Cheep Housing

Of all garden ornaments, birdhouses are probably the most charming. Even if there are no inhabitants flapping around, it’s fun to see little houses suspended from house eaves and tree limbs.

Loretta Honce of Garden Grove says birdhouses give her garden a peaceful feeling. Not only does she delight in seeing them throughout her landscape, but she also enjoys making them.

“Five years ago my husband gave me a glue gun for Christmas, which opened up a whole new world for me,” says Honce, who made her first birdhouse out of plywood and Monterey pine bark and twigs. Since then, she’s created 14 birdhouses out of various plant materials from her garden.

Some of the birdhouses are large, like the bamboo house, which is 1-foot tall; others are tiny. There are ornate ones with intricate details such as attached ladders, fences and chimneys; some are more casual.

Honce’s birdhouses are tucked throughout the garden to create an element of surprise. “Visitors have to look closely for them,” she says. “I don’t like the garden to shout, ‘Birdhouses here!’ ”

Whether they’re hidden or in plain view, birdhouses of all types are popular, says Mary Vetter, director of consumer marketing for Duncraft, a Concord, N.H., mail-order company that carries a wide variety of birdhouses, bird feeders and birdbaths.

“Adding birdhouses is a way to make the backyard a bird habitat,” she says. “Many of our customers enjoy watching birds eat, drink and bathe, so the next natural step is housing. It’s great to watch a baby bird learn to fly.”

It’s difficult--but not always impossible--in the suburban sprawl of Orange County, to get birds to take up residence in a backyard.

“If you live near native chaparral or an open area, and you provide a box with the proper dimensions, you might be able to get some birds to inhabit a birdhouse in your backyard,” says Jesse Grantham of the National Audubon Society.

“The key is having the right size box and entrance hole for the type of species in your area,” he says. “You also need a roof that is large enough to provide ample shade.”

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to bring in the birds. “Some people attract house finches to their yard by hanging strawberry plastic baskets underneath the house eaves and filling them with old lint from the clothes dryer,” Grantham says. “House finches will often nest in those situations.”

Ideal birdhouses have adequate ventilation and drainage.

Boxes should be hung or put on top of a high pole, making them inaccessible to predators such as cats, raccoons, rats and snakes. The poles should be 2 inches in diameter and about 6 feet high. The bottom of the box should be 5 to 6 feet from the ground.

If snakes are a problem, a snake guard, which is the shape of an inverted cone, can be placed at the base of the pole.

Where you put the birdhouse will depend on the species you’re accommodating. Some birds like to be in direct sun, while others prefer shade. Do some research to see what types of birds are in your area and what they like.

In some rural areas of Orange County, you can find songbirds such as the ash-throated flycatcher, plain titmouse and tree swallow, which nests near rivers. Areas of higher elevation also have two larger birds, the sparrow hawk and screech owl.

A songbird birdhouse should measure 5 inches wide and 10 inches with an entrance hole that is about 8 inches from the floor and 1 1/2 inches in diameter, according to Grantham. The ideal wood to use is western white cedar.

Sparrow hawks and screech owls need a bigger box that is 8 inches wide and 12 to 15 inches high with an entrance hole of about 3 inches.

Though songbirds feather their nests, it’s necessary to set up shop for the screech owl and sparrow hawk. Place wood shavings in the box to a depth of about 2 inches or the eggs will roll into a corner and won’t get evenly incubated.

At the end of the season, birdhouses should be cleaned out to make way for new occupants.

Don’t be discouraged if your birdhouse remains empty. Many birds nest in shrubs, trees and under the eaves of your house.

* Duncraft, (800) 593-5656, https://www.duncraft.com.

* National Audubon Society, https:/www.audubon.org.

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Appealing to the Seedier Side

There is an array of bird feeders available in a variety of styles. The key is to select a bird feeder that attracts the type of birds you want in your yard.

“Goldfinches like thistle feeders, while open platform feeders attract a wide variety of birds,” says Mary Vetter of Duncraft, a birdhouse mail-order company in Concord, N.H.

If you want hummingbirds, don’t settle for the traditional red plastic feeder. Feeders are shaped like chile peppers and mushrooms. During warm weather, change the nectar solution every two to three days, otherwise, Vetter says, it could become rancid and poison the birds.

Keep Those Feathers Fresh

They may be decorative, but the traditional bowl-and-pedestal birdbath isn’t what birds want to bathe in.

“The water gets hot and putrid, and the birds don’t enjoy bathing in that anymore than you or I would,” says Jesse Grantham of the National Audubon Society. “What they really want is the impression of fresh water, which can be done by installing a drip birdbath. This replicates a natural pool in a stream and they love it.”

To make a drip birdbath, start with the base of a birdbath, an old tree stump or dead branch, and drip-irrigation tubing. Attach the tubing to an outdoor faucet that has a splitter so you can leave the tubing running at all times. It should be turned on just enough to drip every one or two seconds. Run the tubing underground from the faucet to the birdbath and tree stump. String the tubing up over the tree stump so the water constantly drips into the bowl.

Protect bathing birds from cats and other predators by installing a fence around the bath if necessary.