5 Easy Tips for Hosting Nesting Birds Safely in Your Yard

During the spring season, more and more birds appear around our homes. Their presence is a clear sign that nature has finally awakened from its winter sleep, and soon, everything will be filled with greenery and warmth. But not everything is easy for birds who tend to breed during spring. 

Unpredictable weather and urban expansion often make it hard for them to find safe places where they can lay their eggs and raise their chicks. In addition to aggressive predators, humans have interfered in nature so much these days that it has become scarce for our flying friends to find suitable nesting cavities. 

Many birds are open to living in nests built by us, including chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, wrens, swallows, and more. In case they decide to live on a tree branch in front of your house and not in a birdhouse or a box, you can still try and make the spot safer. Here are tips for you to properly nest birds without harming them.

1. Provide water

Water is a crucial supply for any living creature to survive. Obviously, birds are no exception. They need it for drinking, bathing, and regulating body temperature on hot spring days. If you can, it is better to provide water for them for a whole year and try to keep it as clean as possible.

The water where the birds take baths might be the only known water for younger birds, as this is the place their mother takes them the most, where they can see water. They usually memorize this spot and visit it later to satisfy their thirst or bathe. Ideally, you can try guiding them to a safe watering area. 

Just as homeowners rely on reliable WebHosting services to keep their online spaces secure, birds rely on dependable water sources to keep their spring “home” functional. A simple act of providing water for them can make survival more accessible to birds. 

2. Feed them high-protein foods

Not only do humans require protein for effective daily functioning. It turns out that birds need high-protein foods, such as peanuts, mealworms, and suets, to feel energized throughout the whole day. When birds aren’t hungry, they move around more, and sometimes you might even see them performing funny activities, which is indeed charming to observe. 

If you keep feeding the birds these same high-protein foods all the time, they will memorize where to find them. When you leave them out, even young birds will find their way to food.

3. Create nest boxes

This is probably the most important tip for those who want to host nesting birds. The thing is that a safe, good-looking, and well-spotted shelter is the first thing that can attract these creatures to your yard. 

Birds mostly try to seek shelter in trees or higher-placed spots so they can protect themselves from other animals and even other humans. That’s why you should consider putting a safely built house for them in a similar area. Chances are that this will be easily recognizable to them, and soon, you might even notice birds bringing twigs, moss, and feathers to set up their housekeeping in your yard.

4. Put out eggshells

This one might sound a bit unusual, but it can help female birds after they lay their eggs. Once the birds start breeding, they lose a lot of calcium. However, they require this mineral to restore their bodies and get ready to breed again. What’s more, calcium supports their muscles and bones so they can function effectively. 

Considering this, while producing eggs, birds use almost all the calcium they contain. Putting out eggshells for them will help them rebuild their calcium. So if you decide to build a nest for the birds, save your eggshells, dry them in an oven for 10-30 minutes, and put them out crushed into very small pieces.

5. No cats allowed

If you want to keep the birds in your nest safe, you must not let a cat near it. If you have a cat, make sure to keep it out of your birdhouse, as cats are famous for hunting birds.

In case a cat is around, birds will sense danger and change their minds about staying at the nest you provided for them. For their survival, it is better to double-check that you or your neighbor’s cat is not lurking around your birdhouse and trying to get its claws on the birds.

Bottom line

Birds are certainly important creatures that represent life and happiness. Since they are often very vulnerable, they need a hand to survive in this world where nature and animals try to maintain balance along with the development of the technological environment. Building nests for birds can help them get through all this and bring us joy, while they keep on doing their job in the circle of life.