HoneyBerry
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1216
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

Novelty Nest Boxes

I want to share this article because I care about the welfare of birds.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/w ... -RSPB.html

HoneyBerry
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1216
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

Wouldn't it be nice if the corporations only made nest boxes that are safe for birds. Now that would be quite a phenomena.

HoneyBerry
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1216
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

The corporations would probably ask us to prove that their novelty nest boxes are not safe for birds. And so we'd need a fancy lawyer and it would be too expensive and we'd be forced to give up on the idea entirely. The corporations would win and keep selling novelty nest boxes and kits for kids. The birds would have to somehow adapt to survive, grow bigger fanged beaks to fight off predators. And they would have to be handier and learn how to remove brightly colored paint and hold a hammer to replace metal bird house roofs with wood. Some interesting birds they would be.

ButterflyLady29
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1030
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:12 pm
Location: central Ohio

I just about had a fit when I read about the sparrows and starlings declining! Then I saw that the price was given in pounds. The US has more than enough invasive sparrows and starlings. But apparently that's not the situation in the UK.

I have a solution! Capture and send our sparrows and starlings to the UK!

It is a shame that manufacturers get away with selling products that kill the birds they are supposed to protect. And that is so wrong on so many levels and really should be illegal.

HoneyBerry
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1216
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

Here, I never see Sparrows. Once in a while I see a lone Starling. Starlings remind me of that old Hitchcock movie "The Birds".
I tend to like some birds more than others too. Crows and Bkue Jays irritate me because they are bullies. But at the same time I enjoy watching the Blue Jays because they are so beautiful. I'm doing better with the crows. I even give them peanuts now sometimes.
My friend has a bright red novelty fire hydrant birdhouse. It is cute. I'm thinking that the birds probably won't go for it. I measured the entrance hole and it was a weird size, not according to recommendations for any particular bird.
I guess all we can do it try to make people more informed. That is, if they are willing to even listen.

HoneyBerry
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1216
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

I think you are right. Birds are smart. They don't get enough credit.
I have a shed full of wood to make birdhouses from. I'm going to make some nice nesting shelves for robins, to start with. I'm plan to mount them up high under the eaves, where the neighborhood cats can't get to them. I am in the same camp, of doing what's right for the birds. I don't need those cute-sey birdhouses with bright colors, metal roofs and wrong sized entrance holes.



Return to “Wildlife - Gardening with Local Critters in Mind”