Nest Boxes For The Birds

The madman is thinking about nest boxes. He doesn’t have much to do in the garden these days. He has planted the hottest of his hot peppers – they seem to take forever to germinate and need at least 120 growing days in the garden. And, he has planted some bunching onions, although our main onion crop is busy growing at Dixondale Farms; we’ll get them in April. So, the madman has decided to prepare for welcoming guests this spring. A party, you ask?

A Plan For The Birds

Actually he’s planning to welcome feathered friends. As we’ve mentioned before, our breakfast table looks out on our bird feeder. The madman thinks the bears are hibernating now so he’s been good at keeping it full. And, all winter we’ve enjoyed watching our friends the chickadees, cardinals, titmice, juncos, nuthatches, occasional woodpeckers and various others sample our offerings.

And, it got him thinking about the pending arrival of the migrators. It’s still a couple of months away, but the madman thinks it’s time to prepare for them, and their unborn broods. Yep, he’s thinking about nest boxes. And, that can be a complicated topic because birds are very fussy in their choice of nesting sites. And they’ll start looking for those sites pretty soon.

Unlike people, birds aren’t looking for the biggest or fanciest house. For them, location is everything. And, to select a good location, you need to know your birds.

The Eastern Bluebird

Take for example, bluebirds. Around here, bluebird nest boxes are popular holiday gifts, maybe because hardware stores, box stores and catalogs offer a nice selection. The madman imagines that now there are lots of people wondering what to do with their presents. Placing it where you think it looks best may not be the ideal spot for your bluebird house. Seems people and birds have different ideas and nature doesn’t always bend to the will of man.

Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) like wide open spaces, and in the spring prefer to eat insects pecked off the ground. They are cavity nesters, but never make their own, so they are on the lookout for an old woodpecker cavity or something similar. They are quite happy with commercial bluebird nest boxes, but again, location is everything. The perfect bluebird nest box faces a nice meadow. A bluebird house placed on the edge of your lawn works as long as you don’t use any chemicals on said lawn.

What Makes A Good House?

What makes a good bluebird house? First choice of these birds is an abandoned woodpecker hole in a rotting tree. If none are available, they are perfectly happy in nest boxes. If you didn’t get one for Christmas (the madman did!) and are quite handy with wood and tools, you can make your own. Here’s a nice plan for a bluebird house.

Never use pressure treated wood or paint the inside of your box; keeping it natural and allowing for good drainage is a must. Keep the entrance hole around 11/2” in diameter to keep out predators and larger birds like starlings. The floor of the nest box should be 6” below the entrance hole to prevent furry arms of cat bandits reaching in. The University of Maine has a few other dos and don’ts in its Bulletin #7117.

Responsibility

If you are going to attract bluebirds, you have to accept a certain amount of responsibility. All house plans come with a hinged roof or detachable side for easy access to the inside. Your responsibility is to clean up after every brood to prevent disease transmission. But, the most important cleaning is at the end of winter and before the March nesting season begins.

Around here winters get cold and there are lots of creatures looking for shelter. When you clean your bluebird house, those creatures may surprise you. I can still remember our first cleaning. The madman certainly wasn’t expecting a large family of little critters to run down his arm, but they did. The thought still gives him the creeps – did I ever tell you he doesn’t like mice? I will tell you that he is very cautious when we go to clean it these days.

Careful Placement

Our biggest problem now is where to put his second next box. According to PennState Extension the houses shouldn’t be placed within 100 yards of each other. But the madman has read that since chickadees and tree swallows sometimes take up residence in a bluebird house, some experts recommend using a pair of boxes – one for the bluebirds, and one for the chickadees to cut down on fights. We’ll see where this takes us. The madman is still thinking.

Carolina Wrens

As you can imagine, bluebirds aren’t the only birds who will use a nest box or other manmade cavity. A few years ago, the madman noticed a lot of activity at the pot storage cupboard near my outdoor potting bench. A pair of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) was busy building a nest. They hadn’t gotten far, and the madman cleaned it out. Interestingly, Carolina Wrens often build nests at several sites before choosing the final one so these guys just settled on the one in the woodpile. They raised a couple of broods that year and the madman enjoyed being yelled at when he got too close.

More recently, we got a matching pair of nests for a present. One was a birdhouse, the other a butterfly house (more on that later). We hung them on a double welcome sign hanger and just forgot about them. A pair of Carolina Wrens quickly took over the birdhouse for brood #1. As soon as the fledglings left, the parents managed to get in through the back cleaning door of the butterfly house and raised another family.

Active Flitters

Carolina Wrens are fascinating little birds. They don’t fly very high, but are very active. According to Cornell University, they are shy birds that are not often seen. For some reason, we see them flitting around our back garden beds all summer. With their upturned tail feathers and “tea kettle” song, they are a joy to watch as they forage for insects and an occasional seed, and despite Cornell’s shy label, they don’t seem bothered by the madman.

The fun thing about these birds is that they seem to nest just about any place. You can download the specs for a nest box from NestWatch. But, you might have just as much luck setting out an old flowerpot on its side. According to the folks at NestWatch, they have even been known to build nests in old pockets and boots. The key is to keep a nest low, less than 10’ from the ground.

Screech Owls

Screech Owls (Megascops ssp.), on the other hand prefer to nest in a high box, 10-30’ off the ground. Active at night, this owl is rarely seen, appearing at dusk to hunt for insects, mice and other small mammals. We will never know what the owl was looking for the night he swooped over the madman several times before disappearing onto the woods.

We rarely see this robin-sized owl, but we know he’s out there because we hear him. Actually, that’s how most birders recognize his presence. Despite the name, this species doesn’t screech – instead the call is a soft monotonic trill that the Audubon Society calls a whinnying horse on helium.

Supplementing Nature

Since some of our taller dead trees in the back are falling, the madman is thinking of putting up a nest box because he wants to keep the owls around. Screech owl boxes are similar in construction to a bluebird house, just with larger dimensions. For example, the entrance hole should be 3” in diameter, twice that of the bluebird house. The madman has found a real nice set of plans at HobbyFarms.com. The challenge will be to find wood in today’s building supply climate.

Lots of other birds can be attracted to nest boxes. A nest box is a fun way to get kids interested in backyard nature. The birds are fun to watch and as a bonus, they eat lots of bugs.

Butterfly House

Speaking of insects, I want to touch on the subject of the butterfly house, a rather new addition to “gifts for gardeners.” They look nice and seem to be a good idea. But, new research from the University of Kentucky suggests that they may shelter species of wasps that prey on young monarch caterpillars. So the madman suggests that if you already have one, hang it with the back door open so the wrens can move in – don’t worry, your butterflies prefer natural shelter anyway.

Thinking about the birds has made the madman thirsty. Guess it’s time for hot cocoa.