Putting out nesting materials

[stephen p]

Hey Everyone,

I have just wrote on the thread about the Very cold weather, and it got me thinking.
I have sometimes seen nesting materials in certain shops for the birds but have never really put it out in the garden.

What do you guys do to help the birds with nest materials at this time of year and due to it being so cold?

Cheers,

Stephen

[JeffH]

The birds don't actually 'nest' at this time of year of course but from about early February I shall, as usual, be putting out a large meshed cage-type feeder stuffed with the kind of nesting material you mention.

I've done this for several years now and the Tits seem to love it with several of my nestboxes containing cosily lined nests

I first started doing this after noticing that the Blue and Great Tits were stripping the woolly type material from around the outside of some of our hanging basket liners

Jeff

[Dan Salter]

Hi Stephen

I think you are being confused by the fact that we ALL seem to be taught from the age of small children that birds LIVE in nests....

This is not the case at all....and they only make or build a nest at breeding time..(which is not now) and its used until the eggs hatch and the young birds leave then its abandoned...

For the rest of the year birds just roost in favourite places in trees...some may use a hole...and its common for birds to use empty nest boxes to "roost" in....but they still wont use a nest or nest material..

Hope this clears things up?..

[stephen p]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Hi Stephen

I think you are being confused by the fact that we ALL seem to be taught from the age of small children that birds LIVE in nests....

This is not the case at all....and they only make or build a nest at breeding time..(which is not now) and its used until the eggs hatch and the young birds leave then its abandoned...

For the rest of the year birds just roost in favourite places in trees...some may use a hole...and its common for birds to use empty nest boxes to "roost" in....but they still wont use a nest or nest material..

Hope this clears things up?..

roost thats the word i was after

I know they dont nest at this time of year sorry i wrote that wrong it was roost i was after not nest, but i was just wondering as we have Conifer Trees in the garden and some other tree( i dont know what it is ) and all the tits, finchs and black birds live in there and i have noticed that the finchs keep taking twigs and bits of the tree in there, just wondering if they make up a little site in the trees, i dont want to look incase i disturb them