Under Construction

I was feeling much better today -- well enough to make some sawdust and a lot of noise in my workshop. I started making a Flicker nesting box. We see Flickers quite often in the neighborhood, sometimes trying to make nesting holes in the side of a house or a metal roof vent. I thought if I provided a ready-made home for a pair, they'd be less likely to try to share ours.

The yellow booklet was produced by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, revised in 1969, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, price 20 cents. I probably bought it some time in the '70s. I wonder if it's still available.

Apparently the design of a nesting box is not nearly as important as the dimensions, specifically the cavity floor size, depth of cavity, height of entrance above the floor, diameter of entrance, and the height above ground. The book lists these dimensions for 26 species of birds. It must have taken a lot of trial and error to come up with all that data.

I'll have the For Rent sign up in plenty of time for the nesting season.