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Re Bird houses



Two things about bird houses:

Construction and stability: We've had a bluebird box up for four years now
which Cynthia's parents gave us, and which had been signed by the
builder--it's still in good condition. Last year they gave us a second. I
don't know where they bought the second one, but it is shoddily constructed,
held together with nails, not screws, and the front can barely be opened
widely enough to inspect the nest/nestlings, because the hinge is made from
two nails which aren't aligned correctly. I reinforced the box with some
longer, galvanized nails, but don't expect it to last nearly as long as the
first one. So wherever one buys birdboxes, one should first inspect them for
quality. (Of course, no boxes should have perches, because perches make the
boxes more accessible for predators, and the birds the boxes are intended
for don't need perches.)

Second, Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a running study in which anyone who
has birdboxes can participate (the annual fee is $12 or $15, depending on
whether you belong to the Lab). If you sign up for The Birdhouse Network
you'll get lots of information on boxes, predator guards, and descriptions
of the nesting behavior of many different species of birds who will nest in
boxes.
The Lab recently issued their annual report and listed 6 species for which
they have received very little information from participants, aka their six
"Most Wanted" species. Four of those species nest in the Southeast: Purple
Martin, American Kestrel, Prothonotary Warbler, and Great Crested
Flycatcher. We immediately  went to the lumberyard, and now have an American
Kestrel box and a Great Crested Flycatcher box, built according to the
directions given by Cornell.
Cynthia's and my monitoring of our first bluebird box has given us much joy,
and taught us a lot about the birds' behavior. It also makes us feel good to
know that we are contributing to science when we send Cornell the results of
each year's nestings. Now we're looking forward to attracting another
bluebird family and maybe even  Kestrels and GCFlycatchers. We made sure
we're putting the boxes where the birds will look for them (Cornell supplies
that info), and where they will be accessible for us to monitor.
For more info on The Birdhouse Network: www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse .

Charlotte Goedsche
Weaverville, WNC
goedsche@mindspring.com