Why You Should Clean Out Bird Houses

 

Each fall, my husband cleans out the bird houses around the farm. He takes the cordless drill with him to unscrew the tops of all the bluebird houses. Then he opens up the top and gently removes the nesting materials left there by each family who inhabited the bluebird house during the past year.

Most of the time, he finds empty nests. The nests are built up high – higher than the books say they should be. Most of the books tell you that bluebirds build their nests near the bottom of the nesting boxes, but our bluebirds always build them up so that they enter and are almost at eye level with their babies. It probably makes it easier to feed them, but it also makes it easier for predators, such as the cats, to find them.

This weekend, we found two nests with eggs still in them. It made me sad to think about the babies who didn’t make it, and I’m not sure why the parents abandoned the nests. The top photo shows one of the nests with the pretty blue eggs still snugly cupped inside the pine straw.

Here’s another nest we found, with some of the eggs opened and some still closed:

I looked online today for an answer as to why the eggs might have abandoned. One article said that if something happens to the mother bluebird, the nest will be abandoned, as Dad can’t hatch the eggs by himself. I sure hope the cats aren’t to blame!

Dirty birdhouses can harbor mites, bacteria and fungi. It’s important to clean out backyard bird houses at least once a year. The experts say to clean birdhouses after the last clutch of eggs has fledged, but I never know exactly when my birds are completely finished with their nests and I don’t wan’t to disturb them while they’re still in parenting mode, so my husband and I typically wait until the fall before cleaning out the nest boxes.

To clean bird houses, follow these steps:

1. Open up the bird house. We use the cordless drill to unscrew the top or a side of the house. Some birdhouses have hinged lids, which make cleaning very easy!
2. Wear garden gloves to protect your hands. Reach in and lift out the old nesting materials. We carry a bucket around the yard and place the nests inside the bucket.
3. Scrape out any feces or dirt. An old paint scraper works wonders.
4. If you can take down the bird house entirely, wash it with a weak solution of one part bleach to nine parts water. Rinse with clean water until all traces of the bleach solution are gone, then leave it open and in the sun to dry out.
5. Inspect the bird house and fix any warped boards, cracks or loose perches before replace it or replacing the cover.

The bleach solution will kill any microorganisms lurking about in the bird house and keep it nice and clean for subsequent broods.

We also look around the house and especially under the eaves for other nests, which can come down during snow and ice storms and clog the gutters. Here are two Eastern phoebes nests we’ve had over the years – one built under the eaves of the house, on top of a rain gutter, and the other built on the ceiling fan in our front porch. We had to duct tape the ceiling fan blades to the roof of the porch so that it stopped spinning around while the eggs were in the nest. I always wondered what those babies thought about their spinning cradle!

Take a moment this week to clean out the bird houses around your garden. Future generations of your feathered friends will thank you!

My new book, Attract Birds to Your Garden, is available in paperback and ebook formats from Amazon, and in your choice of ebook formats from Smashwords.com and wherever ebooks are sold.