Any bird expert?

Aug 06, 2008 12 Replies

Hi, In my back yard and at the cabin out in the woods I built and hung quite a few bird houses. I have one question. At the end of season do I need to clean out the nests they built or leave them as is? I can access inside of the house and when I checked all has nests and chicks moved out.


Hi Tony - We clean them out every year - here is a good link for info:

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Hi Tony - We clean them out every year

Must be section 8, always need to go in and clean up after the tenants move out. Mike :-)

It is a good idea to clean it out and get all the lice etc out of there.

A clean and empty house will be much more inviting to the next batch come spring. Just like humans, they prefer houses that don't take days of cleanup before they can move in. I'm no bird expert, but IIRC, almost no species will reuse somebody else's nest. There are a few that will come back and add another layer to their own old nest, though, but I don't think those kinds use houses.

-- aem sends...

Hi, Thanks. I'll clean them out proper.

I have done either one. Obviously, if you want to take the house in for the winter, clean it out with soapy water with some bleach. Most birds will clean out a used birdhouse before making their own nest. My first birdhouse built over 25 years ago is still holding up well, and the birds seem to prefer it over the newer models.

birds just build nest over old nest, till the house gets so jammed its unusable.

I am no expert but have near 25 bird houses on our property.

Also have some bird roost houses to put up, so birds have nice warm winter home.

Make sure you clean them out in the spring so as to get the mouse nests out that were built over the winter.

-dickm

Phisherman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Extreme Makeover candidate.

" snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

I see. A regular slum lord you are.

Both of you should get security deposits, to pay for the cleaning if necessary.

Oops. Wrong ng.

Most newer models have formaldehyde in the walls.

Esp. the ones the federal government supplies.

If you apply for a C of O, you'll need EPA certificates. If you don't have one, it will be very hard to collect rent.

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