Bird Houses

Bird Houses: Supplying Homes for Birds in Your Backyard

Every spring, birds begin to find the best nesting grounds and start to defend their territory accordingly.  Unfortunately, birds in urban areas usually have a hard time finding a good nesting location.  However, they are lucky when they find generous people who offer bird houses in their backyards.

Many birds rely on bird houses to be provided for them since safe nesting areas may be particularly difficult to find.  Birdhouses are actually quite important for preserving the wild birds.  Without them, many birds would not find safe nesting grounds and be unsuccessful in surviving through the season.

When you provide a bird house in your backyard you are not only helping a single family of birds, but you are helping the whole species survive.  In addition, you will also benefit from the pleasure of observing the daily lives of birds and their interactions.  They can be extremely fascinating creatures.  But when you have bird houses, it is important to take care of them and use them appropriately.

Birds can be picky about their housing so you need to make sure you clean and sanitize the house after each nesting family moves out.  Plus, you will need to locate the bird houses far enough apart, depending on what type of bird you are attracting.  Some birds will defend their territory and will not allow other birds to come close to their nest, so you need to make sure the bird houses are not positioned too close together.

Bird houses can come in a variety of different designs.  Some designs are smaller while others are larger.  This is usually to accommodate different sizes of birds.  A typical design is rather simple, shaped as a vertical rectangle of varying sizes.  A small hole is placed in the front to allow only a bird to enter and to deter larger predators.  To allow for easy cleaning, many bird houses have a hinged top that swings open to remove old nesting supplies.  Songbirds usually appreciate these single family homes; however birds such as Purple Martins enjoy large homes that look like bird apartments.

Prices for bird houses can range greatly, with simple designs starting at only $5.  For larger bird houses that offer better quality and an element of decoration prices can exceed several hundred dollars.