16 March 2022

Materials unsafe for bird nests


Guidelines from Audubon:
[Advice] from Jennifer Gordon, executive director of Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, a center in North Carolina that cares for everything from donkeys to injured songbirds. Gordon says her team treats dozens of adult birds and chicks every year due to hazardous nesting materials. Based on her experience, Gordon advises staying clear of anything synthetic and providing only natural materials. But be careful, she says, because even some natural elements aren’t always safe for bird nests. Pet fur, for example, could be dangerous if treated with flea medicine.

Materials to Avoid:

Human hair: According to Gordon, human hair is a triple threat for birds: It’s long, thin, and strong. These characteristics can be a deadly combination, allowing the hair to easily ensnare a bird’s leg or wing and sever it. “You can wrap [hair] around your finger and cut your circulation off,” she says.

Yarn or string: Long strands of yarn and string can wrap around a bird. Hatchlings are particularly susceptible to such entanglements, Gordon says. Yarn in a nest can get caught around a baby bird and cut off circulation as it grows.

Dryer lint: Although it is popular to put out and seems like the perfect lining for a nest, dryer lint quickly loses its fluffiness and structure when wet. Dryer lint is unsustainable in the rain, crumbling and leaving holes in an otherwise solid nest.

3 comments:

  1. I wonder if human hair would be ok if you cut it into shorter lengths (say 2 inches).
    Sandra

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder about this. I've noticed that magpies use the tail hairs of horses, combined with mud/clay, in their nest building. (in fact, it seems that many birds that use mud also use hair.) Also, I've seen string in nests all my life--and never any evidence birds were unable to navigate the challenge of using this material. I'll remain skeptical of some of these claims, while acknowledging there are many perils in the human-created environment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a problem for human babies as well. A hair can get wrapped around a toe, finger or even penis and cut off blood flow causing irreversible damage if not caught early and the problem fixed.

    I didn't know that about birds though and fully regret now giving my boys haircuts on the front porch. I used to just sweep the hair off to the side of the porch for the birds. Actually, the hair was probably not long enough to be a danger, but still.

    ReplyDelete