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Many of our favorite songbirds use birdhouses for nesting and staying warm in winter.
House wrens,bluebirds, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, and tree swallows frequently visit birdhouses.
Instead, they like to build their nests in dense shrubs and thickets.
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Provide plenty of vegetative cover toattract cardinals.
They also regularly visit bird feeders, so hang one up and enjoy watching the wildlife.
Goldfinches build cup-shaped nests in trees or shrubs, sometimes as high as 20 feet off the ground.
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Purple finches like to build their nests in conifers.
Providing plenty of trees and shrubs will attract finches, as will a finch feeder.
For this reason, you won’t see a house sparrow or white-throated sparrow visiting a nest box.
Grasses and shrubs canattract them to your yard, as well as feeders.
They are considered pests as they will drive away or even kill native birds when taking over nesting sites.
Mockingbirds
Mockingbirds are common backyard visitors that entertain us with an extensive songbook.
They like to forage for insects on lawns, but they will ignore your birdhouse.
These birds nest in dense trees and shrubs from 3 to 10 feet above the ground.
You’ll know if they have because mockingbirds are fierce defenders of their nests.
These noisy, active birds will eat anything from peanuts to sunflower seeds.
However, they forgo birdhouses in favor of nesting high up in trees on the fork of a branch.
Hummingbirds
If you see a hummingbird house for sale, be forewarned that it is only decorative.
Hummingbirds do not nest in cavities, choosing to build their tiny nests in trees and shrubs instead.
