[Tweeters] Hummingbird nest material

[Steve Hampton]

I suspect that nesting material is not a biologically-limiting factor such
that birds need assistance with it. Last year, in cleaning out my chickadee
nesting boxes, I could see that lawn moss made up 90% of the nests. I've
since learned that lawn moss is a massive nitrogen fixer, so good for my
apple trees. And you don't need to mow it and it's really soft. So now I'm
trying to revert what little lawn I have to a lawn moss lawn.




On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 5:00 PM Constance Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com>
wrote:


> Hey tweets, the best thing to do to provide nesting materials for birds is

> to think about planting native plants that birds aleady use for nesting

> materials:

>

> • thistledown

>

> • cattail fluff

>

> • spider silk (don't use pesticides to kill insects and arachnids in your

> yard)

>

> • lichen and moss on trees

>

> • dry grasses

>

> • small sticks left on the ground

>

> • cottonwood fluff

>

> • mud (for swallows)

>

> - Connie, Seattle

>

> csidles at constancypress.com

>

> > On Feb 9, 2022, at 4:41 PM, THOMAS BENEDICT <benedict.t at comcast.net>

> wrote:

> >

> > So would synthetics work better? I know cotton is not recommended for

> human outdoor gear because it holds onto water. Maybe the same thing for

> hummingbirds?

> >

> > Tom Benedict

> > Seahurst, WA

> >> On 02/09/2022 4:01 PM Constance Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com>

> wrote:

> >>

> >> Dear Mike, it's best not to use dryer lint for nesting material because

> when it gets wet, it gets soggy and cold, which is bad for eggs and

> nestlings. - Connie, Seattle

> >>

> >> csidles at constancypress.com

> >>

> >>> On Feb 9, 2022, at 3:17 PM, Mike Wagenbach <wagen at uw.edu> wrote:

> >>>

> >>> Is it OK to put out dryer lint for birds to pick up for nesting?  Ours

> is probably mostly cotton.

> >>>

> >>> Mike Wagenbach

> >>> Seattle

>

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-- 
​Steve Hampton​
Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)
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