A bit of history. Some people believe that the first attempts of man to build for housing birds have been taken in the last Millennium in India. There at all times humanely treated animals. The Starling main (locust Starling) and now hang out to construct nests of dried bottle gourd.
And in Europe, to attract starlings in artificial nests has learned almost 500 years ago. Were the first to do it in the Netherlands. This is confirmed by paintings of Flemish artists, which, starting from the year 1500, shows the birdhouses and birds. The birdhouses were made from baked clay, was in the form of a jug. One side was flat. So it was more convenient for these “houses” to hang.
Professor Georgy Petrovich Dementyev — Soviet zoologist, ecologist, one of the world’s ornithologists found in the ancient treatise “On birds Olina”, printed in Rome in 1622, the image of starlings, and a clay birdhouse. On the flat wall of the nesting box had a large hole so that it freely passed hand. On the other hand there were the so-called notches.
A birdhouse hung on buildings on the nail with the flat side to the wall. But the big hole was not invented for nails. Birdhouses, hung not to guard the starlings, and… for use as a food for Chicks.
Written record of the birdhouses available in the “Book hunters” (1774) by Vasily Levshin, Tula landowner, the Secretary of the free economic society: “in Crimea, Ruthenia and in many places of Russia there are starlings on the yards under sastregumi, some owners make them of birch bark house couriers convolution, where they Gnezda Vit. Any yard starlings pleasant whistling cheer, the ear of man.”
Interesting old birdhouses are in the collections of the Moscow history Museum and the Museum of toys in Sergiev Posad.
German scientist Henneke in his work “the Manual for attracting birds” (1912) ascribes the invention of the birdhouse, the German zoologist G. C. Gloger. Glover first proposed to make nests of different sizes, designed not only to Starling, and other birds. He also proposed to raise birds primarily for economic purposes, for protection of plants from insects.
In 1898 he published the book of Baron Hans von Berlepsch “the universal protection of birds”, which was translated into almost all European languages. In his estate Berlips tested models of the drilled nest boxes for birds of all sizes.
Currently proposed many new models of birdhouses, boxes for starlings, Kalachnikov, tawny owls and other bird nests.
The usual three types: birdhouse, Sinichkin and small cyniczny. In the reserves in Germany and several other countries instead of boards used in the casting of cement with sawdust as filler. They are virtually eternal, retain heat well and are relatively inexpensive. In some countries, there are factories that produce nests.
For the wide use of birds as a means of protection from pests there is a need of mass production of artificial nests in our country.
In 1920-ies in the Moscow biological station of young naturalists in the Sokolniki Park, where on Sundays the young naturalists gathered from all over Moscow, the organizer of the school’s “Day of birds”, a scientist and talented teacher N. And. Dergunov empirically for the first time began to define requirements for nesting sites different species of birds. (By the way, during the observations and practical exercises in the circle at Dergunova had the idea to celebrate the Day of birds — the spring celebration of the birds. It was first held at the biological station in 1927).
It turned out that not only the size and shape of the nesting sites is important for birds, but also other indicators: internal illumination, temperature, color inside and out.
For example, a small black-and-white flycatchers may be the most massive insect-eating bird engaged in city parks, as well as in backyard gardens. The houses for these birds made from dried planks, thickness 2-2,5 cm Optimal size: the bottom inside — 10x 0 cm, the distance from the bottom to the bottom of the notch is 10-12 cm, the whole height of the house outside about 20 cm in an Important diameter of the notch is not less than 2.8 and no greater than 3.0 cm To Flycatcher he’s is sufficient for urban Sparrow, on the contrary, small. With more letke it is sparrows do not give pestrushka to stay in the boxes for starlings. Flycatcher love the light inside the nests and readily infest made of new planks. But after a few years the boards are dark, the lighting inside is reduced, and occupancy of nesting sites is sharply reduced.
However, it is enough to handle cyniczny inside the whitewash, and the bird again willingly settled there.
Coloring nests outside in a green color increases the attractiveness of the house for the birds.
The nesting territory of a pair of petrusek small — from 0.5 to 1 ha 1 ha Park can nest up to 10 pairs. So, the distance 25-35 m between nests is most favorable.
The height of the hanging nests in the city must be greater than in the forest or the garden, this will ensure their preservation. Attach cyniczny to a tree preferably an aluminum wire, and not, as we usually see when a Board on which is mounted a birdhouse, nailed directly to the tree. Wire does not damage the bark. Cover should open that autumn was able to clean out the house, but from the Raven it must securely fasten with a nail or wire.
Harder to attract nesting great Tits. Cyniczny they require relatively large: the bottom — not less than 12×12 cm, height 25-30 cm, round notches with a diameter of 32-35 mm. Tits do not suffer cracks and love twilight, so inside the house it is better to cover the stain or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Hang sinichniki better to start in March until the tit is gone from the feeders. The nesting territory of a pair of Tits — about 1 ha. Sinichniki better to hang out in pairs, 10-30 m from one another. When the male doorlevel Chicks of the first brood, the female already incubates second clutch.
The size of the house for the Starling: the bottom 14×14 cm, height 30 cm, diameter of the notch is 47-50 mm.
In recent years, the number of starlings in the city is quite large, as they have already got the habit to nest in it. Therefore, priority should be given to the involvement of small insectivorous birds.
