Bird Country US
Conservation of North America's birds through research and education
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Bird Country US |
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Conservation of North America's birds through research and education |
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Bird Country US Nestbox Program
| Our Nestbox Program | The Birds and Their Habitats |
| Our Custom-designed Nestboxes | Monitoring Instructions |
| ORDER MY NESTBOXES | |
"I can't seem to get the right birds to nest in my nestboxes." We've heard it time after time after time. It could be that the nestbox you have is not as attractive to the birds you are trying to attract than one might think. One size does not fit all. Bird Country US now has specially designed nestboxes available for many of the secondary cavity-nesting birds in the continental US - boxes that most closely approximate the birds' optimal choices in nature. No more "put it out and see what you get." You can now target your conservation efforts by offering what the birds themselves prefer.
How are Bird Country US nestboxes different from others? There are many different types of nestboxes at a wide range of prices available on today's market and many of them are just fine. But our research has found some discrepancies when we looked into exactly what these species prefer in the "real" world. For instance, with a quick web search you will find that the most common nestbox dimensions for Eastern Bluebirds is 5" x 5'. but some say 4" x 4". Believe it or not, an inch makes a HUGE difference. One box is 25 square inches and the other is 16 square inches. But, we need to talk volume, so we have to look at height as well. Some say the height should be 6"; others say 7 inches, while still others say 8-12 inches. A few even say 6-12 inches. Interestingly, some that give the floor dimensions of 5 inches square, give a height of 8-12 inches. That gives us a range of volume of 200 to 300 cubic inches. The Bird Country US nestbox for Eastern Bluebirds is 128 cubic inches. What does all this mean? One word - thermoregulation.
Cavity-nesting birds have altricial young. This simply means that the young hatch with no feathers, blind, virtually helpless. The parent birds help the young maintain their proper body temperature by transferring their body heat to the young - brooding. A parent bird will have an easier time maintaining their own body temperature in a box that the proper size for them - in other words a box that is not too difficult to heat itself. Eastern bluebird boxes that measure 128 cubic inches, 200 cubic inches, or 300 cubic inches are all big enough for the parents to raise their young. But in a box that is 128 cubic inches, it is much easier for the parent to maintain its own body temperature than it would be in a box that is 300 cubic inches. In other words, the more properly-fitting box is more energy-efficient for the birds. Greater energy efficiency translates into healthier birds, both parents and their young offspring.
| Our Nestbox Program | The Birds and Their Habitats |
| Our Custom-designed Nestboxes | Monitoring Instructions |
| ORDER MY NESTBOXES | |
To determine the
proper dimensions for the Bird Country US nestboxes, we have gone to the
literature and studied what the birds prefer in their natural habitat as
reported by literally hundreds of scientists across the country. Bird Country US
nestboxes most closely resemble those natural cavities in floor dimensions,
height, hole size, and height of hole from bottom of cavity.
When we went back to our web search, we noticed that one particular size of box was recommended for Chickadees, Titmice, Wrens, Nuthatches, House Finches, House Sparrows, two species of Swallows, the Downy Woodpecker, and even the Prothonotary Warbler. But when we went to the literature and looked at the natural cavities for these same species, we found not one, but SIXTEEN sizes that these species prefer in the wild. The bottom line is that we believe that the Bird Country US nestboxes are the best possible artificial nesting structures that you can provide for the birds in your area.
But providing nestboxes is not all there is to avian conservation. You need to know exactly what type of habitat a particular species requires, how to recognize if your nestboxes are being used, and the effectiveness of that use. After all, putting up a nestbox can be a great conservation tool, but not if the birds that use these structures continually produce fewer offspring than their "natural" counterparts. Human impacts can be both positive and negative. We need to make sure that our efforts result in positive impacts for the species most in need of our help. That's what the Bird Country US Nestbox Program is all about - providing you with the best possible structures for your target species and documenting the effectiveness of these structures.
If you're ready to take the nest step, simply click here to find out which species of birds that use artificial nest structures might be in your area. You can then click on that species and compare their preferred habitat to what you might have available.
| Our Nestbox Program | The Birds and Their Habitats |
| Our Custom-designed Nestboxes | Monitoring Instructions |
| ORDER MY NESTBOXES | |
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Click here to go to the Bird Country e-Store or on any of the links below to see some of our great merchandise. |
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Proceeds from the Bird Country US e-Store help support our conservation and education efforts. |
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| Bird Guides | Understanding Birds | Birdsong CDs | Nature Writings | Bird Ornaments | Bird Country US T's |
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Click on our eagle head logo atthe top of any page to go to the Bird Country US Home page. |
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| Conservation | Education | e-Store | Bird Country Blog | Calendar | Partners | Contact Us |
| Help protect birds | Learn about birds | Books, CDs, etc. | Talk with us | Happenings | in Bird Conservation | Email us |
All written material, photographs and other images on this website are copyrighted. Photographs are the property of Hammond Photography unless otherwise noted.
Use of any of this material without the express written consent of Bird Country US and Hammond Photography is strictly prohibited.
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