CARE OF BIRD HOUSES 



By Ned Dearborn, Assistant U. S. Biologist 



EACH spring before birds return 

 from the South all filth and 

 litter should be carefully re- 

 moved from bird houses. In 

 addition to the relics of previous 

 occupancy, houses are likely to contain 

 cocoons of insects, and nests -of bees or 

 squirrels. Attention to this one item of 

 spring cleaning is a substantial factor 

 in attaching birds permanently to their 



guard them. Among these is the 

 English sparrow, whose persistent at- 

 tacks too often drive more desirable 

 birds away from their nests and from 

 the neighborhood. European starlings, 

 which at present are not distributed 

 beyond a narrow strip of the Atlantic 

 coast region centering about New York, 

 are to be condemned for their pernicious 

 interference with native house birds. 



! 



Fig. 1. food shelter for attachment to 

 trunk of tree. 



houses. A little sulphur scattered 

 about a house is a good remedy for 

 parasites. When bluebirds or swallows 

 take possession of a martin house it is a 

 good plan to put up a one-room house 

 in the vicinity and remove the nest 

 from the martin house. Interlopers, 

 thus evicted, often transfer their house- 

 keeping to the small house. Houses 

 designed for woodpeckers should always 

 have an inch or so of sawdust in the 

 bottom for the reception of eggs, as 

 woodpeckers do not gather nest 

 materials. Due attention should be 

 given to repairs. It is easier to keep 

 houses in good order than to build 

 new ones. 



ENEMIES OF HOUSE BIRDS 



Birds have numerous enemies from 

 which a careful landlord will try to 



Cats and large snakes are enemies of 

 birds, the former perhaps killing more 

 birds than any other mammal. Trees 

 and poles supporting houses should be 

 sheathed with tin or galvanized iron to 

 prevent these enemies from climbing 

 to the nests. Squirrels give more or 

 less trouble by gnawing houses, eating 

 eggs, and killing nestlings. Red squirrels 

 in particular, have a very bad reputa- 

 tion in this respect, and many experi- 

 menters keep their grounds free from 

 them. Some regard flying squirrels as 

 but little better than red ones. Even 

 gray and fox aquirrels are occasionally 

 troublesome. It is not necessary, how- 

 ever, that bird lovers should wage 

 indiscriminate warfare against all squir- 

 rels. It is far better to adopt the rule 

 never to kill a squirrel unless there is 

 reason to believe that it has acquired 



* From a Bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey. 

 582 



