Attract More Birds To Your Yard With The Help Of An Old Mattress Spring

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There are many ways to reuse and repurpose trash you have lying around your home, but it may feel like some items are just beyond reusing. Mattress springs, for example, are fairly difficult to come up with alternative uses for. Thankfully, there are options, and you can use a random bit of spring to help birds make their nests. The best part is it's a very simple DIY that doesn't require much in the way of tools or supplies.

All you have to do is take your mattress spring and stuff it with beneficial nesting materials. If they don't stay in very well, you can take some jewelry wire, chicken wire, or whatever you have and wrap it around the outside of the spring to add a little more support. Use a ribbon or a hook to hang it up where birds can easily access it, and you're all done. You can also place it on a bird feeder hanger. That way, birds can easily find it. These nesting material containers are useful because there are a few flying friends that prefer to make their own rather than using items like birdboxes, which could be the reason why hummingbirds are ignoring the birdhouses in your yard. This way, you get to help all sorts of species, and you can, of course, always use a mix of both. 

You don't have to leave it at that, though. Take time to clean up the spring and spray paint it if you want something bright and colorful that doesn't look too random or out of place in your yard. If you're trimming or cleaning up your mattress spring at all, try and take care to remove any sharp bits of metal so that the birds don't get injured.

You can stuff this spring-made nesting basket with all sorts of materials. However, you do need to understand what is and isn't safe for birds to use in their nests. Items like small sticks, bits of bark, pine needles, and moss are all good options. Try to stick to natural items. Things like cellophane, tinsel, dryer lint, and aluminum foil should be avoided as they can hurt the birds, or they don't have the sturdiness that the nest requires and can lead to injured babies. If you're unsure of what to use or don't have a lot of materials around, there are companies selling bundles that you can work with, such as this bird nesting material from Sukh on Amazon.

Birds start to make their nests sometime in the spring. Every bird is a little different, depending on how long it takes their eggs to hatch, but the start of spring is a good time to make sure your nesting supplies basket is hanging outside. 

If you don't have an old spring lying around, you're not out of luck. Anything with lots of openings and that's capable of holding various materials can be used. For example, an old whisk can be turned into a bird nesting station instead of being thrown away. Another trick is to use an old suet holder (fully cleaned, of course) as the holes are plenty big enough for birds to reach in. Another way to help out is to make nesting boxes. This gives them a safe place to build a home for their eggs. However, you have to be careful about placement, size, and type so that predators and invasive sparrows don't get into your birdhouses and nesting boxes.