Hobbies And Interests
Nesting Shelves
North American birds will usually nest on nesting shelves or nesting houses. Although more birds tend to adapt to bird houses, approximately 15 species of North American birds prefer to nest in nesting shelves. Mourning doves, American robins and barn swallows are birds that prefer nesting in shelves to houses because this man-made nesting space more closely resembles the natural habitat where these types of birds would normally nest. Nesting shelves differ from traditional bird nesting houses by their number of walls. A nesting shelf consists of a floor, roof, back wall, minimal side walls and no front wall.
Single Nesting Houses
Single nesting houses are ideal for attracting a variety of species of birds to your yard. More than 50 species of wild North American birds prefer to nest in single bird houses, such as house wrens, nuthatches, chickadees and titmice. Most birds prefer unpainted bird houses that offer both sunlight and light shade. The size of the hole in the bird house will also be a factor for the type of bird that will be attracted to your nesting house. Bluebirds prefer a hole about an inch and a half in diameter to keep predators away whereas chickadees need a slightly smaller hole of 1 and 1/8 inches to deter harmful sparrows.
Multi-Nest Bird Houses
Most species of birds prefer a single nesting house, but purple martins may nest in a multiple nesting bird house such as a bird duplex or triplex. Purple martins can be a desirable wild bird to attract because they eat mosquitoes. However, if you choose to attract more than one species of bird, you may opt to place several single nesting bird houses around your property with various distances between them. Wild birds normally choose to nest far away from other species of birds.
Placing Your Houses
Where you place your bird house or nesting shelf will affect what types of birds you will attract. Bluebirds will likely choose a home not too far off the ground, between three and five feet high. Robins prefer a habitat around six feet off the ground. Different bird species will also reside in your bird house or shelf depending on the structural surroundings. Robins will likely choose a shelf that is cradled in another structure, such as in the bend of a tree or in the corner of a porch overhang, whereas sparrows prefer a nesting house placed on a dead tree.