Homes for Birds

Bluebirds If you put up a bluebird house near an old field, orchard, park, cemetery, or golf course, you'll have a good chance of attracting a pair of bluebirds. They prefer nest boxes on a tree stump or wooden fence post between three and five feet high. Bluebirds also nest in abandoned woodpecker nest holes. The most important measurement is the hole diameter. An inch and a half is small enough to deter starlings. Starlings and house sparrows have been known to kill baby bluebirds as well as adults sitting on the nest. Bluebirds have problems with other animals too. The easiest way to discourage predatory cats, snakes, raccoons and chipmunks is to mount the house on a metal pole or use a metal predator guard on a wood post.

Robins are our largest thrushes. They prefer to build their nest in the crotch of a tree. If you don't have an appropriate tree, you can offer a nesting platform. Pick a spot six feet or higher up on a shaded tree trunk or under the overhang of a shed or porch. Creating a mud puddle nearby offers further excitement as robins use mud to line their nests.

Chickadees, Nuthatches and Titmice all share the same food, feeders and habitats. If you put a properly designed nest box in a wooded yard at least one pair is sure to check it out. Put chickadee houses at eye level. Hang them from limbs or secure them to tree trunks. The entrance hole should be 1 1/8 inch to attract chickadees yet exclude house sparrows. Anchor houses for titmice and nuthatches on tree trunks five or six feet off the ground. You can encourage these birds to stay in your yard by continuing to fill your suet and peanut feeders through the summer.

Brown Creepers and Prothonotary Warblers Look for brown creepers to nest behind the curved bark of tree trunks. In heavily wooded yards slab bark houses will appeal to creepers. Prothonotary warblers also prefer slab bark houses, but theirs must be placed over water.

Wrens don't seem to be very picky about where they nest. Try nest boxes with a 1x2 inch horizontal slot, 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 for the larger Carolina wrens, instead of a circle. These are easier for the wrens to use. Wrens are notorious for filling up any conceivable nest cavity with twigs regardless of whether they use the nest. Since male house wrens build several nests for the female to choose from, hang several nest boxes at eye level on partly sunlit tree limbs. Wrens are sociable and will accept nest boxes quite close to your house.

Swallows Tree swallows prefer nest boxes attached to dead trees. Space the boxes about seven feet apart for these white bellied birds with iridescent blue-green backs and wings. The ideal setting for these insect-eaters is on the edge of a field near a lake, pond or river. Violet green swallows nest in forested mountains of the west. Boxes placed on large trees in a semi-open woodland will attract them.

Barn Swallows and Phoebes If you have the right habitat barn swallows and phoebes are easy to attract. It's their nesting behavior, not their plumage or song, that catches your attention. These birds tend to nest where you'd rather not have them - on a ledge right over your front door. To avoid a mess by your door offer the birds a nesting shelf nearby where you'd rather have them.

Purple Martins Many people want martins because, it's been said, these birds can eat 2,000 mosquitoes a day. While it is true that they eat flying insects, don't expect purple martins to wipe out your mosquitoes. Martins actually prefer dragonflies, insects which prey on mosquito larvae. Mosquitoes are most active after sunset. If you want to rid your yard of mosquitoes put up a bat roosting box. One bat can eat thousands of mosquitoes a night. But don't cross martins off your prospective tenant list because they don't live up to their bug zapping reputation. If you need a reason for attracting them these gregarious swallows put on a show that's better than any television soap opera. Check out Chucks Purple Martin Page to find out why you might want Martins in your yard.

Flycatchers The great crested flycatcher and its western cousin the ash-throated flycatcher are common in wooded suburbs. Their natural nesting sites are abandoned woodpecker holes. These flycatchers may nest in a bird house if it's placed about ten feet up in a tree in an orchard or at the edge of a field or stream.

Woodpeckers You can attract all the woodpeckers with a suet feeder, but only the flicker and the red-bellied are likely to use a bird house. They prefer a box with roughened interior and a floor covered with a two inch layer of wood chips or coarse sawdust. Flickers are especially attracted to nest boxes filled with sawdust which they excavate to suit themselves. For best results place the box high up on a tree trunk exposed to direct sunlight.

Owls Most owls seldom build their own nests. Great horned and long eared owls prefer abandoned crow and hawk nests. Other owls (barred, barn, saw-whet, boreal and screech) nest in tree cavities and bird houses. Barn owls are best known for selecting nesting sites near farms. Where trees are sparse these birds will nest in church steeples, silos and barns. If you live near a farm or a gold course try fastening a nest box about 15 feet up on a tree trunk. Screech owls prefer abandoned woodpecker holes at the edge of a field or neglected orchard. They will readily take to boxes lined with an inch or two of wood shavings. If you clean the box out in late spring after the young owls have fledged you may attract a second tenant - a kestrel. Trees isolated from larger tracts of woods have less chance of squirrels taking over the box.

More will be added later on selecting building materials, placement and protection from predators.