Helping create colourful nests - Just a nice idea to brighten up the Homestead :-)

[Tony]

Well, I'm on pinterest and I came across this and thought it was nice in as much as it could be cool to see and if it works well it could brighten up some places...

I wasn't sure if it should go in here or in other chatter.....Here won

It's from here

The First Day of Spring

by SUSAN on MARCH 20, 2011

Dear ones, today is one of my very favorite days of the year. Today we celebrate surviving another cold and gloomy winter, and are rewarded with the first hints of buds on the trees, daffodils, blooming tulip trees and the general feeling of renewal that comes along with Spring.

At the farm we are eagerly anticipating the imminent hatching of the eggs Ethel has been sitting on seemingly forever and , of course, the lambs that could start arriving anytime now. There’s an energy in the air, a feeling that everything is potential and just waiting to burst into being. It’s pure magic.

I have a little project I like to do on the first day of Spring. It’s crazy easy, so easy that you could do it with even the smallest of children, inexpensive and environmentally friendly to boot.

You will need:

A cheap bird suet feeder. I got this one at Tractor Supply for $1.99.




A couple of handfuls of yarn scraps, cut into 4 to 8 inch lengths.


Put the scraps in your suet feeder and voila! You’ve just provided nesting materials for all the birds in your area.




I’ve been doing this for years and I never fail to feel a thrill when I see a bright strand of yarn carefully woven into a bird’s nest. You can also fill your suet feeder with raw fleece, if you have any handy. Ernie’s fleece scraps have always been particularly popular with the birds.IMPORTANT MESSAGE: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology gives yarn scraps a thumbs up.http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1144 (Scroll down to “Nest Material”). I have also gotten approval from the Audubon Society BEFORE posting this. In other words, actual EXPERTS approve of this project. I’m sure that whatever your cousin’s neighbors best friend had to say about is interesting but I am sticking with EXPERT opinions on this. But thank you.​

 

[milius2]

This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hedgecrafter]

That's great. The misses will be very excited.

 

[Mesquite]

I've seen that sort of thing before but combining it with a suet feeder is a great idea.

I might suggest it to the wife as a way of recycling all the dog hair she combs out of our 2 hounds

 

[Toddy]

Instead of using nylon or acrylic, why not use real wool that will rot down just as the nest will? so would cotton string (and the kids can dye that with onion skins, or beetroot, or food colouring, when they're already doing the whole Easter craft things anyway) pulled apart to it's strands, would maybe be a better 'green' thing. Four balls for £1.
I know that the birds themselves take bits of plastic and so on, but it's still 'litter', and if I wouldn't use it for bedding for the rabbit, the hamster or the gerbils, I don't think I'd be using it for the birds.
The other stuff that dyes well, and comes in strands, are rushes. The white piths absorb food colouring and the outer green skins stripped down fine seem to appeal to the birds, when I'm working with them. Easy and safe for the children to collect too and after this wet year there's no shortage of them.

Excellent idea using the bird feeder for it and I think Steve's right about it being a good place to stash the dog brushings too My neighbour's huge alsation is moulting like a bison just now

Thank you for the idea

M

 

[Andy T]

I might suggest it to the wife as a way of recycling all the dog hair she combs out of our 2 hounds

That's what i do Steve when i strip my border terrier out.

 

[Joonsy]

personally i would prefer to see birds nests made from normal natural materials, seeing a nest made from brightly coloured man-made fabrics would just look too ornamental and artificial to me, i know nests often contain various bits of discarded litter and i always sigh when i see it, but scavenging litter and making brighty coloured material deliberatley available is a different thing. I doubt if birds have any difficulty in finding nesting material and i would prefer to see ''normal'' nests. Also wouldn't brightly coloured nests be more easily seen and therefore attract predators, corvids are very quick to learn and a bright red and yellow nest would just be an advert for an easy meal.

 

[Dave]

Haha thats a great idea.

I've been combing the dog with a furminator, and leaving the balls of fur in the garden, for the sparrows and tits who take it.

 

[ozzy1977]

Neat idea, and if used with natural materials even better.