Birdhouse cleaning

So,we have 3 birdhouses always occupied.
We decided to clean them out before the birds got too busy renovating.
Well,they came and looked at the empty houses and probably did not like it.
So,smarty me,shredded some tissuepaper and put it in the houses,figuring they would like it,nice soft tissuepaper.:confused:
Well,I thought wrong,the Sparrows have been working all day long taking all the paper out and spreading it all over the lawn:laughing:
I guess they did not approve of my design..
Now they are building inside themself,one little stick at a time and here I thought I was helpful,go figure:laughing:

That'll learn you Chico :)
I knew someone who built birdhouses with a sheet of plexiglass on one side - the traditional kind, with the sloping roof. He put them high enough in the tree so curious young ornithologists couldn't disturb the inhabitants. But low enough to see generally what was going on. I seem to remember that after a period of deep suspicion, one or two pairs actually used them.

That happened to us too Chico. The first year we put up a birdhouse we put wood shavings in the bottom as per information we received. Chickadees nested there but took every shaving out before making their nest, the way they wanted it.:laughing:

The paper/shavings served their purpose exactly! :thumbs up

Chickadees 101: In the wild, chickadees excavate their nests. To encourage them to nest in a box, you need to give them something to 'excavate'. Shavings are perfect, since normally they would be removing little bits of wood that they'd chipped out of a rotten log.

Wrens do their own 'priming'. The male builds a number of 'dummy nests' in different spots. When he meets his dream chick, they make the rounds and she chooses one of the sites. Then she carefully removes every twig her lover so painstakingly stuffed into the box and redoes it the way she wants it. :D

So there are a lot of cavity nesters that actually prefer to have something in the box to take out...satisfies those genetically programmed urges. :D

hazel often has the same sort of urge...but it involves excavating pieces of chocolate out of a tin cannister and eating them... :o

I love that. You should write it up for Wikipedia.

hazel often has the same sort of urge...but it involves excavating pieces of chocolate out of a tin cannister and eating them... :o

:laugh: :thumbs up

Thank you,so what we did was actually a good thing:laughing:
We do not have any birdhouses in the trees,we have them(3) attached under the eaves on the house.
This enables us to see what's going on,watch feedings etc,also it seems relatively safe from predators.
We only get Sparrows though,but they are cute too.
Hazel,I am with you on the chocolate:laughing:
I am Chico and I am a chocaholic:laughing:

I love that. You should write it up for Wikipedia.

You mean there's actually an entry in Wikipedia for 'chocoholic'? :laugh:

Couldn't do it even if I wanted to--with my connection, I usually can't even get into Wikipedia to read, much less write! :o

Ungrateful birds! I read that dryer fluff is a favorite for lining of bird houses, you can just leave it on your lawn and they will take it away.

Ungrateful birds! I read that dryer fluff is a favorite for lining of bird houses, you can just leave it on your lawn and they will take it away.

I tried leaving it out and the birds wouldn't touch it......then I read that you shouldn't leave it for the birds if you use fabric softener. :shrug:

I found the birds liked our :rip: Sibe fuzz after a full brush out :D

I've tried Logan's "fuzz" too but the birds won't use that either. :shrug:

My "ungreatful"birds have by now almost filled the houses with dried grass little sticks etc,they work really hard,sooo cute.
There's a virtual orgy going on out there with all the romancing:laughing:,be it squirrels or birds,did I say I LOVE spring:lovestruck:

each year i take some of my brightest colored yarn and cut them up into finger lengths, unravel them and they go crazy over it!!

-ash

I usually fill an old suet feeder (the open wire type) with dog undercoat (from any double-coated dog...springer, golden, sibe....:D) and hang it out next to the feeders. The chickadees and nuthatches love it! And last year, a thrilling moment--I watched a hummingbird delicately steal a strand of hair and fly off with it! :cloud9: Of course, the movie camera was inside. :rolleyes:

my dad did the same thing want4 he would raid my moms knitting box every april and tell me to keep the cats in till they are picked up

Seeing I don't have any Setter-hair:laughing:but lots of yarn left over from my crocheting days,I'll try some yarn,maybe even the Squirrels will be interested:)