Subject: RE: BS: Do You Put Up Birdhouses?
From:
JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Aug 11 - 04:55 AM
I haven't put up bird houses due to living in locations where there really weren't suitable conditions for attracting anything, but they've always been an interesting subject.
My grandfather had a fairly fancy wren apartment, and insisted that wren houses need to be 7 to 10 feet above the ground, preferably on a metal pole, and at least 8 feet or more from the nearest tree or other thing that the squirrels (and perhaps cats?) can jump from, as they can destroy the nests - or at least the birds feel threatened.
He admitted that he had painted the house when it was new, but regretted it, as he claimed that the wrens refused to have anything to do with it until it weathered enough for the paint to peel. His, like most successful wren condos I've seen, had a dozen or so nest spaces, on the theory that wrens like "communal nesting" and of course no "pegs" at the entry holes. Others have claimed that the peg encourages other birds that need the pegs to invade, and the wrens don't need one as they can "hit the hole" with their "precision approaches." The presence/absence of the landing pegs, and a difference in hole size, apparently can determine whether you have wren apartments or a martin condo.
The wrens had occupied the house for at least a couple of decades, but left one year when he wasn't able to get the house cleaned out during the off season, and although only one season passed without offering them a clean place, they hadn't come back during the next three or four years so he quit trying to maintain it. (By the time he abandoned it he was almost as old as I am, and I can attest that getting up on ladders is less pleasant than for youngsters of only 50 or 60 years.)
One fellow I discussed bird houses with some years ago had made a practice of hanging his bird houses on the limbs of trees in his pecan grove, and complained that the birds ignored the houses but often built a nest on the branch near where it hung. His theory (unconfirmed) was that the birds liked the extra stability the weight of the house gave to the branches, but liked the fresh air and outdoor view better than living inside.
I have had the suspicion that he was using the auger he had, and hadn't considered the hole size preferences of the birds that were being attracted. (His holes were noticeably larger than I've seen in successful houses that his kinds of birds seemed willing to occupy.) Some "experts" have claimed that some species are very fussy about having a fairly precise hole size, although many kinds don't seem particularly fussy about it and others just like a wide open "cave".
Recent "instructions" that I read while considering whether I had a place to put a bat box indicated that it's extremely rare for a box to be occupied the first year, and unlikely the second. Apparently the bats are concerned that the neighborhood is "stable" before they'll move in, but it could have something to do with sufficient weathering to get rid of "that new smell" left by those who put it up. Others have recommended using "old wood" for bat boxes if it's available(?).
John
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sj
