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Why Imitate Natural Bird Nesting Places?

by Susan Nelson Hopkins

If you want birds to stay in your garden, to nest there, then you need to provide nesting places unique to their species.

The secret is matching the nesting boxes, and where you place them, to the bird species you want to attract to your garden.

Natural Bird Nesting Places...

Cavity-nesting birds often make use of existing holes created by woodpeckers, or they just excavate their own. Most often they select standing dead trees (called snags), logs, or stumps - then they build their nests inside the cavities.

Nest-builders select surfaces or shapes capable of supporting nests - they build nests on or under them. Oddly enough, some even lay eggs underneath logs and larger woody debris.

Imitating Nature...

Enticing birds to nest in your garden absolutely depends upon how closely you imitate their natural nesting sites:

Nesting Boxes (for cavity-nesters)

It's crucial that you imitate the naturally occurring holes or cavities in snags, stumps, or posts preferred by cavity-nesting birds.

So, it follows reason that you also imitate the placement of these boxes according to the specific needs of the birds you want to attract. Some of the most common cavity-nesters are...

• Common Flicker
• Purple Martins
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• House Wren
• Eastern Bluebird

Nesting Platforms (for nest-builders)

Nesting platforms are shaped to accommodate a  location. In other words, the platform location is selected based on each nesting specie's needs - and then the platform is shaped to fit that specific location.

Some will be for tree and shrub forks, some for rock garden ledges, and some could even be attached to buildings. (Try something fun... hang a basket or two from your porch and watch what happens.)

The trick is to locate them just as they would be in the wild. Some  common nest-builders are:

• Mourning Doves
• American Robins
• Cedar Waxwings
• Yellow Warblers
• Dark-Eyed Juncos
• Cardinals
• House Finches
• American Goldfinches
• Rufous-Sided Towees
• Song Sparrows

Supplementing Nest-Building Supplies...

These materials are readily available. If not already in your yard, then just ask any lawn care service. They'll probably give you a bag of lawn debris... eagerly.

Arrange bits and pieces of these items throughout your bird garden, and get ready to watch a parade of nesting pairs eagerly snatch up all those bits and pieces.

Offering these nest-building supplies, together with nesting boxes and platforms, may be all it takes to convince some of these birds to raise their young in your garden.
 

Even if they don't nest in your garden, you can still enjoy their happy songs as they gather up their booty.

Remember also... they will continue visiting your bird garden throughout the season if you provide them with water and food choices unique to their species.

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