Nyjer Mesh Feeders

Nyjer mesh feeders and stockings sure look great like this, but as soon as they get wet the finch won't touch them, this feeder now sits half empty with a dollars worth of seed rotting in the bottom (and it happens every time). I much prefer a good polycarbonate tube to the stockings or stainless steel mesh feeders for nyjer.

Eastern Bluebird on March 23

There was an Eastern Bluebird in Turtle Creek on March 23 through 26, during some snow and colder weather. This report from Bob Bradley at 1575 rte 910. He has numerous pictures and I am hoping to get some soon.

Feeder Types

This hopper feeder is a Pigeon magnet and as if that's not bad enough there are suet cages on each end that are attracting the Starlings, (sunflower alone wouldn't attract the Starlings.)

It would take a mighty brave Chickadee to attempt feeding from this feeder. For less money you can get a suet cage and a "small bird selective" sunflower feeder.

Nesting Information

Here’s a chart to accompany last week’s, the information has been gleaned from several books and web sites, where I could, I cross referenced local reports to make it more applicable to the Maritime Provinces. Most of the books written are from more southern areas where birds may start nesting earlier and continue farther into the fall; birds in warmer climates may also have more broods than locally. I think this chart will be a handy reference for birders as well as those of you who ask, “How long will those Starlings (or other) be nesting in my eve? I want to fix the soffits and don’t want to disturb the nest.”

Species	Habitat	Nest material	Breeding period	Eggs Avg. (range)	Incubation days	Nestling days	Fledgling days	Brood per year
Black-capped Chickadee	Mixture of trees and open area.	Wood chips, moss, hair, cocoons, downy fibers.	May-July	6-8 (1-13)	12	16	7-14	1-2
Eastern Bluebird	Open area with short grass, today that means pasture, golf course, lawns	Fine grass, pine needles, weed stalks		4-5 (2-7)	12-18	17-22	14-28	1-2
Tree Swallow	Open area near or over water	Grasses lined with feathers	May-June	5-6 (2-8)	14-15	21	2-3	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch	Wooded with open spaces	Bark shreds, roots and grass lined with fur and fine feathers	May-July	5-6 (2-8)	12	14-21	7-14	1
House Finch	Near humans, urban or rural, sometimes on ledges and hanging baskets	Fine stems, leaves, rootlets, string, wool and feathers	April to July	4-6 (2-6)	14	12-19	35	1-3
American Kestrel	Open field or at edge of woods	No material added	april to June	4-5 (1-7)	30	30	14	1
Saw-whet Owl	Deep woods near swamp	No material added	March-July	5-6 (4-10)	26-28	28-33	Not known	1
Barred Owl	Woods or swamps urban or rural	No material added	March-July	2-3	28-33	28-49	Several weeks	1
Wood Duck	Swamps, shallow lakes hole facing water with no obstructions.	Wood chips lined with females own feathers	April to June	11-14 (6-40)	27-30	1	35	1-2
Downy Woodpecker	In or on the edge of woods	No material added	April to July	4-5 (3-8)	12	20-22	14-21	1
Hairy Woodpecker	In or on the edge of woods	No material added	April to June	4-6 (3-6)	11-12	28-30	Few days	1
Northern Flicker	In or on the edge of open woods	No material added	April to July	7-8 (5-9)	11-12	26	14-21	1-2
European Starling	Anywhere and everywhere	Grass, leaves, bark, string, trash, feathers	March-July	4-5 (2-6)	12	23	4-8	1-2
House Sparrow	Urban close to human activity	Grass, leaves, bark, cloth, feathers	March-August	4-6 (1-8)	12	15-17	7	2-3

There are relatively few birds that will use a house or cavity, the rest will nest in shrubs and trees, on the ground, or on platforms and shelves. Attracting some of these birds is easy, all you have to do is nothing. That is don’t mow areas of the lawn and birds like sparrow and junco will take advantage. It doesn’t have to be a large area either, last year I was late weeding the long grass that came up through one of those flat sprawling evergreen shrubs, it was about 2 feet across and a foot high, the grass added another foot to the height and the lawn was mowed right up to it. We had noticed a sparrow around it a lot so I was careful when I did go to weed, a Song Sparrow darted out and was very upset with me, I parted the grass and found a small nest with eggs. I left the grass until I noticed the young had fledged and the nest was no longer in use. This was right outside our door in one of the busiest areas in our yard, the path the dog made to the yard went right by the shrub, but none of this bothered them, she would only flush from the nest if you parted the grass directly above. I don’t think there was an bug that came within 25 feet of that nest that didn’t end up in the mouths of her young, she spent her day in a frenzy of gleaning all the plants and trees in the area.

If you happen to have a few acres that you only mow occasionally, consider doing so late in the season after birds have had a chance to nest and move on.

Shrubs may be the best component of your landscape when it comes to nesting birds, they not only provide nest sites but produce berries and attract insects for the birds to eat. Depending on your area you may not even have to plant these shrubs, we simply don’t mow right up to the woods and a great variety of shrubs volunteer along the edge. The area of lawn, rough shrubbery then woods is hugely attractive to birds. If you don’t border on the woods you may want to plant along the edge. You might as well plant things that are going to provide food for nestlings and then attract birds throughout the season right into the following spring. Right now we have waxwings and robins eating mountain ash, high-bush cranberry, stag-horn sumac and apples. Other shrubs that provide cover and food are: dogwood, mountain ash, hawthorn, cherry, rose and more. You should have taller trees interspersed throughout the yard as well for the birds that prefer to nest higher off the ground, birds are attracted to the cones and seeds of many evergreen and deciduous trees. (A tip on landscape planning that will cut energy costs, we lucked out with a row of very old, large maple trees on the south side of the house, in the winter the sun gets through and on clear days our house is heated for free, in the summer the leaves completely shade the house keeping it cool to the point I am accused of running an air conditioner. The evergreens we planted on the north and east side are beginning to give us shelter from the worst of the winter winds. So...deciduous on the south, evergreen on the north, saves you energy/money.)

There are a few birds that are attracted to platforms or shelves, these can be pole mounted or placed on or in buildings. Robins, Barn Swallows, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Kingbird will take advantage of protrusions from buildings like window sills, porch lights, rain gutters or barn rafters. You may also place a small shelf, up to 7x7 inches, under the eave. Robins in particular would take a covered shelf, this looks like a bird house with no front.

Barn Swallows will attach their little half-round clay cup to a flat surface that is rough enough for them to attach, but they will appreciate a little shelf to get started. The shelf also give some assurance the nest won’t fall off half way through.

One of my favourite nest builders has to be the Cliff Swallow, they make those amazing clay nests that are totally covered over resembling a gourde slightly tipped to the side. Cliff Swallows have been known to accept a shelf to get things started, these can be a 1x4 board for the bottom with dividers spaced to give a 4x4 floor. The Cliff Swallows then only have to cover over the top and make the entrance. It’s hard to believe, but some intolerant people consider these birds pests and will wash the nests off their buildings. If you think you have a spot for Barn or Cliff Swallows it would be great, these species are declining in the area.

Winter Yard List Competition Winner!

This was omitted from the March 20 column, congratulations Doreen.

The final numbers are in for the “Winter Yard List” competition, the grand total for the area is 48 species, keep in mind that this is only the birds that were observed in your own back yard. There were plenty of other sightings this winter that didn’t qualify for this list. The total number for the provincial winter list is 152 species and that is quite a low number compared to other years.

The individual winner of the fully equipped squirrel/raccoon proof feeder pole (the 4-10) with 4 feeders and a stock of suet is….Doreen Rossiter of Alma, with 28 species, who narrowly beat out Catherine Johnson with a very respectable 27 species.

Thanks to all those who sent in their sightings, it made an interesting winter for me, I actually had a very slow year at feeders.

Bird House Sizes and Territories

There has been some call for more information on bird houses and the timing couldn’t be better. There’s still plenty of time to get houses out before the birds begin nesting, even if you decide to make your own.

A couple things to clear up first: I’ve had comments from people that they would love to have a few bird houses, but don’t want the hassle of keeping feeders stocked and cleaned. Well, worry not, the most common bird to take up residence in your house is the Tree Swallow, and he won’t require seed. They only eat flying insects, (and the odd berry on cold days when there is little bug activity, but they find their own). That makes the beauty of having Tree Swallows in your yard two fold, you don’t have to do anything and they eat mosquitoes and feed them to their young all day. If a Black-capped Chickadee moves in they’ll find food in one of your neighbours yards, they’re likely in the area for a while before nesting starts and will have cased the neighbourhood for the best stocked feeders and much of the diet fed to the nestlings will be insect based. The Eastern Bluebird won’t be looking for seed either, but will take a meal worm or two if you want, but you don’t have to.

Which leads me to the second thing to clear up; Blue Jays and Bluebirds are entirely different birds, the jay is large and obnoxious…the bluebird is small and polite. I’ve had numerous comments about the nest box looking “awfully small” and I discovered people were confusing the Blue Jay with the Eastern Bluebird that is most closely related to our robin (they’re both thrushes).

For those people who don’t read this column every week I’ll back up just a bit, (and you can get back dated columns on line or contact me if you can’t find it) we have basically two types of birds that will nest in a cavity, the primary cavity dwellers, these guys drill and excavate their own nests and the secondary cavity dwellers who come along next year and take an old (usually woodpecker) cavity. This arrangement was working fine in the wild for centuries, trees were allowed to get large, old, and start to rot enough for a woodpecker to easily do the drilling. Now trees are usually harvested before they get that old and dead trees often have to be taken down for safety reasons, especially after a woodpecker makes a weak spot right in the middle. Luckily, the nest site problem is somewhat easy to overcome as most of our species will readily take an artificial cavity aka a bird house.

The more bird houses you put out the more likely your are to get a nest. You probably won’t get a bird in every house, but you increase the odds of getting one if you provide options for the house hunting couples.

For those of you who read the bird house column from a couple weeks ago you may already have your rough lumber and it’s drying. For every one else it’s not too late and/or you can use kiln dried planed wood or plywood, just remember to score the inside under the hole so the young birds can climb to the hole. You still have time to build and get them out but the sooner the better, if you have some ready it would be best to put them out now, usually houses placed after April won’t have a nest until next year, but not always.

I keep a copy of this chart by my saws and by the phone, the first so I have a quick reference for building all the bird houses I’m likely to have call for in the area, the latter so I look smart when you call me with questions. If I’m out of breath by the time I give you the answer, it’s because you caught me out in the yard with the cordless phone and I had to run back to the base for the chart.

Species	Hole diameter	Height above floor	Floor dimensions	Total height of box	Height off ground (ft)	Territory size
Black-capped or Boreal Chickadee	1 ⅛-1 ½	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	5-10	10 acres
Eastern Bluebird	1 ½	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	11-12	4-6	2-5 acres
Tree Swallow	1 ⅛-1 ½	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	4-10	100 ft radius
White-breasted or Red-breasted Nuthatch	1 ⅛-1 ½	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	5-10	20-45 acres
House Finch	1 ⅜ - 2	5-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	4-10	nest site
House Wren	1-1 ½	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	4-10	½-¾ acre
Purple Martin	2-2 ½	1	6x6	6	8-20	nest hole
Great-crested Flycatcher	1 ½ - 2 ½	6-8	5x5 to 6x6	9-12	6-20
American Kestrel	3	10-12	8x8 to 9x9	14-16	15-30	250 acres
Saw-whet Owl	2 ½ - 4	10-12	6x6 to 8x8	15-18	5-20
Barred Owl	6-8	14-18	13x13 - 14x14	22-28	5-20	1 sq. mile
Wood Duck	3x4	16-18	10x10 - 12x12	24-25	{all ducks	just nest
Hooded Merganser	3x4	16-18	10x10 - 12x12	24-25	4 over water
Common Merganser	4x5	16-18	10x10 - 12x12	24-25	10 over land}
Downy Woodpecker	1 ¼ -1 ½	8-12	3x3 to 4x4	10-14	6-20	¼ acre
Hairy Woodpecker	1 ¾ - 2 ¾	10-14	5x5 to 6x6	14-16	6-20	¼ acre
Northern Flicker	2-3	10-20	6x6 to 8x8	14-24	10-20	nest site
European Starling	1 ⅝ - 4	6-10	5x5 to 6x6	13-20	not fussy	nest site
House Sparrow	1 3/16 - 2	6-8	4x4 to 5x5	9-12	not fussy	nest site

For step by step directions with pictures go to the articles section of our website and click on BYOB, build your own birdhouse.

This is all the information you’ll need to get started, the sizes of the houses for individual species (in inches), the length of the pole you’ll need and based on the territory size and your property how many boxes you’ll eventually want to place. The territory given is the area the birds will defend against the same species, usually they will tolerate pairs from other species within this distance. This is to guarantee food supply for the nestlings and to prevent another male from sneaking in and trying to spread his genes or a female from making sure her eggs get fertilized. The back yard during breeding season has more fights and infidelity than a soap opera.

The smaller houses would be best placed on a post at least a few feet from the woods this will deter squirrels from taking over. The larger houses especially owl and kestrel can be placed in trees but if you have some stand alone trees it would be better than large groups.

Next week I’ll get more into habitat, nests and even offering nesting material if you see some interest in the house. Then move on to attracting open-cup and ground nesters. Finally talk about a few with very unique nests and what can be done to help and encourage them.