Wild Bird Nest Box questions, please answer?

Question

I am on the student council at my school and i am trying to make the school better for the enviroment. One of my ideas is putting up nest boxes in some of our trees. The school is in central Ohio and our trees include some soft bristle pines and some other decidous trees. I was wondering what kind of birds we should be able to attract, how to attract them, and how to make sure that we buy good quality nest boxes that will be easy to clean and stand up to weather, as well as be good for the birds too of course. I also need to know how far to space them apart so that i know they will all be used. please answer, the next student council meeting is coming up and i we dont have them very often so i need to be ready with ideas and facts etc. Thank you in advance for the help. I will pick best answer :)

Answer 1

Contact your local audobon group or you may have an ornithologist at one of the colleges in your area who could help. There should be some wildlife management program in you area...you could check with your local chamber of commerce. Good luck and thanks for looking out for your local birds!

Answer 2

Brenden,

What a great project!

Birds that nest in nest boxes are called cavity-nesters.

There are more than 50 species of North American breeding birds that select or construct a cavity for their nest. You may be familiar with a few, chickadees, nuthatches, blue birds, wood peckers, house finch and purple martins. But did you know that several species of owls are also cavity-nesters? The barred owl, screech owl and barn owl will nest is large nest boxes place 10 to 30 feet above the ground.

Making your own nest boxes is the best way to go. Each species requires a different size of box and a specific size of hole. If you want to find out what types of birds are in the area you are using, put out a few feeders and watch.

Putting feeders 20 or 30 feet from the area with nest boxes is the best way to attract birds. You can also use suet cages to put out nesting materials to encourage nest building.

If you want to add another element to your project, try using a nest box cam. It is a video feed that allows you to watch what is going on inside the nest box.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

John

Answer 3

Just a notice to anyone who chooses to house or feed birds on a large scale. Once you start this process you have to keep it up. The local bird population will drastically increase in response to your providing artificial food and housing. To suddenly stop would cause serious problems for the increased bird population. Also be aware that you will also attract increased amounts of bird predators and concentrate any diseases. You can cause one species of birds to crowd out all others.

It is not important if you are just putting out one or two bird feeders or nesting boxes. But if you put out a lot of them, you can cause unwanted results by unbalancing your local environment. An artificial food source can even adversely affect the migratory patterns of flocks of birds.

Proceed wisely.

Answer 4

A lot cheaper to make your own, as far as it goes. Local birding organizations such as National Audubon Society can inform you as to what species are present in your area that might benefit from and utilize nesting boxes. You should also check out several field guides from the library or invest in one -- I recommend Sibley's or National Geographic for national listings, or Birds of Ohio Field Guide by Stan Tekiela for local birds only -- to familiarize yourself with birds in your area.

Once you've done that, when you contact a birding group you'll be able to suggest which species you'd like to attract, and they can recommend locations, height, materials, and offer advice on how to keep the boxes clean.

Nice project, good luck with it!

Answer 5

i think of your theory is commendable, yet i'd in basic terms submit the nest containers for Martins and not the rest. in case you will do a quick seek on the information superhighway you will discover many consumer-friendly plans to the two make the fowl homes that are mandatory to be on very tall poles, or you may purely purchase the kits. they're great birds on your area and could consume bugs and stay removed from the youngsters. My different suggestion is to grant feeding stations on your feathered friends on your area and which would be helping the flora and fauna in and around your area and get rid of the opportunity of a fledgling getting harm or picked up with the help of a pupil.