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Birds are essential to organic pest control. Some birds, such as the purple martin, eat several times their own weight in insects daily. Other birds eat larvae and rodents. Provide nesting boxes, platforms and birdhouses to attract a variety of birds to your backyard garden. Birdhouses can be made from wood, hollow gourds, metal and many other materials. Every bird has a preference for a particular size and shape of birdhouse as well as a preference for the materials from which it is made. Entries that are too large allow the entry of predators. If houses are placed too far off the ground, they will not be used by ground-nesting birds. Those without adequate landing space will not be used by raptors.
Study the birds you wish to attract. Design your birdhouse to resemble their typical nest in shape, size and height from the ground. As much as possible, use the materials they would use themselves. This includes twigs, string, clay or mud, grass, leaves or vines. -
Quail, pheasant, ducks, geese and swans nest on the ground. Conceal their houses in spiky shrubberies such as berry or rose brambles, under groups of trees with low, sweeping branches, or in clusters of rock.
Purple martins nest in locust posts along fence lines. Farmers all over the Midwest know to make small, dark nesting boxes and place them on top of fence posts about four to six feet off the ground. Make the entry holes for these houses smaller than 1 inch in diameter, or starlings and other, more aggressive birds will take over.
Provide raptor houses with a wide lip or ledge where fledglings can perch, as well as a platform large enough for a comfortable landing. Raptors include golden and bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks. Most raptors will not use a nesting platform, box or house that is not at least two stories from the ground. -
Some birds prefer houses that blend into the background. Bright colors work better for others. For example, hummingbirds are attracted to bright orange, neon pink and true red. Robins, on the other hand, prefer greens and browns. Waterfowl prefer tufts of tall grass for nesting. Sandpipers use pebbles, twigs and found objects to create a nest that is almost invisible at first glance. Quail nest in the sweeping branches under fir and spruce trees, nestled in moss.
Use Spanish moss, backyard mud, windfall twigs and string to make each birdhouse look as natural as possible. Re-create the conditions the bird you wish to attract prefers. Minimize the chance for predators to get into the house by making sure entry holes are as small as possible. Use a power drill to give each birdhouse multiple exit points. This will allow the birds to escape if predators gain entry.
