Lesson 2: Food, Shelter and Water for Backyard Birds
Shelter for Birds
Shelter – Giving shelter to birds involves providing safe perches, nesting sites, insulation from cold or rainy weather and shade from the sun. It is the second important component of a backyard bird habitat.
Plants - As we discussed earlier in this lesson, native plantings for birds are the best choice for sources of shelter, as well as for food. Evergreen trees, thick shrubs and other dense vegetation, vines and tall grasses provide excellent shelter for birds. Chickadees, for example, like brushy areas. Shrubs can be planted in groups. If you can “go wild” and let a small area of your backyard grow without mowing or pruning, you will be surprised at the number of birds that will use the patch. A small brush pile, dead trees and logs provide shelter, also.
This year I let a small section of backyard, about 10 feet by 3 feet, grow up wild. It is a patch that is sheltered by the house. We observed birds; bees; butterflies, dragonflies and other insects; frogs; toads; and salamanders using this tiny wild area of tall grass and wildflowers!
Every January I place our Christmas tree outside near our feeder to provide a safe perch. The tree needles stay green until the weather starts to warm up in the spring. Then the tree turns brown and, over time, breaks down into the soil.
Birdhouses, Nesting Boxes – Providing commercial or home-made nesting boxes for birds is an important component for a backyard habitat and is a fun way to observe the nest building and brood raising activities of native birds. At our house, we like to purchase inexpensive wooden birdhouses at craft store sales and paint and decorate them. We use them in our backyard or give them away as gifts. A visit to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) web site at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools... provides plans for building many types of birdhouses and nesting boxes.
My main concern when selecting a birdhouse is to make sure that it can be opened and cleaned out at the end of the nesting season. My main concerns when placing a birdhouse in the yard is to keep it safe from bird predators and out of the direct sun. That said, there are many references available, including our textbook, The Audubon Backyard BirdWatcher, that discuss properly sizing entrance holes (to prevent predators from getting at eggs or young birds); the height to place birdhouses above the ground; the direction the entrance hole should face; and the right amount of sunlight.
Most birds take a week or less to complete building their nest. If the birds are disturbed during that time, they may abandon the nesting site. Most backyard birds build new nests every year and sometimes more than once a year if they have more than one brood. It appears that nest parasites may be the reason that nests are not reused.
When do birds nest? Birds nest at various times throughout the season, often depending upon when the food sources for their young are in plentiful supply. For example, page 149 of our textbook states that seed-eating finches feed their young protein-rich insects and nesting is timed for when the insects are abundant.
