Birdhouse workshop draws a big crowd

BY DAN MCASK I LL

The Farm Center, April 27th, 1987. It was quite an evening. Geoff Hogan, Bill Bowerbank and I set up the room for 40 people and we figured that if 20 to 25 people came out we would have an excellent turn out. By 7:10 P.M. we were out of chairs and, in the subsequent 20 minutes, we finished filling Room 107, the kitchen, and part of the entrance. In all, over 60 people attended the workshop.

Along one side of the room we set up a display of bird houses including a Ducks Unlimited wood duck nest box, a galvanized metal wood duck cylinder, a flicker nest box (complete with its wood shavings and sawdust packing), a kestrel nest box, a tree swallow nest box (with swivel side opening), a bat box, a shelf nest (complete with nest anchoring nails), commercial bird feeders and nest boxes from Island Seed, and the Island Nature Trust's bird feeder. A collection of mounted birds from Island Wild completed the display component of the evening. Handouts featuring designs for tree swallow nest boxes, a variety of entrance templates, and a list of books on bird house construction and bird feeding were provided to those present. In addition, a display of bird house construction books, bird feeding books, and bird identification keys were on display for attendees to browse through.

The formal part of the evening started with Geoff giving a slide presentation on landscaping for wildlife, the need for nest boxes for birds and other wildlife, and the types of birds that could be attracted in various habitats. I followed Geoff's presentation with a session on the construction, mounting, and maintenance of bird houses using the bird houses on hand to illustrate various features.

I Our next enhancement session "for the birds“ will be a workshop in the early fall on bird feeder construction. This will take place before the Island Nature Trust's 2nd Annual Bird Seed Sale. We hope to‘See you there.

P.S. If you would like copies of the handouts distributed at the workshop please drop me a note. ] '

Nest Box Entrance Sizes:

House Wren . l" - 1 1/4" circular

Chickadee, Nuthatch, & Downy Woodpecker 1 1/4" circular

Tree Swallow 1 1/2" circular or 15/16" high, 2 - 3" wide

Common Flicker . 2 1/2" circular

Kestrel, Saw.Whet Owl, or squirrel 3" circular

Barred Owl . 79 with rounded corners

Entrance Size References: ' Henderson, Carol L. 198?. Woodworking for Wildlife. Minnesota Dept.. Natural Resources Nongame Program. Canadian Wildlife Service. 1977. "Nest Boxes for Birds”. CWS, P.O. Box 1590, Sackville, N.B. EOA 3C0.

Tufts, Robie W. 1961. The Birds of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, N.S.