Dos and Dont's of Giving Birds Nesting Materials!

👉👉👉👉 Links to the field guides mentioned in the video:

Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests:

🐦🐦🐦🐦 Link to the Backyard Ecology Podcast episode mentioned in this video:

This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.

People enjoy watching and feeding the birds that frequent their yards. Another way many add to the enjoyment of interacting with the local birds is by offering nesting materials during the spring. While most birds do not necessarily need these materials, it is fun to watch the birds gather and use them. In this video I cover the things that are safe to offer birds as nesting material, those things that should never be offered and the best and most natural way to offer nesting materials.

Do you have any cool stories about birds nesting in your yard? Share them with us in the comments!

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Bird Nesting Materials
0:29 Things That Are Safe to Offer Birds as Nesting Materials
1:25 Why Hair and Fur Is Not a Good Thing to Offer Birds as a Nesting Material
2:00 Where to Learn More About Birds and Their Nests – Backyard Ecology Podcast and Field Guides
2:32 What Not to Offer Birds for Nesting Material
3:22 The Best Way to Offer Birds Nesting Materials – Native Plant Gardening

[BackyardEcology]

Do you have any cool stories about birds nesting in your yard? Share them with us in the comments!

[Pointlessasusual]

We saw fledglings of several species in our yard last year and I hope there's at least as many this year. I have a bunch of non-native grasses to get rid of. I've started cutting them down and left them for birds to use or bugs to emerge from before they get composted. Maybe they can do a little good before I replace them with natives

[suntiki]

This Spring the birds have been loving last year’s dry twigs from my lavender plant. Bonus: the neighbor bunnies don’t eat it!

[spirahsass]

I learned that chickadees and some other birds may use milkweed fluff for insulating winter roosting spots. I already plucked all my milkweed pods since so many were bursting open and I’m pretty close to my neighbors. However I will try to pull all the seeds out of the pods so they fluff up a bit and will hopefully stay in a suet cage!!

[ChristineLaing-pe]

A question: What do you think about using raw alpaca or other kinds of raw natural wool. Is it safe if it's cut into pieces no longer than a couple inches? And what about thin, short strips of fabric, like silk scraps?

[AL-runk]

Glad I watched this as I was about to use my cat hair which I thought would be safe

[imtefgy]

I buy Sheeps wool that's sold as bird nesting material, expensive but no doubt the birds love it

[Lou_Mansfield]

How do I make sure there's adequate mud quality in during hot spring days? I think barn swallows use mud

[SH-jylc]

I have a sheepskin rug made without using harsh chemicals, eco certified. Whenever i brush it i get a lot of fluff. Can i give it to birds? Thanks

[danielyeroshalmi]

what about tiny 1-inch pieces of yarn? how harmful can that be?

[rnrdecor]

Oh my I’ve always used some alpaca fur along with other dead dried plants and twigs from herbs and the fluff from my kapok tree seed pods😢. Should I stop that?

[LonerSurfer]

I just bought a nesting ball full of alpaca wool. I don’t think so. I’M USING IT!!!…

[someuser]

I'm getting a haircut today and was looking up how to give the hair to the birds but now that I know this I won't be giving them any. I don't want to risk hurting them.

[joshuawaynehensley]

let's say i *theoretically* shaved my back and have a garbage bag full of back hair... bad idea for the birds? no pesticides!