Bird Houses, Baths and Feeding Shelters: How to Make and Where to Place Them

Some Current Notions Corrected

Attention should be called to some common misconceptions. The colony bird house, or any bird house with more than one compartment, is always a mistake unless it has been designed for Purple Martins. Yet certain firms have for years been advertising "wren houses" of four or more chambers. One who knows this pugnacious little bird tries in vain to imagine two pairs of wrens living peaceably under one small roof! Every bird house should consist of one, and only one, chamber--with the single exception of a house intended for the Purple Martin, which nests in colonies.

The cubic capacity of the bird houses one sees is nearly always much too great--often several times too great. Builders seem to believe that the diameter of the nesting chamber should at least equal the total length of the bird--a theory as erroneous as it is plausible. Plate I illustrates the fact that the sitting bird normally occupies a space measuring much less from side to side than the outstretched length of the bird. Figure No. 4, Plate I, shows how much work is often made for the House Wren, while figure No. 5, on the same plate, shows how greatly this work may be reduced--with the greater inducement to the prospective occupant.

The square or rectangular door is another frequent mistake--a projection of the designer's own plantigrade and vertical personality.

To place the entrance at or near floor level is also an error. Remember that birds close no doors against drafts, that their "beds" are laid on the floor and consist of light straws, feathers, or other flimsy materials.

Many a wren house with entrance (as it should be) too small for any English Sparrow to enter, is hung swinging from a branch as a further protection against the unwanted sparrow. That is like beheading a criminal and then, "just to be on the safe side," shooting him into the bargain! It is said that wrens do not hesitate to use these swinging nesting sites, but we have our serious doubts. We have personally seen one instance of a wren nesting in the pensile home of a Baltimore Oriole, but it is significant that in this case we failed to find any better site nearby. Some persons report success with this type of house and prefer it because of the ease of putting it up and taking it down without injury to a living tree.

Two doors, presumably entrance and exit, to a bird house of one compartment is nearly as ridiculous an innovation as the two doors said to have been provided by a famous scientist for the use of his old cat and her kittens, respectively.

1, 2, 3, A nesting woodpecker, a Chickadee, and a pair of bluebirds, respectively. Compare length of bird with diameter of nesting chamber. 4, A wren house, as frequently made, of eight to ten times the necessary cubic capacity. 5, A wren house of proper and ample size.]

Overcrowding is a prevalent fault. On an area insufficient properly to harbor two pairs of wrens or bluebirds there will often be a half-dozen or more bird houses. Tree Swallows are social birds and will occupy boxes placed near to one another, but ordinarily, birds, especially those of the same species, do not build near each other. It is a large town lot which will properly accommodate more than one pair of nesting wrens. Even the demure bluebirds do not like to build within a stone's throw of each other. While the martin colony may number upward of a dozen pairs in the same house, there may not be other martins within a mile. There is many a small village whose single martin house accommodates all the martins to be found within a radius of several miles.

The size of entrance seems often to be a stumbling block. One sees wren houses with perfect bluebird entrances, and bluebird houses with doorways best suited to wrens or chickadees or, at the other extreme, to doves!

Although arguments, supported by some experience, have been advanced for larger entrances, we nevertheless suggest entrances of nearly minimum size--a suggestion based on personal experience and long familiarity with the preferences shown by the species concerned. Apparently John Burroughs was first to point out that when birds hesitate to enter a small opening it is evidently because their bodies, completely filling the entrance, render the cavity totally dark and therefore alarming. Cut a few small auger holes to admit light, and the bird enters the now somewhat less mysterious chamber. The holes also provide needed ventilation, but they should be small and well above the entrance-level, for drafts must be avoided. The entrance to the house for wren, chickadee, or Tree Swallow should be, since it easily may be, too small to admit English Sparrows. It is not possible to exclude English Sparrows from houses of other birds in that way.

Finally, the mistake is often made of providing simply a bird house instead of a martin house, a wren house, a bluebird house, or a house for some other definite species. The result is that such houses usually go unoccupied or else are promptly claimed by the first English Sparrows that spy them. Any bird house will suit the English Sparrow if only he can get into it, and he usually can get into a bird house. So avoid type _a_--the too common variety.

Material

Wood is the material par excellence for the bird house, the only material which can be unreservedly recommended. Substitutes have been used with varying degrees of success or failure. What glass is for the window, wood is for the bird house. First, the birds are habituated to it. It is a good nonconductor of heat, it resists rain and extremes of temperature, and it can be made to harmonize with its setting. Over a long period of time it improves, rather than suffers, from exposure to the weather.

Soft wood with straight grain, such as pine or spruce, is preferable. It is easily worked, may be nailed with little danger of serious splitting, and is sufficiently durable. Slab wood, with or without the bark, and old fence-boards make the most generally effective bird houses. If new lumber is used, it should be rough, not planed; whether rough or planed, it should be treated with gray, olive, or dull brown stain of a medium shade. There are numbers of suitable oil stains on the market. The stain should permeate the grain of the wood, without actually coating it as paint does. Thickness of the boards should not be far from 1 inch. If slab wood is used, it may be anywhere from 3/8 inch at the edge, up to about 2 inches in the thickest part.

Leave the matter of materials for the nest itself entirely to the birds. Not only is it quite unnecessary to place twigs, straws, strings, or even choice feathers or other fluffy bits on or near the bird house, but such action tends actually to defeat its own purpose. The prospective tenants often seem to regard these well-meant efforts as evidence of a competitor who has the advantage of priority. This is especially apt to be the case when the materials are placed inside the house. Birds will sometimes steal nesting sites and even the raw materials of others but may choose to avoid the clash which such piracy entails, provided there are other sites and materials not too far to seek.

Entrance

There is always danger of the wood splitting when too large an auger hole is attempted. Before assembling the bird house, make an entrance in the front board. Start by drawing a circle the exact size of the doorway-to-be. Then, just inside this circle, bore four holes at equal intervals, using a bit not larger than 3/8 inch for the smaller entrances; not larger than ¾ inch for the larger entrances. It will now be not too difficult, by use of a keyhole saw or pocketknife and wood-rasp, to remove the wood still remaining inside the drawn circle. Placing the board horizontally in a vice will further insure against splitting while the holes are being bored.

With dimensions appropriate to the species, this is the most generally attractive type of house for all species excepting the Purple Martin. It is the type especially suited for the chickadee, nuthatch, and Tufted Titmouse.]

1 THE BLOCK SAWED AROUND (TO DOTTED LINE) AND SPLIT IN TWO. 2 HOLLOWED OUT HOLES DRILLED FOR ENTRANCE AND FOR FASTENING PEGS. 3, 4, AND 5 SHOW THAT A NEST IS NOT DISTURBED BY OPENING HOUSE TO INSPECT. 6 THE "ARTIFICIAL WOODPECKER HOLE" IN PLACE. NOTE FASTENINGS FOR FRONT,--WOOD PEGS. 7 TOOLS FOR OBTAINING AND WORKING THE MATERIAL.

Nails

When a bird house is fastened to a support by the "toe-nail" method (by driving nails at a slant through the sides and bottom), it is a good point first to drill holes of the right diameter to fit the nails tightly; otherwise splitting of the sides or bottom of the house may result. Use flat-headed nails.

Slabs

When slabs are used in house-building, the upright pieces may be fastened to each other, at intervals of several inches, with a wire staple having ¾-inch prongs one inch apart. These should be on the outside of the house, where rust will color them to conform with the rustic wood.

Facilities for House Cleaning

For inspecting the nest and, at the end of the season, for cleaning out the old nest material, the top or some other section of the house should always be easily removable. Exceptions to this rule are houses for ducks and other larger birds, for which the entrance may be large enough and the depth not too great for all such purposes. Do not open a house in the owner's presence. The more brief and infrequent your inspections, the less they will disturb the birds.