We have a couple of feather pillows to chuck out. It occurs to me that the birds might find the contents useful for nest lining.
I'm thinking of hanging one up under the eaves out of the rain with a few holes cut in it to provide a "feather feeder". Has anyone done this? Is it worthwhile?
Tim
Wouldn't they get a bit disturbed in sleepless nights with the thoughts that the feathers once belonged to one of their avian brothers, now dearly departed?
A bit early yet IMO. SWMBO cuts my hair, has done since we were married 35+ years ago, and in the Spring we put the cuttings out for the birds. They only take one or maybe two head's worth of cuttings, so I would think you'd be left with an awful lot of feathers at the end of the nesting season. Late last year, I cut back a hedge extensively, and in it I found a small bird's nest, lined with grey hair! SWMBO now has it in her 'box of treasures'.
We did have a couple of feather pillows to dispose of last Autumn, because the feathers had become brittle over the years and the pillows were 'dead'. Opened them up and put the contents on the compost heap and dumped grass cuttings on them to stop them blowing all over the place.
Yeah, I did think that it might be a bit early. That said, I did hear my first skylark of the year this morning. Now there's a sound to raise the spirits. I guess I'll just try it out a bit later in the year and see what happens.
Tim
On 16 Feb 2014, Chris Hogg grunted:
Blimey! Do tell what else she has in there...
SWMBO here has in her bedside drawer assorted milk teeth (now dunno which child produced which now); the plastic ID bracelets off all three newborns; and (most bizarrely) the dried-up 'tummy button' from our eldest, which gets formed by the stub of the umblilical cord which shrivels up and drops off a few days post-partum. But no birds nests, to my knowledge.
In message , Lobster writes
Just read that out to SWMBO, and made her evening. She is delighted not to be the only one to keep milk teeth and a tummy button :-)
I daren't ask!
What you should do with the spare hair is to get SWMBO to spin it into thread and then knit you long, one-piece underwear with it. I heard of a barber's wife who used to do that - and when the barber walked down the road, his mates used to shout "hairy coms."
.... Arthur Askey c. 1950
no she's not... DAMHIK
A friend of mine has a long haired dog which starts shedding as the weather gets warmer. A good brushing results in a lot of dog hair which the birds eagerly take during the nesting season.
Birds are strange..
I once watched a chafinch savaging another ,,(dead chaffie) in (what was once) my yard..
A vicious attack an a bird that mufht hav flown into what was my window at the time..
It is an interesting idea you have posted..
Let us know what happens
....
PS,,
Tom Sayer,, is fun on CNN
....
Indeed. There's a coal finch that has been throwing itself at our kitchen window. Repeatedly. Since before Christmas.
Near us someone has a large mirror set in the hedge opposite the entrance to their property, better to see any oncoming traffic. It's not uncommon to see a crow attacking its reflection in that mirror, for hours at a time.
ITYM cole tit
Indede.
ITYM coal tit.
Tim
We have a large mirror outside the kitchen window that was repeatedly attacked by a pair of blue t*ts a few years ago. We covered it with a plastic bag, but when the wind lifted one side the birds resumed their attacks on the small part that became visible.
Maybe he did mean 'cole tit' as in tasha coles t*ts ?
Long tailed t*ts line their nests with thousands of feathers, so they will certainly appreciate a local source of feathers,
I'd guess you could call that "Dead Man's Boots Syndrome"
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