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For the Birds Treat your feathered friends right - safety first for beautiful results  Image courtesy Smith & Hawken When buying a birdhouse, beauty added to a low price tag isn't everything. Aesthetically pleasing birdhouses may also be uncomfortable shelters for birds if they're flimsy, darkly colored or built out of the wrong material. All of these factors should play a role in your decision-making process for buying a birdhouse. "The worst type of birdhouses are imports from Taiwan or China, made out of a fragile, soft wood attached with staples, rather than screws or nails," says Richard T. Banks of Pinehurst, N.C., an architect and birdhouse designer. "These things wouldn't last a season." Bill Thompson III, editor of "Bird Watcher's Digest" in Marietta, Ohio says to think of the bird first. Cheaper may be great for you but can prove harmful to birds. "I've seen bird houses with license-plate roofs and USC or Notre Dame colors," Thompson says. "Those dark colors can fry the birds. Or the wood is so thin that it's not going to insulate the birds in the winter. Or the holes in the bottom are so big that their birds legs are going to slip through." Bird lovers with a tight budget should try the plastic martin SuperGourds created by ornithologist James Hill, III of Edinboro, Pa. The durable 30-ounce, 10-inch plastic gourds retail at $25, and are heavier than natural gourds, so they swing less in the win. "I thought they were one of the coolest innovations of, say, the last decade," says Thompson, The gourd features an access port, a molded-in canopy and perching platform, and is available through the Purple Martin Conservation Association and retailers nationwide. If you're still having trouble shopping for your backyard neighbors, Thompson suggests finding a wild bird store or a nature center. "They're typically is going to be somebody who knows what they are talking about," he says. |
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