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Bird duplexes

 
Pearl Sutton
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Bird duplexes?
Well it started like this...
I need more bug control in the garden.
The birds come and visit but rarely nest.
I want them to nest.
Where could I give them nest places? Not a lot of options here.
The shed has weird eaves. There was leftover house siding in the shed when we moved in.
hmm....

Some cutting of siding, bending of wires, and a handful of sheetrock screws later...

Bent wires hold the back up and keep it so it drains if it gets wet.


Slices of siding screwed to the beams, sitting on the wire.


Cut off pieces of siding put on the front, with spaces left for entry


And final pic, doesn't look bad.


Bird duplexes! I hope the birds like them. I want my bugs eaten!!
This was inspired by, and done at the same time as this:   Wasp condo for cabbage moth control?
Hopefully someone eats the cabbage moth caterpillars! I'd really like to get some brassicas this year.

Me and my mom think they look like something out of a highway rest area...


Or more like a picnic table enclosure in the desert rest areas, where the wind needs blocking:


This rest area is south of Albuquerque on I25, called Walking Sands, and it's hard to see, but each of the little rooms has an entrance, and a table to each side, all protected from the blowing sand... That's what I was envisioning as I made these duplexes.


Ok birds, do it! Come build nests, raise babies, eat bugs, do it, do it, do it!!
You KNOW you want to....

:D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Jenny Wright
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Any takers yet?

We have swallows who nest every year under our eaves balanced on the wires that go up to an old satellite dish. Every spring they are so busy swooping around catching bugs for the babies!
 
Jay Angler
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The swallows were having a party in my field today. You're making me feel guilty that I haven't put up houses for them! I'm still too busy repairing housing for when my next duck hatches out babies. I'm just happy that project is making progress.

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Pearl Sutton
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Nope. I was really hoping the wrens would claim it. They usually grab sits that look like that.

No clue what I'm doing wrong.
Might need to put some brush in front of them, but haven't had time.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
May Lotito
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Barn swallows are building nest this week under my porch. Maybe some will find your place soon.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Jay Angler
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Pearl Sutton wrote:Nope. I was really hoping the wrens would claim it. They usually grab sits that look like that.

No clue what I'm doing wrong.
Might need to put some brush in front of them, but haven't had time.

Maybe they don't like the feel of the metal? Have you considered putting some cardboard on the metal for more secure footing?

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Pearl Sutton
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It's vinyl siding, not metal. And I haven't even seen any lookers.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
K Kaba
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There's a whole bunch of info out there on how different bird types have specific preferences for birdhouse entrance size/shape, the inside dimensions of the box, how high up the box is placed and sometimes facing what direction... I don't know how meaningful it all really is? but if you're after a specific type or two of bug eaters it might be worth playing with.

I'm going to go outside now and yell some more at the robin that keeps building nests two feet from my front door. Birds!
 
Heather Sharpe
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What direction does the side of the shed you put them on face? If it's South or West, maybe it gets too hot?

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

 
Pearl Sutton
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K Kaba wrote:There's a whole bunch of info out there on how different bird types have specific preferences for birdhouse entrance size/shape, the inside dimensions of the box, how high up the box is placed and sometimes facing what direction... I don't know how meaningful it all really is? but if you're after a specific type or two of bug eaters it might be worth playing with.


This is a rental, and what I did was what could be done easily with what I have underfoot. I figured maybe it'll attract someone. The places  I see nests often look a lot like that, places under the roofline where there's a ledge, the bent gutters are a prime bird real estate around here. Don't have time or energy to do much else. And logistics here are bad, no places to hook or hang things. I don't even have a clothesline, no place to run it.

Heather Sharpe wrote: What direction does the side of the shed you put them on face? If it's South or West, maybe it gets too hot?


It's east, facing the garden, shaded much of the day by big maple trees. I debated the north, but it would have been difficult to do, there would have been no water protection, and the north wind here is heavy and tends to bite.


I don't know, if I were a bird I'd at least look at it, they look everywhere else. I'll see if I can come up with time to get some brush I can wedge up there to make it a bit less stark.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Jenny Wright
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Our birds' near faces Northwest and it doesn't ever get a bit of direct sunlight so maybe that is the issue for yours.

Do you have bluebirds in your area? Bluebirds will nest in the sunshine if they have the right box. Maybe some bluebird boxes would work there. We used to have a frequently used bluebird box on top of our swing set in NC, full sun most of the day.
20220530_132555_HDR.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20220530_132555_HDR.jpg]
 
Mk Neal
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Looks like a place house sparrows would love!  They nest in a similar area under our eaves and in the neighbors’ vents.

Weeds are just plants with enough surplus will to live to withstand normal levels of gardening!--Alexandra Petri

 
May Lotito
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I looked up a book on building birdhouses and feeders, one of them is similar to your set up and it will attract birds like robins, sparrows and barn swallows.
birdhouse.JPG
[Thumbnail for birdhouse.JPG]

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Pearl Sutton
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May Lotito wrote:I looked up a book on building birdhouses and feeders, one of them is similar to your set up and it will attract birds like robins, sparrows and barn swallows.



Yup. That's exactly what I was thinking of when I put that stuff up. Looks like bird places to me.
I'm not a bird. Not sure why it's being snubbed.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Marc Dube
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It takes time for birds to accept places and bird houses. Last year I put up 50 bird houses and 50 ledges for barn swallows around the property for the same reason as you did insect control. Out of those 100 spots there were maybe 10 that were used right away and another 5 wrens moved into later in the summer.

You did your part making an inviting place for them to make a nest now it's time for patients. You may have missed the first nesting round of Robin's but they will continue nesting throughout the summer.
 
John C Daley
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https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2010/Best-Bird-Houses
This site details box sizes  for different birds

John Daley Bendigo, Australia The Enemy of progress is the hope of a perfect plan
Benefits of rainfall collection https://permies.com/t/88043/benefits-rainfall-collection
GOOD DEBT/ BAD DEBT https://permies.com/t/179218/mortgages-good-debt-bad-debt

 
John C Daley
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In the UK, bird boxes are built into the buildings.
Here is one example
https://www.birdbrickhouses.co.uk/brick-nesting-boxes/nesting-boxes/

another http://www.aarondunkerton.com/bird-nesting-brick/
MarieStone-2936-740x493.jpg
[Thumbnail for MarieStone-2936-740x493.jpg]

John Daley Bendigo, Australia The Enemy of progress is the hope of a perfect plan
Benefits of rainfall collection https://permies.com/t/88043/benefits-rainfall-collection
GOOD DEBT/ BAD DEBT https://permies.com/t/179218/mortgages-good-debt-bad-debt

 
Pearl Sutton
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John C: COOL! That makes total sense to me! I have nesting places designed into my home construction, where I would like if I were a bird, basically a semi-partitioned shelf way up under the overhang of the roof. Safe from weather, predators that can't fly, and possibly some that can, and facing where there are things to eat and drink.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Morning came much too soon and it brought along a friend named Margarita Hangover, and a tiny ad.
A rocket mass heater is the most sustainable way to heat a conventional home
http://woodheat.net
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