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A friend of mine recently spread out the fourteen birdhouses she had been making and asked for help in deciding where to put them in her backyard. Unfortunately, her yard was on the small side so I had to let her know that perhaps she should pick only a few to put up. Of course, she could have put them all up but only a few would have been used by the birds during nesting season.
The types of birds that will nest in your yard or property are determined partly by the habitat that you have. Many trees and dense shrubs in your neighborhood and yard will attract the forest-loving birds while open expansive fields will attract different ones. Obviously, no matter how wonderful a house you built for flickers, they will not set up their home in your yard if you live on a treeless prairie. If you have a mixture of habitats, you may be able to attract a great number of birds to houses as well as to your feeders.
Also many birds establish territories of land and trees where they will not tolerate other birds. Some types of birds allow other species of birds to share their territory. Still other birds, such as Tree Swallows or Purple Martins, love to have lots of other birds of the same type around. To help decide how many birdhouses to put up, check the chart below for information about many common North American birds that use birdhouses. Remember, you can put up a number of houses for different types of birds.
Birds can be a bit choosy in their future home. Some will inspect several houses before deciding on a particular one. You may wish to give the birds a few to look over in your yard, knowing that only one will be occupied. By giving them a choice, you might keep them from choosing that other one in your neighbor's yard!
| Type of Bird | Height of House from Ground | Placement | Territory size | | American Kestrels | 15' - 30' | Open fields or near the edge of a forested area | Several hundred acres | | Bluebirds | 4' - 6' | Facing open areas or fields | 2.5 - 5 acres | | Chickadees | 5' - 10' | Near trees and open areas | 9 - 10 acres | | Ducks | When on land: 10'+, when box is over water: 4'+ | Facing lakes, streams, marshes | None | | Finches | 4' - 10' | Can be anywhere, usually near your house | Area near birdhouse | | Flycatchers | 6' - 20' | Near the edge of a forested area | ?? | | Nuthatches | 5' - 10' | Wooded areas or mixture of open fields and forested areas | 20 - 50 acres | | Owls | 5' - 20' | Forested areas | Varies by type of owl | | Purple Martins | 8' - 20' | Near your house, preferably with a pond, stream, birdbath nearby | Near their hole of the martin community | | Swallows | 4' - 10' | Open fields | Area near nest | | Titmice | 5' - 10' | Mixture of open fields and forested areas | 2.5 - 5 acres | | Woodpeckers and Flickers | 10' - 20' | Forested areas | Varies by type of woodpecker |
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