All About Bird Nesting

Bird Nest by Tobyotter

Spring is springing all over the place and birds are singing, displaying, traveling, or even getting ready to nest. I thought I’d share some great resources related to bird nesting.

Below you’ll find information on attracting birds and enjoying the bird breeding season in your nature garden. It’s a wonderful time for you to better get to know our feathered friends, by inviting them to share your space.

All About Nest Boxes

At the Cornell Ornithology Lab website you’ll find a whole host of information on nest boxes. Did you know that small nest boxes should be mounted on metal poles or pipes? I didn’t. Find all the information you need, from plans for bird nesting boxes, to information on dealing with competitors and non-native bird species. All the links are on the page All About Nest Boxes.

Nest Watch

If you like garden science you can get involved in monitoring bird nests through the Cornell Nest Watch program. Carole Brown has written a great intro to what Nest Watch is all about, or go straight to the Cornell site for nest watching resources. If a full-blown nest watch sounds too much, you might commit to selecting three things to do to help nesting birds.

Watch Birds Nesting

Rather than risk disturbing nesting birds in your own garden you might want to watch birds nesting through one of the many nestcams. Here’s the Cornell Nestcams. Don’t confine yourself to watching birds in North America though, you can watch barn owls in England, ospreys in Scotland, or check out this wildlife cam site which allows you to see a bird table, a water trough, and even British badgers.

Nesting for the Kids

It’s the perfect time of year to visit your local library and find some books about spring, birds, and nesting to share with your children. If you’ve not yet cleared out bird houses there’s no time to waste. Old nests harbor parasites and should be removed from nest boxes. It’s fascinating to study what nests are made of. Kids need to know not to disturb nests. A pair of binoculars can be handy for watching from a distance.

How Birds Build Nests

At the Cornell Ornithology All About Birds site you can look up your favorite birds and find out where they like to build their nest, what they build it of, and what it looks like. Or if you want to bring more birds to your garden for you to enjoy check out their how to attract birds section. Apart from providing fresh water, you’ll want to think about providing native plants.

I never tire of wondering how a nest can be built with just a beak. Have you seen any signs of birds nesting in your garden yet?

Amazon.com has a good selection of children’s books on bird nesting. Please leave a note of any favorites in the comments.

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
2. 5 Great Books for Bird Loving Moms
3. Why You Want to Add a Birdfeeder to Your Garden