Where to Locate Your Birhouses

The location of a bird house or food shelter has as much to do with its success as the type of food the birds eat.  Birds have different notions as to proper surroundings for a dwelling.

Martins prefer to breed near houses, but not within 20 feet of trees or buildings.  Martins also like to live with other Martins so a condo birdhouse would be preferred.   

Bluebirds are inclined to select orchards or pastures having scattered trees.  

Wrens, thrashers, and catbirds live in thick shrubbery. Robins like trees with sturdy trunks and branches.

Titmice, nuthatches, and most of the woodpeckers are woodland species, although flickers and red-headed woodpeckers are more at home among the scattered trees of roadsides and pastures.

Song sparrows frequent weedy swales and brush fences. Swallows do not enter woods so a birdhouse would be attractive to them in an open place as in another. The eastern phoebe, the black phoebe, and the house finch, while not limited to the haunts of man, are noticeably partial to them.

Crested flycatchers, screech owls, barn owls, and sparrow hawks are governed more by convenience than by taste; although normally inclined to hold aloof from man, they have in many instances reared their broods in close proximity to dwellings. Barn owls, true to their name, accept suitable quarters in buildings without hesitation.  A great place to check out a vast variety of birdhouses is www.aboutbirdhouses.com.

What you don't know you don't know - about attracting birds.

Benefits to the birds...

Loss of habitat is one of the greatest threats to birds. By developing your 'backyard habitat' you can help make up for the losses in natural habitats. The food, water and cover you provide can be especially helpful during these periods:

• Winter, when food and water may be hard to find.
• Spring and fall migration, when birds are burning lots of energy during their migratory journeys that may cover thousands of miles in a single year.
• Nesting. Cover can provide nesting locations, attract insects for insect eating birds and provide seeds for seed eaters.

Benefits to you...

• In addition to being just plain fun, watching birds can help relieve stress.
• Watching birds at a feeder or birdbath can be a family experience, with kids, parents and grandparents.
• Watching birds can often be a spark that gets kids kids interested in nature and the outdoors. More and more research is revealing the real health benefits to kids spending more time in the outdoors.

The three ingredients for attracting birds...

• Cover: The most important element in attracting birds. Cover provides a place for birds to hide from predators and bad weather, a place to nest and often insects and seeds for the birds to eat. Select the Habitat link on the left for additional details. Visit the Gardening for Birds section for specific gardening information.

• Water: Adding a water feature to your backyard is the second best way to attract more birds, and a greater variety of speciess. Adding an on-ground birdbath with a waterfall rock or dripper is sure-fire method to attract more birds.

• Food: Food is the third most important element (in most cases) for attracting more birds. The Food section will provide you with detailed information on which foods are best for which species.

The best situation, of course, is to offer all three elements. The birds will thank you for it.  Check out homes for birds at www.aboutbirdhouses.com.

House birds enemies

Birds have numerous enemies that  a careful landlord will try to guard them from. Among these is the English sparrow, whose persistent attacks often drive more desirable birds away from their nests and from the neighborhood.  Also European starlings  are to be condemned for their persistent interference with native house birds.

Cats and large snakes are enemies of birds, the former perhaps killing more birds than any other mammal. Trees and poles supporting houses should be sheathed with tin or galvanized iron to prevent these enemies from climbing to the nests.

Squirrels are more trouble because they gnaw houses, eating eggs, and killing nestlings. Red squirrels, in particular, have a very bad reputation in this respect, and many experimenters keep their grounds free from them. Flying squirrels can be considered a little better than red ones. Even gray and fox squirrels are occasionally troublesome.

It is not necessary, however, that bird lovers should wage indiscriminate warfare against all squirrels. It is far better to adopt the rule never to kill a squirrel unless there is reason to believe that it has acquired the habit of eating eggs or young birds; the result will probably be that not more than one red squirrel in fifty nor more than one gray squirrel in a hundred will have to be killed.

Where squirrels are numerous they are more trouble by gnawing and disfiguring houses. This damage maybe prevented, however, by covering the parts about the entrance with tin or zinc.

Another means of attracting birds to human habitations is to furnish an abundance of food, preferably in food shelters. If one is unable to make shelters that will protect food in all kinds of weather, the food may be fastened to trunks or branches of trees or scattered in sheltered places on the ground. A decided advantage in having shelters, aside from that of protecting food, is that they may be placed where the birds can be watched conveniently.

When shelters are used the birds are first baited by placing food, such as suet, seeds, or cracked nuts, in a conspicuous place, and then led by degrees to enter the bird house.

Bird Houses Location

Bird houses provide hours of entertainment to bird lovers by bringing all varieties of birds into the yard or garden. Birdhouses also provide warm and comfortable shelter for the birds that come to visit. If you've read our bird house buying guide, you should already know how to choose decorative bird houses depending on what your needs are and what type of species you're hoping to attract. The next step in proper bird housing is finding the right place to put the bird house. Bird House Locations by Species Various birds nest in various types of locations, so if you know what kinds of birds you want to attract you can place the bird house based on the areas where those birds live. For example, placing a bird house on a fence post or tree in a wooded area is likely to attract nuthatches and woodpeckers. A blue bird house hung in an open field or large backyard without much vegetation will probably be comfortable for bluebirds, swallows, and certain types of wrens. Robins prefer not to nest in cavity houses, and will be attracted to wide wooden ledges with roofs placed over them, hung in areas that are well-protected from the wind.

Providing Protection and Comfort
Once you've chosen a location for your painted bird house, you should check the surrounding area carefully to make sure it's appropriate in other ways as well. Avoid areas that don't provide any protective cover; even if the purple martin house is in a field, ideally there should be trees within flying distance. At the same time, don't choose an area so thickly surrounded by vegetation that the birds do not have a clear flight path to and from the house.

Hang nesting boxes several feet off the ground. You may want to do further research on the exact distance required, since different species of birds often need very precise heights in order to feel safe enough to nest.

If possible, place the wooden bird house near a birdfeeder or birdbath so that the birds will have easy access to food and water. This will help them feel more at home in the area, and they'll be more likely to stay. Face the entrance of the wooden bird house away from strong winds and direct sunshine. Finally, avoid using a perch on the front of the bird house, and consider installing a predator guard around the branch or pole the cardinal bird house is hanging from. A predator guard is a halo-like screen that deters unwanted animals from climbing out to the church bird house.   Check out several great birdhouses at www.aboutbirdhouses.com.