Thank you so much to the person who wrote to me and asked about leaving materials outside for birds to use to make nests. While it isn’t time to think about that now – we still have snow in Manitoba – there are many places in the world where birds are looking for materials right now. You can also use this list to gather up materials later.
There are two common things that people put out thinking they are helping birds but they are not. Their little legs get caught, twisted, and broken. Those two things are mesh fruit bags and the other is yarn and string. There was a recent article suggesting that people put things inside a mesh bag so that the birds can pull the material out. Please don’t. Use a wire suet container – they cannot get their tiny legs caught in it – if you feel you have to hang up the material. There are also craftspeople making specialized metal objects just for this purpose. And while yarn is commonly thought of as a good nesting material and people delight in seeing the colourful strands woven into a nest, the yarn also can get twisted around little legs. I know that no one putting out nesting material wants to break the legs of these lovely creatures.
To read more on this story, click here: Do Not Use Dog Hair For Bird Nests
