What to do to the birds. Crafts - do-it-yourself birds from different materials. How many pests do birds eat?

In a nutshell, the “success formula” for wires for birds is this: Convenient. Safely. Available. Multifunctional.

Birds love to sit on wires because they are excellent perches - comfortable and safe places where they can be without flying. For many bird species, perches are an important spatial resource, a deficiency of which is sometimes observed in nature. For this reason, any suitable artificial structure begins to be actively used by animals.

The small diameter makes the wires a convenient perch for small to medium-sized birds. In birds, the tendons on their legs are arranged in a special way - they have, as it were, locks that allow the birds to stay on a perch for a long time without expending muscle effort. In addition to the textbook swallows, many species of birds like to sit on wires. In the steppe regions you can see turtle doves on them. Perhaps, among the larger birds, cuckoos and small predators can land on the wires.

Large diurnal birds of prey, such as eagles, use poles as perches rather than wires, which are uncomfortable for them to sit on.

Birds use perches for resting, tidying up their plumage, monitoring the surrounding space, eating the food they have obtained, and singing a song that marks the nesting territory.

Wires, as potential additives, also have such important characteristics as concentration and redundancy. A large number of birds can easily settle in one place at a relatively short distance from each other. This may be important, for example, for flocks of migratory birds that need places where the entire flock, without violating its integrity, can rest during grueling migratory flights.

Many birds take advantage of the convenience of the location of wires in open spaces (after all, humans always clear the bushes around power lines). Small falcons, such as the kestrel, or insectivorous birds, such as shrikes, can track prey while sitting on wires.

This, of course, is not a complete list of the conveniences of wires and examples of their use by birds. But the main advantages of this artificial spatial resource are determined by the following properties that are important for birds:

– they are comfortable to sit on (mainly for small and medium-sized birds, while large ones use supports for wires),

– it’s safe to be on them (predatory animals won’t get there),

– there is always an excess of places on them,

– you can do a lot of things on them (rest, including the whole flock; care for the plumage, the condition of which determines the ability to fly; hunt).

Birds are wonderful creatures, forest orderlies who rid plants of all kinds of insects. But in addition to benefits, they can also cause harm. When the population of birds near human habitation increases sharply, they can pose a danger to humans. We will tell you what kind of inconvenience birds living in the attic of a house cause, and we will give effective methods of dealing with such neighbors.

Birds, including sparrows, can be carriers of pathogens

Residents of the upper floors of old houses are constantly at war with birds that jump on the roof and nest in the attic. If in the first case the problem is the rumbling noise, the singing of birds and droppings that pollute the roof, then in the second it is much more serious. In addition to the constant rustling and chirping, when setting up their nests under the roof of a house, birds raise a lot of dust, which can negatively affect human health. In addition, birds often show They are carriers of infectious diseases, because their excrement may contain various fungi and bacteria that are extremely dangerous for us. Thus, pathogens of diseases such as torulosis, psittacosis and others often live in pigeon droppings. All of them are transmitted by airborne droplets.

If birds make their nests under the roof itself, this can impair ventilation, which will lead to premature failure of roof structural elements. For example, the insulation layer must be well ventilated, otherwise moisture will form on it, which contributes to the destruction of the material.

In general, where people live, there is no place for forest dwellers. Therefore, such neighbors should be expelled immediately.

Methods of disposal

First of all, you need to understand that the fight against birds should not be aimed at their extermination. The key action here is to scare away the birds. Nests can be eliminated only if the animals pose a true threat to human life or property. However, before removing a nest, it is mandatory to obtain appropriate permission from the Department of the Environment. The fact is that, according to the Law “On Environmental Protection”, the deliberate destruction of bird homes located in their natural habitat is strictly prohibited.

If you have made sure that the birds have not yet managed to establish themselves above your head, but still periodically make unpleasant visits, you need to take care that the birds do not begin their next construction. Let's look at the most effective means and methods that will help keep these visitors away from your home.

Anti-seize spikes

This device is made of polycarbonate or metal and is a mesh with sharp vertical wedges that prevent birds from landing on the roof. However, small birds, for example, starlings, are not afraid of large thorns and sit between them. But if the product is installed on the eaves, then larger birds, such as swallows and pigeons, will not be able to fly under the roof and will soon leave you alone.

Helpful advice: Periodically clean the thorns from dirt and remove leaves stuck between them, because birds are also afraid of shiny elements.

Visual deterrents

Scarecrows are usually used by owners of summer cottages or country mansions. They are installed in the yard. You can make this product yourself from scrap materials. To do this, knock down two boards in a cross and hang old clothes on top. The head can be made from an ordinary bag. The only negative is that birds often get used to scarecrows, and the latter become useless.

Helpful Hint: Try using plastic owls, snakes, coyotes, or other animals based on the type of birds that visit you.

A pet

If birds have built a nest in the attic of your house, then get a cat. The predator will visit the birds several times, and they will leave their home. And sitting on the balcony, the cat will scare away other annoying winged guests. And don’t forget to install strong mosquito nets in the windows so that the animal does not fall off the railing when it hunts and tries to catch birds hovering nearby. Of course, it won’t be possible to drive everyone away, but their number will definitely decrease!

Reflective items

Most bird species are afraid of shiny objects. Take a roll of aluminum foil and cut it into long pieces. Ribbons can be hung on trees in the yard or on the roof. They will sway in the wind and reflect the sun's rays.

This is interesting: Sparrows are very afraid of bright glare.

Tapes from old video cassettes, New Year's rain or computer disks are often used as reflective elements. By the way, in stores for summer residents you can buy a special gel that glows when exposed to sunlight. This substance should be spread on the eaves of the building and other places where birds undesirably gather.

Sound devices

The operating principle of the device is to reproduce alarm and distress signals of various bird species. It is also possible to imitate the sounds made by their natural enemies - predators. Sensing danger, birds notify their relatives. Therefore, upon hearing such sounds, the birds will soon fly away. There are also ultrasonic repellers. These devices generate a high frequency signal, which is unpleasant for animals, and they leave the range of the device.

Isolation of possible nest sites

Look around your home's attic for small areas that might be perfect for nesting. Use wood planks, steel wool, or chicken wire to cover these areas. Use tape or nails to cover the indentations. In addition, it is advisable to cover the underside of the beams with netting so that birds do not build their houses there either.

Helpful Hint: To reduce the likelihood of birds settling in your yard and home, you can cover the fruit trees that they flock to to prey on them.

Don't feed the birds

The most correct approach to solving the issue. Birds gather and nest in places where they are fed. Therefore, people themselves are to blame for the large population of birds in the city. We first feed the gullible birds, and then get angry that they don’t let us rest. Place leftover food in a trash bag instead of throwing it out the window. Do not throw crumbs and seeds from the balcony, as the birds will instantly end up on your railings, and then under the roof.

If birds often visit your home or have already built a nest under the roof, you should consider removing them. Use the most effective methods to get rid of these noisy and dangerous neighbors and do not forget about the law.

To the question What bird is considered a symbol of Belarus? given by the author Cornflower blue the best answer is stork

Answer from Caucasian[guru]
Stork

Answer from Put it through[guru]
Stork

Answer from Sie.lena[active]
of course a stork, but in principle it could also be a woodpecker

Answer from Staff[guru]
Pterodactel holding a potato in its beak

Answer from Mata Hari[guru]
“A white stork flies over Polesie, over the quiet stubble.” ...well, and so on.

Answer from EaNatka ViV"eN[guru]
Starting in spring and ending in late summer, thousands of storks rise into the skies of Belarusian villages, building nests on the roofs of village farmsteads. Local residents often build platforms on roofs or poles to make nesting easier for birds. A huge number of storks fly to Belarus for nesting. In an area of ​​100 square kilometers, which is just a small square with a side of 10 kilometers, up to 100 pairs can live. The stork is a symbol of Belarus. Large villages can accommodate more than a dozen nests. Storks winter in warm regions, they say they even fly to South Africa, but return home in March. After a difficult journey of several thousand kilometers, the males find last year's nest without any problems. A few days later, they are joined by females, lifelong companions. Repair of the nest begins immediately, and only then mating and laying of eggs, which males and females incubate alternately. The chicks appear a month later. It's a busy time for parents. Small gluttons are not easy to feed on worms and insects. After two months, the chicks fledge and try to fly. Storks don't sing. Their “song” is the clicking of their beaks. Even chicks try, imitating their parents, to communicate in this way, despite the fact that their beaks are still soft for real clicking. Sounds are heard from the nests every morning and evening. Local residents can do without an alarm clock; storks will wake you up at sunrise. Large beautiful birds live only where there is food. A safe place for a nest is only part of the stork's problem, because you need to feed and feed the chicks. Once upon a time, birds settled in forest trees. But as the swamps were drained and the food supply was reduced, storks increasingly began to settle near humans. They feed in fields and pastures. In the uncut tall grass of wild fields, it is much more difficult to find insects than in arable land or hayfields and pastures, where the grass is shorter. Birds are accustomed to looking for food on agricultural lands and willingly settle side by side with humans. Even official studies by ornithologists call human estates and their immediate surroundings near river floodplains and open swamps the nesting biotopes of the white stork. However, this does not mean that the stork is completely unaccustomed to independent life. An attraction of Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a colony of white storks near the village of Babinets. The secret of the attractiveness of the colony is not only in the number of “residents,” but also in the fact that the nests are located not on artificial platforms, as is usually the case in human homes, but on the side branches of trees, which gives a special flavor. There is even a unique tree on which eight white stork nests are located. Only the strongest young storks will be able to take part in the autumn migration. Due to competition between chicks, the weaker ones often fall out of the nest and do not survive. Parents never help them. On the contrary, if there is a lack of food, they can push an extra chick out of the nest. In the heart of any Belarusian, storks, which are called beads here, have a special place. There are many beliefs, signs and traditions associated with them. Storks are part of village life. Most residents are not averse to having a nest above their roof. They say that storks bring spring, so people associate only good things with their feathered neighbors.

Not everyone knows that the main defenders of the garden and vegetable garden on a personal plot are birds. But this is true. Birds are voracious. Sometimes their gluttony not only surprises, but also shocks.

How many pests do birds eat?

The white wagtail, weighing 17 g, eats pests with a total weight of 21 g per day. This is 126% of the weight of food relative to the weight of the bird. In the wren this percentage reaches 180, in the chiffchaff it is 190. This need for food is explained by the large expenditure of energy during flight, when there is a very intense metabolism and the body temperature of some birds reaches 42°.

Bird activity increases noticeably while feeding chicks. The white wagtail, gray flycatcher, and great tit return to their nest with food more than three hundred times in just one day; chiffchaffs and pied flycatchers return more than four hundred times. The food that a pair of starlings brings to their chicks can fill three birdhouses. The pied flycatcher, which weighs less than 10 g, feeds its generation, usually consisting of 5 chicks, over 1 kg of insects during 15-16 days of nesting, and great tits feed twice as much.
That's why try to attract to your garden plot insectivorous beneficial birds, help them, make artificial nests for them.

Requirements for bird houses

Pied flycatchers, great tits, redstarts, field sparrows and house sparrows live in tit boxes; starlings, rollers, white wagtails, and gray flycatchers live in birdhouses.
Why often titmouses and birdhouses empty? What is the reason for the “reluctance” of birds to settle in your garden plot?
The fact is that we often do not know the requirements of birds for housing. At first glance, everything seems simple: knock down a box, make a hole in it, nail it to a tree... and the bird’s “house” is ready. But birds don’t live in it. They don't like him. What's the matter?

For houses, it is better to take a board at least one and a half centimeters thick. Thinner boards are not durable. They quickly warp and crack. Plywood is not at all suitable for these purposes: it does not retain heat well, delaminates, and allows sound to pass through. Most birds do not like noise.
Bird house must be firmly knitted, without cracks: starlings and other birds do not tolerate drafts. The nest boards must be unplaned so that the bird can easily get to the entrance.
Previously, houses had gable roofs. It's not obligatory. Such imitation of people's homes only complicates the work. It is better and easier to make a roof without a slope and removable. Possibly from slab. Its area is so small that water will not linger on it, especially since when hanging houses there is always a slope in one direction or another. It is advisable for him to be forward. The roof, as we have already said, is better to make it removable, since the house itself needs to be cleaned periodically.

Sizes and colors of bird houses

Insectivorous birds Every year they build a new nest on the old one. Therefore, after a few years, they “fill” the room with old nests right up to the entrance. The removable roof should protrude 3-5 cm above the entrance.
Internal ones are important house dimensions, its height and diameter of the tap hole. For a birdhouse, the bottom area should be from 12x12 to 16x16 cm; height from bottom to lid - 28-35 cm; taphole diameter - 4.7-5 cm.
Recommended dimensions of a titmouse: bottom area 10x10 or 12x12 cm, height - 22-28 cm, entrance - 3-4.5 cm. Great tit, pied flycatcher, blue tit, whirligig, redstart, sparrows are "registered" in such a house. For smaller birds (muscovy, grenadier, etc.) you need a house with an area of ​​8x8 or 9x9 cm, a height of 22-25 cm and a hole of 3 cm. We must not forget that the distance from the hole to the roof should be equal to the diameter of the hole. This is for most birds.

To make birds more willing to inhabit the houses, they need to be painted. Most birds prefer to live in houses painted green, brown, yellow, red and black, but they do not like blue. Birds like to settle in unpainted houses, the front wall of which is made of unsanded slab. In all likelihood, such nesting sites resemble natural hollows for birds. The inside of the old house needs to be whitewashed.

Orientation of birdhouses, titmice and other bird houses

Not less important take into account orientation entrance to the cardinal points. For pied flycatchers, the east is preferable, for tits - the west. Birds usually do not like the northwestern direction and avoid settling in such houses. The best flight direction for most birds is from northwest to southeast.

Some birds - starlings, sparrows - live in colonies. For them, nesting boxes can be hung side by side or on the same pole, placing houses one above the other. Other birds do not tolerate the proximity of someone's nests. For pied flycatchers, for example, the distance between nests should be 15-20 m, for great tits - 40-60 m.

Bird houses must be protected from cats. The pole on which the house is installed is covered with tin or canopies are made on the branches.
If you want to protect your garden from pests, welcome birds. They are loyal, hardworking and kind helpers to humans.

Based on materials from the magazine "Homestead Farming", N. Yurkin, 1982.