Spring is in the air! Save some scraps and bits to offer to your songbirds for spring nest-building. An old suet feeder will do the trick. At this time of year our feathered friends need all the help they can get.
Here are some great items that you can include:
Natural fiber yarn
String
Horsetail Hair
Shredded Paper
Feathers
Hay
Straw
Wool
Small Fabric Scraps
Cotton Balls
Cotton Wadding from Aspirin Bottles
Dried Moss
Twigs
Leaf Stems
Dog Hair
Cat Hair
So, don’t throw your yarn scraps and other bits away. Save them for the birds! In Paonia, Colorado, one spring, my son found the most unique birds nest, made entirely of yarns, hay, polyfibers, human hair, horsetail, and string.
One crafty blogger has a tutorial for creating a nest-material station in your backyard. And if you want the whole skinny on how helpful it is for you to put these natural items out for the birds, this article about recycling for the birds, by the National Wildlife Federation, will inspire you. Our feathered friends are getting busy out there, we can hear their songs each morning, harbingers of warmer weather to come.
Dog and cat hair, too, are preferred bedding for birds. That’s why my friend, Shelley, lets Tater’s hair free when she gives him a trim. The birds can hardly wait to gather it up for their nests.
A Feathered Onlooker, Awaiting The Gift of Free Building Supplies © John Brownlow
As a parting shot, check out these beauties crafted entirely of horse hair! My gradeschool friend, Paige, found them on her property and she can even identify which of her horses were donors toward the nest-building cause. This just confirms the idea that all species are connected, even through our so-called waste. Aren’t we?
Horsehair Birds Nests © Paige LaBella
Pioneering The Simple Life 
But be careful with thread/yarn: last year we had to rescue a blackbird hanging by its foot from a thorny twig on a hawthorn tree in our garden, it had a length of sewing thread wrapped around its foot and leg. It was in great distress with its mate shrieking nearby. It took 4 of us to get it down, hold it and cut the thread from its foot and leg with a pair of fine embroidery scissors. And guess what? When it was released, it flew straight back up into the hawthorn tree! It was very lucky, we hadn’t seen it, our neighbour from 3 doors down spotted it from his bedroom window and came round with some ladders.
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Hi Chris! Good point, and interesting story. I didn’t see thread on the NWF list I linked to, but they do encourage natural yarn. I’d agree that thread and fishing line are just not for the birds. But, crazy how the one nest my son is holding is completely filled with thread-like fibers. I’d love to know what kind of bird fabricated that beautiful nest.
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Thanks for the reminder. I used to beg a bag full of hair clippings from the hairdresser at this time of year, just for the birds, but I’ve got out of the habit. Time to begin again!
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That’s a lovely idea, to just ask the hairdresser for some clippings. I have a haircut on the docket today, so will ask for some. I cut my children’s hair and the clippings always go into the compost, but I think a few will stay in my yarn and fabric scrip box next time, for the birds.
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One year a pair of goldfinches shredded our basketball net and whisked it away for their nest! It was fascinating observing their strength and determination, it took several hours. Re hair, my hair is short now but when it was longer, whenever I brushed it I put the brush hairs out of the window for the birds.
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Excellent idea and real fun to do. I had a yarn ball here; it disappeared ! Love
you, my dear cousin !! Ole Pete
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