Like clockwork, I heard the first Red-winged Blackbird song on Valentine’s Day. That distinctive nasally-gurgling song is a welcome reminder—along with the reams of seed catalogues clogging the mailbox—that we’re inching towards spring. In the northern latitudes, slogging through the winter purgatory months of February and March can be a bit agonizing with those brazen blackbirds singing away. My remedy is to kick-start spring indoors and one of my favorite ‘tweener season activities is building a birdhouse or two. What better way to face forward to spring than to create a nest box for the yard birds to procreate in! In case you need some convincing, I offer the following very good reasons to warm up the shop, channel your inner woodworker, and build that birdhouse.
Top 10 (Very Good) Reasons to Build a Birdhouse….
10. Keeps you productive (versus a couch potato) during the winter doldrums.
Binging on Netflix can gratify for only so long. But building a birdhouse benefits body and mind and you end up with a beautiful, useful object at the end of your labors. Your shop or garage will smell amazing while you’re woodworking! Can't say the same of your living room after hours of being a couch sloth.
9. Learn a new skill or hone your existing woodworking skills.
Bird nest boxes are relatively easy to cut and assemble and require a minimum of basic tools, so are excellent projects for beginning woodworkers. The learning curve is fast and free instruction is widely available. Over time, skill sets grow and experience is more easily applied to new projects.
8. Makes you think about your backyard habitat from a bird’s perspective.
Does your yard or property offer natural habitat for "cavity-nesting" birds? Some 85 species of North American birds are cavity nesters, including species that excavate their nesting holes (e.g., woodpeckers), species that use natural cavities in decaying trees (e.g., American Kestrel, House Wren), and species that use woodpecker-created hollows (“secondary” cavity nesters, e.g., Tree Swallows, small owls, bluebirds). Case in point, I didn’t know Wood Ducks nested in my area or that we lacked suitably large snags for them to nest in until one spring day Mr. giddy and I discovered a Wood Duck hen in our fireplace! The hen was obviously investigating the chimney opening as a potential nest location (she was safely released). Message received: We built a Wood Duck nest box and installed it high in a cottonwood facing the river. It’s been used almost every year since 2008.
Cavity-nesting birds take well to nest boxes. If you are shy on cavity-nester habitat, or want to enhance what you have, a wide range of nest box plans are available to help you attract the Right Bird to the Right House.
7. Lets your creative juices flow.
Wood is a great medium for artistic expression. From basic to bells-and-whistles, bird house design and embellishment are as limitless as a woodworker’s imagination. But the bottom line should be that the nest box function well for the species it was created for.
6. Impresses your partner, friends, kids, neighbors....and you!
Building a bird house will show your loved ones, your pals, your neighbors, even you and your dog, that you have problem-solving skills, you can probably fix other wooden things in your home, you are patient, you can make practical items, you have a teachable skill, and you love birds. Heck, your shining example may inspire someone in your orbit to build their own bird house!
5. Instills pride of accomplishment.
Your birdhouse represents a functional piece of craftsmanship and something to be proud of. But the next step of properly siting your birdhouse and observing its use by wild birds can be even more rewarding. You are contributing to the conservation of cavity-nesting birds, a group that is declining in many regions of North America, mostly due to loss of habitat. Many of the birds your nest box will benefit are “WatchList" species as designated by National Audubon Society, American Bird Conservancy, and Partners in Flight.
4. Provides a much-needed break from obsessing about Trump.
Take a well-deserved break from the tweets, executive orders, and chaos, and lose yourself in the calming meditation of woodworking. God knows it’s time better spent. I know of what I speak.
3. Makes a great handmade gift or donation.
There is nothing like a handmade gift. When you make things yourself, you give yourself as well, and that sentiment is felt in the final product. Same with a handmade donation. Not only are you giving a birdhouse with $$ value, but you’re going above and beyond giving your time, effort, and talent to a cause near and dear to your heart.
2. Gives nesting birds a needed and secure home.
Your efforts will help to address the reduction of natural cavities found in old or dead trees, which are increasingly being removed because they’re considered eyesores, may harbor insect pests, or may be fire or safety hazards. In suburban areas where there may be less vegetation or natural environments, your birdhouse can provide an essential and safe place for birds to raise their young, temporary haven for migrating birds, and winter shelter for birds to huddle together for warmth.
1. Gives you limitless joy through the bird nesting season.
I mean, just look at the exuberance of these Tree Swallows. This too can be yours.
A few parting notes about nest boxes:
- Careful thought should be put into selecting your birdhouse design and placement on your property. Think “location, location, location!”
- Be sure to consult the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch website for information on specific nesting requirements for bird species in your area, nest box plans, tips on nest box placement, and deterring predators (cats, raccoons) and nest box competitors (yellowjackets, invasive exotic birds like European Starlings and House Sparrows).
- Important too is nest box maintenance. Check your nest boxes by mid-March for any structural maintenance needs before the early migrants arrive. Clean out old nest material, secure nails and screws, and make sure the box doesn’t leak.
Finally, our British friends are out ahead of us Yanks as usual. This week happens to be National Nest Box Week in Britain, an event established by the British Trust for Ornithology, Nest Box Week "puts the spotlight on breeding birds and asks everyone to put up more nest boxes in their local area.” You can’t help but love a program with the slogan, "Britain needs more holes!"
What avian wonderfulness is happening in your part of the world? And please share your knowledge and experience with bird nest boxes.