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Top Ten Nest Box Tips
Written by Bill Thompson, III, Apr 11, 2018 Comments »
So you want to be a landlord to the birds, eh? Well, it's not as easy as falling off a log. It's no accident that the most diligent landlords often have the highest rates for fledging healthy young birds. The good news is that diligence as a bird landlord need not be painful or overly difficult. Below are my Top Ten Nest Box Tips for backyard landlords.
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Dear Birdsquatch: Nest Box Dilemma!
Written by Birdsquatch, Feb 28, 2018 Comments »
Dear Birdsquatch: I have put up nearly a dozen bluebird boxes along my rural road over the past five years. I've seen bluebirds on them and even going in, but I have yet to see any baby bluebirds, despite watching the boxes on a regular basis. I haven't looked inside them because I don't want to scare them away. Am I doing something wrong?
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Birdsquatch: Bird Feeding and Housing
Written by Birdsquatch, May 01, 2017 Comments »
WBB's very own bigfoot, who knows what birds want more than any mere human, addresses housing and feeding: Is it OK to feed birds in the summer? And when is the right time to put out a birdhouse? Good timing on both answers, big guy!
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Ask Birdsquatch: Backyard Murder Mystery—Who Poked Holes in These Birds' Eggs?
Written by Birdsquatch, Apr 17, 2017 Comments »
A reader finds an empty chickadee nest and six eggs pierced through, lying on the ground. Could another bird be the culprit? Birdsquatch offers his insight on this backyard murder mystery.
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Help Birds in Spring: Supply Nest-building Necessities
Posted on Mar 04, 2016 Comments »
Spring is the start of the breeding season for most of our North American birds. They pair up with mates, build nests, lay eggs, raise young, and then some of them repeat the cycle—as many as three times. There are things you can do to help!
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House Wren Nesting Material
Posted on Sep 08, 2015 Comments »
Have you ever looked at house wren nesting material? After a pair of house wrens left his backyard nesting box, contributor Greg C. Greer had an opportunity to study the materials they used. What he found surprised him.
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Weird Nests
Posted on May 21, 2015 Comments »
Not all birds make neat, cup-shaped nests, or carve out hollows in trees. Some use unusual materials and make truly odd creations.
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The Latest Comments

  • Re: Welcome to Watching Backyard Birds.com!
    #18 in the Gallery is misidentified as a Tree Sparrow, instead of Tree Swallow.
    by Ron, Mon, 23 Apr 2018
  • Re: Backyard Tip: Crushed Eggshells Are for the Birds
    yep i do the microwave too....they don't break down in our compost so the birds get them!
    by ecumam2, Wed, 18 Apr 2018
  • Re: Dear Birdsquatch: Spring Cleaning Below the Bird Feeder
    As you probably know, sunflower seed hulls have a bio-chemical in them, (allelopathic), which keeps any other seeds from sprouting, in the same area. I have used this fact, to a purpose. With a large build up, each year (& yes, it is a bare spot!), I rake up the "bounty" & spread them on areas of bulbs & perennials to keep the annual weeds down. It's also helpful near blue squill bulbs, which drop seeds through the fence that divides a perennial garden, from the lawn , where they are welcome to naturalize. The garden can be over run with them, so sunflower hulls can keep the sprouting down.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
  • Re: Dear Birdsquatch: Spring Cleaning Below the Bird Feeder
    I do this in a small garden, near our road, where winter road sand can build up & bury the small, low-growing plants that live there. In spring I just pick up the burlap & shake it back onto the road, before the road crew comes by with the street sweeper, in spring.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
  • Re: Ask Birdsquatch: What do Insect-eating Species Eat in the Winter?
    Thanks, now I can not worry so much. It's April 17, here in NE Vt. & is snowing big snowflakes. Yesterday we have scary, high winds & it's refusing to be spring. A phoebe, which was so puffed up I didn't recognize it, except for it's insectivore beak, showed up near the feeders, on my porch. It flew to a low branch, in a sugar maple & has been huddled there for quite a while. I was sure it was a phoebe when I observed it's tail bobbing, when first landing. I assume it is now being still, trying to reserve body heat. I have a frozen, cut pomegranate, hanging from the porch & we have an ample supply of sumac berries & other native fruiting plants, so hopefully it will find what it needs.... Also spotted a brown creeper, on the trunk of one of our big, old sugar maples, this morning.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
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