Backyard Wildlife Primer
(Page 8 of 14)
September/October 1986
By Raymond Zoanetti and the Mother Earth News editors
Wildlife biologists have determined that many species have specific snag requirements: Pileated woodpeckers, for example, require snags greater than seven inches in diameter for foraging, and greater than 20 inches around for nesting. Ten or more snags per acre is considered optimal habitat for pileated woodpeckers. Bluebirds, on the other hand, favor habitat that offers them four to five standing dead trees over eight inches in diameter per 20 acres. Downy woodpeckers require four or five snags six inches in diameter or larger per acre; western red squirrels need specimens 20 inches around or larger for food caches and nesting sites. Of course, if you're managing habitat to attract wildlife in general, you can take a more casual approach: Just try to maintain a half-dozen or more snags per acre of woodland, providing to whatever extent possible a mix of different types and diameters of trees.
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Don't remove snags from your land unless they present a safety hazard. If there is no standing dead wood on your land but you have a number of trees between six and 20 inches in diameter, you may want to create some snags by girdling several trees: Using an axe, remove a three- to four-inch-wide belt of outer and inner bark from around the trunk. After several years, the trees will decay to the point that they become suitable for feeding and cavity nesting. Also, you can create cavities in such trees as elm, ash, mulberry, and sycamore by cutting off a three-inch-diameter limb six inches from the trunk. The stub will decay over time and leave a hole.
Artificial nests. Of course, you can attract cavity-nesting birds to your yard even if you don't have snags or enough mature trees to create them; people have been using artificial nests, better known as birdhouses, for centuries.
Many stores sell ready-made birdhouses, or you can build your own. Different species of birds require houses of different designs and dimensions (see the chart), but the hallmarks of a quality birdhouse are the same: The house should be made of a durable, weather-resistant wood such as cypress, cedar, poplar, or pine, at least 1/2" thick . . . the roof should be pitched sufficiently to shed rain, and should have an overhang extending two to three inches over the entrance hole . . . there should be at least a few small holes in the bottom for drainage, and one or two small holes in the walls near the top for ventilation . . . and the inner surface of the house's front should be roughed or grooved to help young birds climb to the opening. A hinged top, or at least a front attached by wood screws so that it can be removed, makes cleaning easier. (Make sure that you do clean the houses after every nesting season, to prevent mildew and rot, and to keep parasitic insects out.)
You can also build artificial accommodations for some species of small mammals. Red, gray, and fox squirrels all prefer natural dens, but in woodland where snags are scarce they can be attracted with nest boxes measuring about 18" to 20" high, and 8" to 10" wide and deep. Use 3/4" to 1" cypress or exterior- or marine-grade plywood. The entrance can be either round (3" to 4" diameter) or square (2-1/2"), and should be located no more than 2" from the top, offset close to one side. The box's bottom can be 1/4" to 1/2" wire mesh to allow waste to drop through (the residents will line the box with leaves). Hang the nest at least 20 feet above the ground, in the crook of a limb, next to the main trunk of a mature hardwood, with the opening adjacent to the trunk. Use heavy-gauge wire to bind the box to the tree; pass the wire through holes or screw eyes in the box and around the trunk, making sure to crimp the wire to allow for tree growth (see the illustration). A similar box of somewhat larger dimensions (25" high and 10" to 12" wide and deep, with a 6"- to 8"-diameter entrance hole) can be built for raccoons.
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