Roosting Box for cold weather shelter

Found several down feathers in the backyard roosting box today!!

To view our collection, click here please.

New York Rustic Birdhouses

It's time for a bit of shameless self-promotion!

We recently added very cool New York inspired rustic birdhouses to our Garden Birdhouses collection.  If you are from New York they just might make you homesick!

Check 'em out..... www.birdlodges.com/garden-birdhouses.html

Look for the houses titled "The...."

Thanks!
BirdLodges.com

"Bag It" documentary...think about all the plastic we use.

Recently viewed a documentary titled "Bag It" which goes into great detail regarding the one-use plastic people use and where it ends up.  We highly recommend anyone and everyone watch this film, and I read somewhere that it's free on Netflix.

One particularly touching story is about the plastic which ends up in the ocean and affects all the fish and animals, including the albatross.  The plastic breaks down into minuscule pieces and appears to be fish food for birds and fish.  The movie described it as "plastic soup."

To clean up the plastic in the ocean is daunting if not even possible, but we can think twice before we use plastic, especially for one time usage. And, personally, I would like to see people stop releasing balloons in the air as a tribute to...anything.  It's the same as throwing litter on the ground or in the ocean.  This was not covered in the movie but it's my two cents worth!

Can you think of how you can minimize your use of plastic?

Hummingbirds: View video of how hummingbirds drink.

For a close-up view of how hummingbirds drink:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/hummingbird-tongue-drinking/

Cleaning Owl Houses and guarding against Hantavirus

Thanks to Joan Morris of the San Jose Mercury News for this suggestion:

September is a good time of year to clear out old nesting material from owl houses. If you choose to clean out your owl house be sure to guard against Hantavirus (carried by rodents) by using gloves and a dust mask.  It's best to not use a broom as it will stir up the dust and rodent droppings.

Bat houses, mating, and gestation period

Did you know bats will mate prior to winter hibernation and when the females arise in the spring, the gestation period of 50-60 days begins?

The most active time for mating in North America is August, and they are quite the promiscuous mammal!

If you'd like to assist bats by providing a bat house we have a large selection of shapes and sizes.  One of the most important requirements for a successful bat house is the location; it must be exposed to seven or so hours of sunlight to heat the interior of the house.

Our bat houses include literature explaining the bat's natural ability to help control the insect population.

To check out our bat houses visit or click on 

www.birdlodges.com/bat-houses.html

Parakeet Antics at the Pet Store

I recently observed ten or so yellow parakeets playing in a cage at a pet store.  They were having the best time playing "keep away" with one yellow feather approximately two inches long.

At one point one of the parakeets was stuck on his back and could not roll over.  Right away most of the other parakeets circled around the one in distress and stood completely still and stared at it.  The bird on the ground was kicking his feet and rolling back and forth trying to right himself.  A couple of the parakeets started to pull on his feathers, something I once witnessed a healthy parakeet do to a sick parakeet - a sign of affection or a sign of "it's over for you now get out of here!"?

Soon enough the parakeet on the ground was up and playing with the others as if nothing had happened. Or not, who knows what lurks in the mind of a revengeful parakeet?