BIRDHOUSES & BIRD FEEDERS

Are you looking to make your backyard a little more lively and colorful? The perfect addition to any home is a new birdhouse or bird feeder! These are sure to attract small to large birds of all colors and species, adding a little more fun and happiness to your day. Bird feeders and birdhouses work together as a team. Attract them with their favorite foods and youll keep them as neighbors with a comfortable house for their roosting and nesting needs. This perfect combination will give you a front row seat to the everyday life of birds from feeding, mating rituals and watching their young birds learn how to fly. Whether you like the charm of a decorative bird house or a purely functional one, youll find many options that will be attractive to you and birds, alike. When it comes to man-made bird houses, the birds themselves are more concerned with feeling safe and comfortable and are attracted to dwellings which are most similar to their natural nesting or roosting places. Explore our birdhouse and bird feeding products NOW! If you satisfy the basics for a birdhouse such as the correct dimensions, entrance hole diameter and height, the design and aesthetics of a bird house is simply a matter of personal taste. Charming and architecturally detailed bird houses that look like barns, churches or English cottages would be complimentary design elements for your garden or landscape. Choosing the right birdhouse is just like deciding on real estateits whatever your preference and wallet can afford! Choosing from a charming one-bedroom wren house or a pastel-painted, Victorian mansion complete with a copper roof is all part of the fun of attracting birds to your backyard landscape. Simply concerned with attracting specific birds? A plain and functional birdhouse or nesting box is the way to go. This type of birdhouse is made with exacting dimensions for specific cavity nesting birds such as wrens, woodpeckers and bluebirds. They are specifically crafted from durable woods such as cedar and pinewithout paint or stain. The bluebird houses are designed with proper dimensions, entrance hole size and are made available, inexpensively, in quantities that can be used along a path to create a bluebird trail. Wrens and woodpeckers like to nest in cavities so their houses are designed specifically for each birds size and needs. The wren house is a small, single house with a steeply angled roof and a small entrance hole so English Sparrows wont take over their houses. The woodpecker house is tall and vertical with a durable material used around the entrance hole to protect it from gnawing squirrels. Purple Martins require their own special type of housinga multi-family or condo living is their preference. Bird watchers who want to attract Purple Martins must become landlordsnot just to one bird family but to a colony of birds. Since these birds will return to the same houses every year, there is a commitment to keep the houses clean and safe from predators, as these birds are solely dependent on us for their housing needs. Other birds such as owls, wood ducks, warblers, titmice, flickers and chickadees like to nest in cavities or enclosed birdhouses. Having a bird house close by will offer you a chance to watch the common birds as well as the more unique ones, such as owls and kestrels as they go about their daily routines. Here are a few important features to look for in a birdhouse. Happy bird-watching! 1. Starting at the top, a slanted roof makes the rain run-off and keeps the birds dry. 2. An entrance hole that is specific to a birds size will attract and keep the correct bird. This feature will keep predators from entering the house. 3. The entrance hole should be placed high enough so the baby birds are protected from inclement weather or predators. 4. Make sure the bird house has ventilation for air flow to avoid extreme heat and suffocating the birds. 5. Small holes in the floor offer drainage and will keep the interior dry and free from contamination.

6. Having a side panel that flips open offers an efficient way to clean the house at the end of the season. A roof panel that opens is a good way to offer a sneak peak at the birds and their nestlings without disturbing them too much. 7. Make sure there is only a perch if that particular bird needs one. Cavity nesting birds usually build their nests in hollow tree trunks, walls, or concealed crevices. These birds will easily take to a man-made bird house. Here are a few types of these North American birds: bluebird, warbler, house sparrow, woodpecker, flicker, wren, tree swallow, chickadee and nuthatch. Platform nesters usually build nests in shrubs or trees, or on top of ledges or other exposed surfaces. Here are a few platform nesting birds that visit North America: northern cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, American robin, indigo bunting, red-winged blackbird, northern oriole, scarlet tanager, blue jay, pine siskin and many others. Some birds, such as catbirds, are platform nesters. The platforms need to be open on all four sides and are usually placed in shrubby areas. They are mounted near the ground, on walls behind shrubbery or under eaves and on fence lines covered with vines. Some birds such as mourning doves, barn swallows and the eastern phoebe wont use an enclosed bird house, either. They prefer to use a nesting shelf which has narrow side walls with an open front, roof, back panel and floor. In the wild, these open nesters like to build their nests on the open branches of trees and shrubs. In North America, about 55 bird species will nest in birdhouses and at least 15 will nest on platforms, so there is a bird house/nesting box that is specific to almost every bird. Knowing their habits and caring for birds is a way to become active participants in their well-being. Whether you help them along through a tough winter with seed, suet or you provide housing or nesting spots to encourage them with their young ones, youll win two-fold. Because of their diminishing natural habitats, birds need human help and will reward you with their growing numbers along with the fun you and your family will have just watching them!

We hope this information is helpful to you in your search for the perfect bird needs. Home & Garden Essentials is dedicated to offering customers an extensive
list of high quality products and helpful tips that will turn your backyard into bird-friendly habitats. As an online wild bird store, we wish to supply you with a superb selection of bird feeders and birdhousesaccompanied by an abundance of birding accessories.