If you're considering installing a birdhouse to help attract birds to your yard, you need to consider a few factors. It's important to use only high-quality birdhouses that incorporate the necessary features, and you need to utilize the right sort of birdhouse for the species you wish to attract. You also need to select a location and take precautionary measures to help discourage predators from robbing the nest box. Here are some tips for installing birdhouses in your yard. Suggestions for Installing a Birdhouse
- Birds nest in different types of habitats depending on the species. If you put up a birdhouse near to woods, you'll attract chickadees, titmice and wrens. If you put one up in an open area, you're more likely to attract bluebirds and tree-swallows (figure A).
- Unless you're installing a birdhouse on a tree or other existing structure, you'll need a stake for mounting it. The easiest type to use is one that already has predrilled holes that will allow you to attach a birdhouse using bolts and nuts. A flange at the bottom will help stabilize the stake once it's driven into the ground. You can obtain these kinds of stakes at garden centers, hardware stores or home centers.
- Use a hammer or mallet to drive the stake well into the ground (figure B).
- The direction that the birdhouse faces is not critical. If you have a choice, you may want to face the side with the entrance-hole away from the prevailing winds, but the birds don't really care.
- It is important, critical, to provide protection against predators. For birdhouses mounted on poles, the easiest way to do this is to simply install a length of PVC pipe over the bottom portion of the post. This will prevent predators such as raccoons and rats from being able to crawl up the pole and raid the nest. A length of about 4 feet will provide adequate protection (figure C).
- Position the birdhouse on the pole so that it's about 5 feet high (figure D). Secure the birdhouse to the pole with some reliable fastening hardware. In our case, it was fastened to the pre-drilled holes using galvanized nuts and bolts.
- A birdhouse installed in this way is likely to attract bluebirds (figure E ), regarded by bird enthusiasts as one of the most desirable nesting visitors.
RESOURCES :
Complete Birdhouse Book
Model: 0316188867
Author: Donald Stokes and Williams Stokes
(1998)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here
Time Warner, Inc
New York , NY 10020
Phone: 212-522-8700
Website: www.twbookmark.com
Ultimate Birdhouses: 40 Functional, Fantastic and Fanciful Houses
Model: 0806999357
Author: Deborah Morgenthal
(1998)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
Website: www.sterlingpub.com
Birdhouse Builder's Manual
Model: 1565231007
Author: Charles Grodski
(December, 1999)
Fox Chapel Publishing
Stokes Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (A Stokes Backyard Nature Book)
Model: 0316817457
Author: Donald Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes
Little Brown and Company (Time Warner, Inc.)
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-522-8700
Don and Lillian Stokes' website
Stokes Birds at Home
Website: www.stokesbirdsathome.com
Stokes Birdhouse Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Nesting Birds
Model: 0316817147
Author: Donald W. Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes
Little Brown and Company (Time Warner, Inc.)
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-522-8700
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