March 9, 2012

Help Birds Build Their Nests

What birds need for nesting and how you can help

by Debra Firmani

Birds don't need your help actually putting their nests together. But you can help them out by providing some nesting materials, along with a safe, sheltered spot to place them. You might even attract species to your yard that don't normally visit.

So, aside from the nest boxes you might buy or build, what are birds looking for, and how do you get them to notice your offerings?

Nature knows best

Some birds nest early, some late, and some make several nests each season, so nesting materials should be made available from early spring through most of the summer. Make your yard seem like a good place to nest by keeping some of these natural materials around:

• Dead trees and branches for cavity nesters (as long as they pose no hazard)
• Twigs (rigid ones for platform nests and flexible ones for cup-shaped nests)
• Mud (robins, in particular, love a mud puddle!)
• Dry grass and straw (not treated with chemicals)
• Human hair or horse hair (cut in 4-6” lengths)
• Pet fur (from animals not treated with flea or tick chemicals)
• Moss, bark strips, pine needles, dead leaves, and fluff or down of plants
• Snake skins (if you find one laying around, leave it for a bird to discover)
• Spider webs and caterpillar silk (both make stretchy binding material for nests)

Offer a few extras

Birds are open-minded about adapting to whatever materials are available, but here are a few helpful extras to consider adding: 

• Thin strips of cloth (1” x 6”)
• Pieces of yarn or string (4” – 8” long)
• Sheeps' wool

…and two things not to offer:

• Dryer lint (after being rained on and drying out, it crumbles, and it may contain harmful residues from detergents and fabric softeners)
• Any material, natural or otherwise, that has come into contact with potentially harmful chemicals, such as household cleaners

Video: Give them shelter »

Create nesting material stashes

Birds are observant, but here’s how to display your offerings to best effect:

• Gather tree and plant debris together and leave it in nooks in your yard 
• Place materials that might blow around in small baskets
• Fill suet cages or mesh bags with materials and hang them on a branch
• Press materials into tree bark crevices
• Drape yarn or string over branches, fence posts, or deck railings

A final word

Be a friend to the birds as they try to raise their families. Let leaves, twigs, and other natural materials stick around to become nest-building materials. Make mulch for under your bushes, creating habitat for insects that will become food for baby birds. Use fallen branches and sticks to make a brush pile, offering shelter and cover. Put a few of the extras out there to help them make their homes—and, of course, keep cats inside, so they are safer themselves and won’t be tempted to kill your backyard birds or their fledglings. Then, relax and enjoy watching as the family lives of your backyard birds unfold.

Resources

» Cornell Lab of Orinthology: How to Attract Birds 

Create a sanctuary

Enjoy the company of your wild neighbors in your yard. Every day, more and more wildlife habitat is lost to the spread of development. But you can help wild animals in urban and suburban areas by offering them sanctuary in your own backyard (or front yard, roof-top garden, or deck), no matter how small. Learn how your green space can become an Urban Wildlife Sanctuary.

Debra Firmani is a writer and long-time advocate for animals and nature. Her articles on wildlife, wild lands, backyard habitat creation, and nature education have appeared in print and online.