open nesters, and as the name
implies may build their nests on the ground, in bushes or in
trees. You won't attract open nesters to your birdhouse but you
certainly can attract them to your garden or yard. Birds that
use cavities have different physical and behavioral needs distinct
from open nesters.
Cavity nesters
have strong feet to cling to vertical surfaces of trees or nesting
boxes, and an innate inclination to enter and explore small,
dark spaces. An open nester, like a robin, won't venture into
a small, dark hole. Even though only a small percentage of known
birds use birdhouses, we provide them for good reason. Studies
have shown that 60 to 80% of birds bred in birdhouses will fledge
at least one offspring, as opposed to open nests that have only
a 20 to 40% survival rate.
As pointed
out earlier, another good reason is the short supply of available
nesting accommodations. During mating season good shelter is
becoming harder to find. The once inviting nooks and crannies
of old trees are becoming extinct, as forests are being cleared
of dead trees because they don't look so neat, or being harvested
early for maximum profit. In urban environments and private gardens,
dead trees are seldom left standing and dead limbs are often
pruned. We seem to have a real fetish for neatness.
There is enough
evidence from wildlife biologists and ornithologists that a scarcity
of natural cavities for nesting birds exists, and to meet the
rising need birdhouse placement programs have been initiated
to meet the shortage and to track the breeding habits of birds,
particularly bluebirds. My wife and I are part of such a program
in our area and there is nothing more rewarding then to open
a nesting box and find eggs, or see the stretched out mouths
of hungry nesters.
BASIC TIPS
Once you start,
you may be inclined to start plunking birdhouses all over the
place, so let me give you a couple of tips.
· Do
not start to erect a Purple Martin house unless you are sure
there are martins in your area, otherwise it will most likely
become filled with House Sparrows.
· In
general, most gardens or yards will support different species;
for example, one pair of chickadees, and one pair of flickers,
or a pair of robins.
· Each
species will keep others of its own kind out of its territory,
but will not usually be bothered by a different species.
· You
might want to place several different sizes and types of houses
around your garden in an effort to attract a variety of nesting
birds.
-----------------------
Courtesy
of BIRDHOUSES BY ARCHITECTURAL EDITIONS PO Box 3607 Pinehurst,
NC 28374 (910) 295-2717 rtbarch@pinehurst.net
