Picking and Caring For Your Bird House

What should you look for in a Bird House?

Bird houses come in all shapes and sizes. Some are more practical than others. When you choose one one sure to choose one that will allow you to access to be able to clean it out and keep it sanitary. Check whether the used paint contains no lead. This can be lethal to birds. Very often, bird houses made abroad may contain lead-based paint, although it is less common to see that now with the awareness of the dangers of lead. You can find bird houses in almost any style you can imagine. Go out and have some fun choosing a house for the birds and then sit back and enjoy watching your little feathered friends are enjoying their new home.

Should you leave them up all winter?

It really depends on the area of the country you are in and the types of birds will use them. If you have protective covers for your bird houses you can leave them. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and then dry them before covering them. For every house you might consider leaving without coverage, still give them a thorough cleaning, so any off season birds who decide to use them, will not be subject to any parasites and wastes back from your summer residents. Many times we find that here in the Northeast Chickadees will fill our bird houses over the winter to protect themselves against cold and snow. They might as well be getting some use out of the home during the off season. Although many different creatures can inhabit your bird houses over the winter it is rare that any of them would do any significant damage to your bird house. Again, all you really need to do is make sure to give them a good cleaning in the spring before the birds return.

What kind of home you need a bird?

We recommend not to limit your imagination when it comes to helping the little feathered friends. Bird structures are not only for finches or cardinals or Robins. Expand your thinking to birds such as woodpeckers and wood ducks and many more types of birds. All birds are good for natural pest control. It is a known fact that the swallows will eat up to 10,000 black flies or mosquitoes every day. Would not it be great to go out on the terrace in the evening and watch them dart about and know that they are rid your yard of those pesky biting flies? Of course they will never totally eliminate them, but it's fun to see how agile they are as they fly around and fly away right out of the air around you. 

To summarize our fun with the bird houses .

Pick an interesting and fun house. Put it in a location you can enjoy whether you are in the garden or inside your home. When it's time to clean the house, be sure to use a mild soap and water solution and rinse it thoroughly and dry it well. If you're in the right area, you can give your winter friends to take the bird house, so it can be used all year round.