Tag Archive: Bird Houses
All winter long, a bird’s most difficult task is to continually forage enough food during the day to provide the calories they need to keep warm at night when they aren’t eating.
Cold winter wind saps energy and warmth from birds, and this is especially so at night when their reserves aren’t being replenished. And if a bird’s energy reserves are compromised during the night, it makes the next day’s survival that much more difficult.
Many people provide birds with food and water during the day, but we can go one step further. We can help birds make it through long, winter nights by providing shelters where they can escape freezing winds and icy temperatures.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/offering-winter-bird-nests/
Environmentally friendly backyard birding can be a lot of fun. I like to consider and evaluate green options when choosing a new feature for my backyard birding environment.
Recycle, Repurpose and Reuse
Repurposed Soda Bottle Feeder
Repurposed Soda Bottle Feeder
Bird feeders can be very easily constructed out of repurposed materials. Finding a new use for a discarded soda bottle is a fun and challenging activity for kids as well as adults. Doing this, makes you look at everyday objects in a totally new and creative way.
The easiest reuse of a container for backyard birding is to make a gravity fed sunflower seed or nyjer seed feeder from a soda bottle. An inverted soda bottle with few small holes, wooden dowel or stick and a string or wire for suspension will make a terrific bird feeder. Smaller feeders can be made with water bottles.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/go-green-recycle-repurpose-and-reuse/
The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a member of the Picidae family, and is the largest common woodpecker of the eastern United States. It is found primarily in northeastern US and southern Canada, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas. Its common habitat is wooded areas, including suburban neighborhoods and parks. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers are very tolerant of humans, and are regular visitors to backyard garden feeders (especially during the winter), favoring sunflower seed, suet, and fruit. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers climb and “hitch” along branches and trunks of trees, picking at the bark.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/about-red-bellied-woodpecker/
Black-Capped Chickadee
Scientific Name: Poecile atricapilla
The state bird of Maine and Massachusetts, the Black-Capped Chickadee is a small, common songbird in the Tit family generally found throughout Alaska, Canada and the northern United States.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/about-black-capped-chickadee/
House Sparrows are the most abundant songbirds in North America and the most widely distributed birds on the planet. These small, round birds are frequent visitors to suburban backyard bird feeders, and are commonly found in school yards, fast food parking lots, and street corners. Imported from England to North America between 1850 and 1886 in an effort to control insects, the House Sparrow (originally called the “English sparrow”) has grown in population to over 150 million. It’s aggressive nesting behavior and adaptability to humankind, has led to this increase and given them an unpopular status among many birding enthusiast.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/about-house-sparrow/
Generally, a backyard birder can be defined as someone who enjoys feeding and seeing wild birds in their garden or patio. Backyard birding is a new name for a very old activity. At some point in our lives, we’ve probably all hung a bird feeder, thrown bread on the ground, or maybe even taken pause on a warm summer day to listen to the “feee-dee-de” whistle of a male chickadee – all backyard birding activities. The basic components of backyard birding are providing food & water, and shelter for the visiting wild birds.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/what-is-backyard-birding/
Eight years ago, Bill Askenburg established New England Birdhouse of Chelmsford, Mass., a niche business offering custom miniature replicas of clients’ homes that serve as weather-resistant bird shelters. As he works meticulously on each piece, he says he always considers how special each one is going to be to the recipient.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/inside-nebh/no-ordinary-nest/
A nest-cam or a bird house video camera, is a device for monitoring birds inside their nesting cavity. The 24-7 access to the nest provides an amazing view of rarely seen events such as nest creation, egg incubation & hatching, nestling and fledgling development and feeding activities.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/bird-nest-cameras/
Mourning Dove
Scientific Name: Zenaida macroura
A member of the dove family (columbidae), Mourning Doves are the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. They are named for their mournful call. They are very prolific breeders – raising up to six broods per year. Parents are typically monogamous, and both incubate and care for the young.
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/about-mourning-dove/
Father’s Day is near and if your dad is a bird watching enthusiast, or a backyard birder who enjoys relaxing on the patio watching his bird feeders and bird bath, we’ve compiled a top-five list of unique gift ideas just for …
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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/stuff-we-like/fathers-day-gift-ideas/
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