Adding a Birdhouse to your Backyard

Here in the greater Atlanta area we are blessed with an abundance of birds. Nesting season down here starts in January with the world famous Berry College Eagles typically laying 1, 2 or 3 eggs. They have a couple of live webcams were you can watch the eagles progress for the next 4+ months.

Most of the wild birds we are attracting into our backyards here in NE Atlanta start nesting right around March first. Bluebirds, wrens, nuthatches, & chickadees are all secondary cavity nesters. Which means they will all be using somebody else's hole. Primary cavity nesters like woodpeckers will dig their own hole in a dead tree. But once nesting season is over they will abandon it for others to use.

Here in the suburbs there are not enough dead trees (for obvious reason) for woodpeckers to create enough homes. So they move elsewhere. Since the woodpecker is nesting someplace else that means bluebirds and such will not have a ready made home next year!

Which brings us to the need for birdhouses. The eastern bluebird was actually in decline in the 1930s due to lack of cavities. What saved them... millions of bluebird boxes.

It's early November here in Atlanta. Soon we will start the holiday rush and we at the Wild Bird Center of Johns Creek. We will be busy showing off our beautiful assortment of bird houses (known in the industry as nesting boxes). We'll also be mounting them to poles so the customer just has to stick them in the ground.

The Christmas season is the perfect kickoff for nesting season. I always tell my customers to get those bird houses in the ground soon. Mom and Dad birds will be "house shopping" very soon. BTW that is exactly what it looks like. Dad will stick a few pine needles in the house and Mom will go investigate. Sometimes they will build several nest in different boxes only to chose one of them. 

House shopping is really fun to watch. The birds will start in February looking for just the right spot. By March all the wild birds will be fighting each other off trying to save their home. It's nesting time for everyone. Those looking for the perfect cavity are pretty fierce when they find one.

So this holiday season give a bird house as a gift. They can run from $20 to $200 if you are looking to make a beautiful backyard statement! The one in these two pictures runs right at $40. It's easy to clean out and can be mounted on a pole, tree, or fence. It is made of 100% cedar and will last for years.

Enjoy your beautiful backyard...

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David Peterson is the owner of the Best Nest of Georgia, Inc. which includes in its corporate family a retail store called the Wild Bird Center of Johns Creek Georgia. The Wild Bird Center focuses on bringing nature to your backyard using bird seed, bird feeders, mealworms, and bird houses to attract wild birds to your yard. You can reach the Wild Bird Center at 770-418-1990 or by contacting David via email: david@thebestnest.net