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 