Mounting a Bird House

One of the most important safety considerations when providing nest sites for cavity nesting birds is how to mount a bird house.

Raccoons, snakes, ants, opossums, cats and other predators have easy access to and often raid nests in bird houses mounted on wooden posts and trees.

Predators are watching your birdhouse more than you are because they depend on their hunting skills for survival.  To a hungry predator, a wooden box with a hole in it is about the same thing as the Golden Arches at McDonalds to a hungry human.

Living trees may seem to be the most natural site for a bird house but they are not.  Even natural nesting cavities are normally in barren dead trees where predators often become the prey if they risk climbing bleached white branches on their way to the bird nest.

Birds will accept a bird house away from living trees much more quickly than one mounted on a tree trunk or in and under tree branches.  This is because birds are fully aware that most of the predators which are a constant threat to their lives spend a lot of time in trees covered with leaves.  

You may think the young birds inside the birdhouse you've been watching grew up and flew away.  But a large number of these were eaten by a raccoon, snake or other predator during the night only a day or two before they would have flown away.

The North American Bluebird Society says:

Coating the pole with grease will also help to keep predators off the box."

Lesson 3: What Makes a Great Birdhouse

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