[CT Birds] Window Bird Houses

[james.bair at snet.net]

Dear Grace:

You wrote:

For Christmas, my boss gave me a bird house with a clear plastic back. You attach it to your window with suction cups and can see right into it. Has anyone ever had one of these and have birds actually nest in them?

I can't imagine why a bird would want to nest in something where humans can put their face right up next to them and observe them. It's just that my children are so excited about it and check it repeatedly throughout the day. I wasn't sure if perhaps their constant checking might discourage birds from using it or if it's a lost cause regardless of what they do.

If you put the bird house in a shady spot or with a northern exposure that the birds are not normally able to look in the house during the day, you might be surprised.

About 15 years ago one of the teachers of the school where I teach put out a tiny acrylic shelf-type bird feeder with suction cups on the floor-to-ceiling window in her classroom. The kids enjoyed watching the birds come to the feeder from time to time in the winter. That spring a house finch built a nest on the feeder (the nest was bigger than the small feeder) and successfully raised a brood.

Some of those bird houses are fitted with one-way glass so you can see in but the birds cannot see out. Don't look for bluebirds, but house finches, house sparrows, and house wrens nest anywhere!

Jim Bair