Birds & Nesting Materials

My sister's Golden, Tucker, just returned from the vet -- fully shaven. He looks like a gentle lion. No worries, he'll fully recover from the sponge meal he enjoyed last Sunday. Anyway, with all that fur gone I've lost my best source of nesting material for the birds. I thought in honor of Tucker, I'd discuss nesting material options today.


It's that time of year. The birds are busy looking for nest sites and showing off their construction skills.

Most birds build a structure of some sort that serves to contain their eggs and nestlings. Increasing bird diversity in our backyards is simple and within our control. We may already have feeders and bird baths, but we shouldn't forget to also provide nesting materials as well. In addition to attracting some species that might not visit our backyard feeders and birdbaths, it's also a great way to "recycle" some household items in a way that benefits the environment.

Reviewing the basics of supplying nest material

Birds include fallen leaves and twigs in their nests so you might leave these in some part of your yard. When you do your fall and spring cleanup consider leaving one area or pile of debris untouched. It doesn't have to be a large area and your back will appreciate the respite.

If you are aesthetically opposed to any untidyness, you might create a small nook where you collect some of this material possibly by your compost which they may pick through as well.

If you want a more hands on approach, consider concentrating specific stashes of nest material. You might include dead twigs, dead leaves, straw, moss, barkstrips, and pine needles.Any combination of these with the following is useful.

Recycle some of this material to add to your nesting assortment

• Dry Grass (untreated w/pesticides)
• Yarn or string (4-8 inch pieces)
• Human and animal hair (e.g. horse hair/sheep's wool)
• Pet fur (before you start their flea and tick treatments)
• Feathers (Don't throw out that old pillow - donate the feathers to the birds
• Scraps of cloth (cut into 1"X 4-6" strips), cotton battingand other stuffing scraps you find when you do your spring cleaning.

For the hardy amongst us, providing a safe environment for spiders and snakes (snake skin) will also enhance nesting opportunities for these birds.

If you have Barn and Cliff swallows, phoebes, and robins in your area and want to encourage their nesting, consider creating or keeping a muddy puddle somewhere. I shallow metal pie tin you no longer use or that you pick up at a tag sale with some dirt you keep muddied will due.

I don’t recommend offering dryer lint.It doesn't withstand the rain and it may have chemical residues from the detergent which is harmful to birds.

Place the nest material around your garden

You can buy some fancy cages to hang these materials in around your yard. But you don't have to. For the fluffyier materials and the homemade combinations, you can gather them into an extra suet cage or even a set of extra wreath forms you bind together they can pick at.

Of course you can simply create "piles" of debris which works for a collection which isn't prone to blowing away. You might even push the material into the nooks and crannies of some mid-sized trees if you have them or drape them into your shrubs and small evergreens. Whatever method you consider, ask yourself "Could this potentially "harm" a bird or fledgeling" and if not, let your creativity unfold.

Be patient! Sometimes, it takes a while for the birds to find it. But they will. Whether or not they use it depends on how safe the area seems. If after a month or two it looks untouched, reexamine it's location from a bird's point of view. Does it offer to much exposure to predators?

Writer's Compost : So now you've collected your nest materials and offered them, maybe the birds have started to pick at it. Maybe you are still waiting for them to find the collection? Is this an opportunity for a list poem or a piece about: patience, offerings, anticipation, scraps?

Enjoy!