May 23, 2018 | Featured in: Watching Backyard Birds, June 2018

Want to Help Nesting Birds? Avoid Offering This As Nesting Material.

A lint-filled dryer basket. While it seems helpful to offer dryer lint to nest-building birds, this material is more harmful than helpful. Photo by Wikimedia commons.
Share:

While it seems helpful to offer dryer lint to nest-building birds, it is not a suitable material for the job. First, the strands of dryer lint are too short to be woven strongly. Nests built with it can develop holes, sag, or even collapse because they lack tensile strength. Furthermore, lint from fabric is more absorbent than naturally occurring materials such as twigs, dried grasses, moss, or feathers. While dryer lint seems like it would make a soft lining suitable for newly hatched birds, it readily absorbs moisture, which isn't helpful at all in trying to keep nestlings warm and dry.

Did you know that Watching Backyard Birds is the only magazine in North America devoted entirely to backyard birds? Subscribe today and receive a heaping helping of backyard content year-round! »



What do you think? Tell us!

comments powered by Disqus

New On This Site

The Latest Comments

  • Re: HOME IMPROVEMENT: Simple Steps to Make Your Backyard Habitat a More Welcoming Place for Feathered Friends
    Thank you for sharing some things to take into consideration when it comes to backyard renovation, this is very timely as I'm planning to turn a portion of my backyard into some sort of patio while maintaining a nice open lawn area as well. I saw some outdoor furniture and outdoor decor on this website and after reading this article, I checked them out again and I found more stuff that I would love to buy for my new patio.
    by Eleonor Baker, Thu, 15 Apr 2021
  • Re: These Holiday Gift Ideas Are for the Backyard Birds
    Something is wrong with the Goldfinches in April 2021. I had to stop putting seed in our feeder because the birds seem to have a hard time flying. That attracts our cats, and I do not want to feed the cats. I have actually picked up two birds that seemed to be struggling to fly and tossed one into the air and another on a large pile of leaves. They took off, but they are very lethargic.
    by Beasleyhillman, Sat, 03 Apr 2021
  • Re: Jays: At the Table and in the Trees » Watching Backyard Birds.com
    How does one attract Calif Scrub Jays?? Due to neighbors outdoor cats most of birds are gone except a fee hummingbirds.
    by Dee Opde, Sun, 21 Mar 2021
  • Re: How Much Seed in a Pound of Seed? » Watching Backyard Birds.com
    You are talking about "black oil sunflower seeds" but showing regular striped sunflower seeds. There is a BIG difference! There is MUCH less waste with the black oil seeds. Plus they are easier for small birds to eat. They are both shown here: https://www.horsefeedblog.c...
    by Carolyn King, Sat, 20 Mar 2021
  • Re: These Holiday Gift Ideas Are for the Backyard Birds
    How long do other seeds stay fresk? Sunflower seeds? Millet? Safflower?
    by Sue, Sat, 06 Feb 2021