March 11, 1982 - Building a Better Bird HouseMarch 11,4982` The *Uffolk Thuto
Building a Better Bird House
The temperature has warmed up enough
for the shop in the garage to be used again.
Most of the winter its contents have been in
the deep freeze. Now with a few pieces of
wood in the old stove, the place will
become quite comfortable and I can get
some work done.
The first order of business will be
reorganizing winter's drop-it- here -and-
put-it- away -later accumulation. How one
place can get so turned around and upside
down is beyond me.
Among the rubble heap will be piles of
wood I planned for some future projects;
piece of mahogany that washed up on the
ocean beach, and a slab of oak that
weathered to a silvery sheen that I just
couldn't pass by. Then there are the odd
pieces of plywood that someone had
thrown in the dump and, of course, a nice
collection of odds and ends of cedar and
redwood that were left over from a patio
job. All these have been dropped here and
there through the winter and now will be
sorted and used.
After the initial cleanup and putting
things away, I'll start on my annual bird
box project. This will be anything from
replacing old and broken boxes to build-
ing new ones. Even my feeder needs some
attention, what with its broken top and
half- chewed side from some squirrel who
was after my sunflower seeds.
I like to get bird boxes up early so they'll
get weathered and lose some of their new
smell that might discourage a bird from
using them. I've never painted my boxes
because first it just doesn't seem to be the
natural way for a bird box and secondly
I'm always concerned the smell of paint
might discourage nesting.
Favorite wood: Cedar or Redwood
As for wood, my favorite is cedar or
redwood. They both withstand the weather
well and are soft and easy to work with.
Also, they don't split when you drive a nail
into them. By the way, a good nail to use is
a galvanized inch - and -a -half hold fast
nail. They do a terrific job, for they are
thinner than the standard nail meaning
less splitting and as the name implies they
hold better than the others.
As far as design goes you can use any of
the standard bird house designs but I
pretty much stick to the one piece
slanted -roof type. It's simple to build and
once you have the pattern worked out you
can mass produce them easily. Dimen-
sions can be shifted to any size box you
want, the only critical one being the size of
the opening. This controls what goes in and
out; too small will keep out the very bird
you want to attract and too large will invite
the starling.
If you want to stick to just one size bird
house made with one hole, an inch -and -a
half will be a good diameter to use. This
will attract a wide variety of birds yet
hopefully keep out the starling, who, if he
had his way, would inherit the earth.
Boxes placed in the woods will attract
chickadees, nuthatches, crested flycat-
chers, woodpeckers, and others while a
box out on a fence post overlooking a field
or pasture will attract swallows and
possibly that rare individual, the bluebird.
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It's a long time since I've seen bluebirds
nesting here on Long Island. They're
around but are pretty hard to find. One
place you can always see them, although
they are spread out in such a vast area it
makes them difficult to find is the Pine
Barrens, those increasingly important
areas of wilderness that stretch through
the middle of our island.
House Sparrow Most Common Tenant
The boxes you put up in your front or
backyard will probably attract the com-
mon house sparrow. This is the bird that
flourished during the horse -and -buggy
days and. has now taken second place in
many communities to the house finch - -a
gaudier bird with a more enjoyable song.
The house sparrow is a drab little bird with
hardly a voice at all. The plaintive
"Cheep- cheep" is about all you can expect
from him but nevertheless he does his
share in insect collecting around our yard
so I don't find him objectionable at all. The
finches don't take to bird boxes but rather
prefer thick climbing bushes or ever-
greens to nest in.
If you have an area big enough, don't
neglect to try a large box for screech owls
or even a sparrow hawk. I've had both nest
in boxes that I've put up. The only problem
I find with the large boxes is that they
sometimes are taken over by our good
friend the gray squirrel. Putting boxes
away from the woods out on a lone tree will
usually take care of this problem.
With the above in mind, should a squirrel
take on the idea of converting one of your
boxes to his size, he'll chew out the small
opening. This is usually not done for
nesting but to reach the store of nuts or
seeds a mouse placed in them. I don't let
this discourage me, I merely place a metal
plate with my standard size hole over his
chewed -away hole.
Not only are nesting boxes fun to build
but everyone seems to enjoy watching the
birds use them. We never tire of it and I'm
sure once you start this annual building
routine, you too will enjoy them.
PAU.LSTOUTENBURGH
Bay Bottom Hearing
RIVERHEAD - -The third in a series of
public hearings on the proposed leasing of
bay bottoms in Peconic and Gardiners
Bays will be held by the county legislature
on Mar. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Suffolk
Community College Eastern Campus,
Shinnecock Building, lecture room 101. All
interested parties and especially baymen
are urged to attend.
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THIS WEEKEND
of
1
on SPOTLIGHT
1
1
Friday, March 12
1
1
8:00 "CA VEMAN"
1
Inches
Off - the -wall Stone Age Comedy
Inches
1
Ringo Starr, Jack Gilford
1
6 to 3
Saturday, March 13
1
1
10:30 "MARTINMULL PRESENTS
1
9 to 9
WELL... ITSEEMED FUNNYA T THE TIME"
1,
1
Sunday, March 14
1
1
8 :00 "EYEWITNESS "(R)
11
6 to 15
Spellbinding Mystery
Hurt, Sigourney Weaver
4 x 4
1
William
1
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Cable Channel 2 Long Island Cablevision
( 516) 727 -6300
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House wren
Ik x 4
6 to 3
4 to 6
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6 to 10
Bluebird
5 x 5
9 to 9
6 to 7
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Tree Swallow
5 x 5
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Chickadee
4 x 4
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White- breasted
nuthatch 4 x 4
Hairy woodpecker':- 6 x 6
Downy woodpecker 4 x 4
Flicker-` 7 x 7
Screech owl 9 x 8
Robin 6 x 9
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11
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::Add wood chips or sawdust 2"
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