Epic arguments between a house wren and a big gopher snake once woke me up at dawn, when the reptile tried to snitch eggs from the little wooden nestbox outside my childhood bedroom window.
Fortunately, the wren box stood against a metal wall, and my parents had wrapped smooth tin around the post. The snake had trouble getting a grip, and kept slipping off. And then my dad heard the ruckus and found the snake clinging frantically to the pole while two four-inch-long birds dive-bombed its eyeballs, and he scared it off.
I love gopher snakes, beautiful beasties that they are: perfectly camouflaged for hiding in dead leaves, with no dangerous venom. But I also loved the little wrens with their miraculous songs and the many odd insects they gathered, dismantling each sort in a different way before popping it down their young’s gaping throats: caterpillars got whacked clean, moths got the wings clipped off, etc.
You can have both, if you build or buy good birdhouses. See, birds are also experiencing a housing shortage. Affordable housing in good habitat is in short supply! Too much prime real estate (I mean old, cavity-riddled trees) is gone. Install some cheap apartments on your property, and birds will be very happy to pay their rent in bug-control and songs.
But, lots of pretty kitsch I see sold or hung up in yards is mostly good snack-baskets for snakes. Some tips:
Choose the right dimensions for the species you want. For one thing, if you make the hole too bigger or the box shallower than your target species needs, more predators and competitors can squeeze in; if the material is thin, eggs can overheat. For another, birds know this and often won’t bother with badly designed boxes (which is hilarious considering the odd places they do nest, like flower boxes, clothes hanging outside to dry, and in one gruesome case the mouth of a skeleton left hanging on a gibbet, don’t ask me why).
Of course, to choose the right dimensions you need to know what species you’re expecting! In the gorge, this could include bluebirds, house wrens, downy woodpeckers, chickadees and ash-throated flycatchers.
Go out early in the morning, have a look around, research who lives near you. Then go to Cornell University’s Nestwatch program at nestwatch.org to look up that species for a free building plan, dimensions, and placement guide.
Some boxes have backs or roofs that can be opened. As long as they stay securely latched shut during nesting season, these allow you to remove old nesting material in winter. This helps control parasites and bacteria that could accumulate and weaken chicks.
And, put your affordable housing somewhere predators will have a harder time making it their supper table. That’s easier said than done because “predators” include other birds, snakes, raccoons and squirrels, and if you’ve ever tried keeping squirrels off a bird feeder, you know how gymnastic hunger makes them.
Putting a birdhouse on a pole, tree, or wall is good, especially if it’s out of constant direct sun so the chicks don’t overheat. Temperature can be critical, depending on species: for instance, house wren eggs must stay between 65 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit, or they can die. Height and habitat are also important.
A metal baffle or a trash can lid on the post can keep squirrels and raccoons from climbing up. You can install another predator guard, often just an additional thickness of wood, over the box’s hole.
If needed, a wrapping of metal can discourage snakes, who need some sort of texture to cling too. As my childhood snakes discovered, anything smooth is hard to climb.
Be mindful of the fact that housecats are among the most impactful predator of songbirds in this country. Keep them inside, or on leash, or wearing a cat bib if you can. Cats enjoy chasing those sparkly little fledglings even if they’re well fed! Who wouldn’t!
And then, apartments prepared, you wait. And wait. And hope the world’s pickiest little renter decides your offering is congenial, and sings outside your window.
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