HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 08, 1975 - Nesting Sites Are Scarce- Help By Building Boxesfocus
on nature by Paul
Stoutenburgh Nesting Sites
Are Scarce- Help
By Building Boxes Nesting
boxes are well worth
the effort. I can still remember in my
youth the first nesting box I put up.
It must have been when I was in about 5th
or 6th grade. My Dad had bought me a 5 and
10 cent store kit made of 1/4" redwood, a sort
of do- it- yourself thing. The shape is still used
today, a square, tipped on edge 45 degrees.
It was put up with youthful anticipation outside my bedroom
window on an old oak
tree. The reward for my efforts was to have
the state bird of New York nest in it—the
beautiful Bluebird. What a thrill! Never again
have I ever
enticed one to nest. As a matter of
fact, we rarely see one now -a -days. What a
loss to the countryside. Some years ago I was
fortunate enough to photograph the Bluebird while camping
with the family at Wildwood
State Park. We kept seeing the birds fly
back and forth over our campsite and decided they
must be feeding their young nearby. After
watching and following them for some
time, posting someone here and someone else
there through the woods, we were
able to find the nest in an old tree
hole. I photographed both the male and female feeding
and cleaning the nest. That was perhaps
ten to fifteen years ago. Still, there are
a few
around today. Just yesterday Dr. Cunliffe called me
to verify a sighting on Plum Island. That
area is ex- tremely good for birding and
has one of the largest Night Heron and Snowy
Egret rookeries along the eastern seaboard.
But that's another story .... now
back to the birdhouses. My next endeavor, came
years
later when my skill with saw and
hammer became more proficient. This time I
went into the business of birdhouses in a
big way. I set up a production line and, in
what my youthful mind seemed no time at
all, had 15 to 20 boxes ready for sale. Fame
and fortune would soon be mine. Summer
folks would be out on the weekend and
all I had to do was display my works of art
and take in the money. h. We lived in
Fleets
Neck -
then, just about the only family year round
and any en- terprising young person had to
work weekends to make a few
extra dollars. I tacked my boxes on a
long board and set them up in the front
yard ..... and waited. How could people miss such
a buy? and with such superior craftsmanship? Ah,
finally a car stopped. One
of the fine people of Cutchogue got out, Miss
Kathryn Fleet, a person sensitive to the outdoors
and, I might add, from that day on
a warm personal friend. I can remember what
happened exactly for it was a
hightlight of my youthful career of selling. As Miss
Fleet went up and down the long row of
bird boxes trying to decide which one would draw
a prospective tenant —Lo and behold a
House Wren came along and started building in
one. There was no need for high pressure
salesmanship that I was about to start
in on, rather a soft deliberate "That settles it! I'
ll take two." And so I was launched
into the world of business. I couldn't have
a
more cunning partner than the House Wren or,
as some call her, Jenny Wren. Like all wrens
they have the habit of making many nests,
not just one for their clutch of eggs, but
others for some unknown joy of just building
nests. Evidently the bird was building
in the area and saw the fine examples
of nesting sites and just started filling them
all. At any rate, it worked and no matter
who stopped by, Jenny Wren was there proving
the use of my boxes to all. Sales finally
dropped sharply when she started incubating and
the natural drive to build nests disappeared.
I'm still building boxes—
anything from the small wren box which
chickadees also nest in to the large
multi - dwelling boxes of the Purple Martin. Now there'
s a bird worth attracting. Martins are worth a
thousand cans of bug spray and
the joy of watching their flight and listening to
their chatter makes the effort of this
kind of apartment house well worth its time.
There are only a few things to remember about
martins. Like anything worthwhile it takes time —
perhaps two or three years -or,
longer to attract them..
USING THE DIMENSIONS ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE A BASIC BIRD BOX CAN BE
MADE USING THE FOLLOWING OUTLINE.
NOTE: KEY DIMENSIONS ARE — ENTRANCE OPENING, DISTANCE OF OPENING
TO FLOOR AND HOW HIGH FROM THE GROUND THE BOX IS TO BE PLACED.
PURPLE MARTIN
BOX
SLANT ROOF
ABOUT 1 IN.
1
UPRIGHT OF
SUITABLE HEIGHT
TO SECURE YOUR
BIRD HOUSE TO
FENCE, TREE OR POST
11
PARTS NEEDED TO BUILD
ONE BIRD BOX
OPTIONAL: PIECE OF ROOFING SHINGLE
WILL LENGTHEN LIFE OF
BIRD BOX
t
OPENING
MOST
IMPORTANT
SWINGS OPEN FOR
CLEANING
SCREW TO SECURE FRONT
NOTE: USE APPROPRIATE SIZE
GALVANIZED NAILS
1/2 or 3/4 IN. WOOD OF
ALMOST ANY KIND
LEAVE BOX NATURAL
INSTALL TO CORRECT
HEIGHT ABOVE GROUND
I
I
I
ILI
I 2SIDES 1 -BACK 1 -FRONT 1 -TOP 1- BOTTOM
SIDES NAILED -BACK FITS' FRONT PIVOTS TOP -1 IN. LARGER BOTTOM FITS
TO BACK AND BETWEEN BETWEEN -THAN BOX ALL UP INTO SIDES
BOTTOM - NOT `2 SIDES 2 SIDES AROUND -BACK AND FR(
TO FRONT
I- MOUNTING
STICK
P. STOUTE N BU RGH 4/27/75