Feb. 5: On the anniversary of the National Wildlife Federation’s start, tips for building a bird house
On this day 78 years ago, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist named Ding Darling dropped his pen and took up the podium to call conservationists to action by forming the National Wildlife Federation.
The momentous occasion was marked in one of Darling’s cartoons, which “features an army of hunters, anglers, gardeners, biologists and children storming the nation’s Capitol. At the fore, men armed with fishing rods and shotguns pluck a figure dubbed “Congress” from the Capitol dome” the NWF writes on its website.
“I’ve always been sympathetic to conservation,” the figure squeals.
“Sympathy is not enough,” the crowd cries. “What we want is ACTION.”
That is in fact what Daring was doing at the time, pulling together some 1,500 people to attend the first North American Wildlife Conference, which took place over the first week of February 1936.
Today, the NWF boasts more than 4 million supporters and has expanded to one of the largest conservation groups in the world.
One of its many outreach efforts involves helping homeowners establish backyard homes for the critters that roam around them. They offer advice for turning your backyard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat, which means providing food sources, water sources, cover and places to raise young, such a bird nesting box.
Tips for building a bird nesting box:
• Now is the time to build a bird house. In the southern portion of the country, install them this month. In northern areas, you have until March.
• The house should be made of natural, untreated wood and have an appropriately-sized entry hole to allow desired birds to enter but keep larger birds out, a sloped roof to keep out rain, drainage holes on the floor to keep in dry, ventilation holes, a side or top panel that opens to allow easy access for monitoring and cleaning and rough or grooved interior walls to help young birds leave.
• Mount the box on a tree or pole to protect against predators. Also, do not add outside perches, which actually aid predators and other harassing birds.
• If you’re targeting a specific species you want to see, like a cardinal or a blue jay, research the species’ habitat, nest height and direction preferences for the species. Generally speaking, don’t face houses due west because they tend to get too hot.
• If a bird lays eggs in the box, you can view them for about a minute once a week by tapping on the box, allowing the adult birds to leave, then opening the panel. Clean the box when the birds leave so another family may move in later. If an invasive species moves in, you may want to remove the nest to encourage the bird to move onto another location.
If you’re into more unusual animal houses, try a bee house or a bat house—the latter can be quite helpful if you’re sick of mosquitoes in your yard.
Ilyce Glink is an award-winning, nationally syndicated real estate columnist, blogger and radio talk show host, and managing editor of the Equifax Finance Blog. Follow her on Twitter @Glink.
