Don't Throw Away An Old Whisk, Instead Turn It Into A Bird Nesting Station

Gardeners are always looking for ways to improve the lives of their bird visitors to the yard. If you want to make their nesting lives easier, the next time you're cleaning out your kitchen utensil drawers, hang onto those old whisks! Fill a whisk with the right nesting materials such as moss, pine needles, and twigs, and it will make the perfect bird nesting station for your outdoor birds. When you combine filled nesting stations with a good water source and the right food, your yard will be the perfect bird haven. There are many reasons gardeners want to use hacks to get birds to flock to their yards. Not only are they fun to watch, but they can be great little helpers in the garden too taking care of pests, pollinating your plants and flowers, and even doing some weed control.

Birds build nests at various times throughout the year depending on their species. For many birds, especially in warmer climates, spring is breeding and nest building time when food sources are more abundant for feeding their babies. Once spring rolls around, they will start looking for nesting materials. This is where your old whisks come into play. Filling a whisk with good nesting material choices and hanging it upside down by the handle provides a place for birds to grab what they want and take it to their nesting site. Even though all birds will gather nesting materials on their own, they are more than happy to have help. Just be sure the materials you provide are the right ones. 

Kitchen whisks are the perfect design for nesting stations because they are easy to fill, keep all the materials contained, and birds can easily grab what they want. There is a variety of nesting material choices you can put inside whisks including moss, hay, pine needles, small twigs, grass trimmings 2 to 4 inches long, and natural fibers such as raw cotton, and hemp. Birds love soft fur and it can be one of the most popular nesting materials for many birds, but there are some dangers due to shampoos and flea treatments used on dogs and cats that make it a nesting material you should avoid using. Goat hair and sheep's wool work well, just make sure they are trimmed to 4 to 6 inches in length.

There are a few other nesting materials to avoid when filling your whisk nesting stations. Human hair and horse hair are big no's due to thinness of the hair strands that can easily wrap around little bird feet and necks causing injury or death. Dryer lint is another big no: It may feel soft, but it is filled with chemicals from detergents and fabric softeners, and disintegrates when it gets wet. With all of the good nesting material choices available to fill your kitchen whisks with, you will be able keep your birds happy and safe. If hummingbirds are your favorite, you can attract more of them to your yard with these nest box building tips so they have a place to use your nesting materials.