Need info on group nesting in WA (1 Viewer)

[mudpie]

Hi. First post and all, and yeah...I skipped the "introduce yourself" section. Feels a little too much like an AA meeting, and any questions I ask there should really be in the appropriate section anyway, right?

I'm in Olympia, WA, and I want to build a big, community bird house. I have the skills to do the actual building, but I know just slightly more than nothing about whats important to attracting the right birds. This is a first time effort. I know the size of the room and the size of the hole are important, and that covers the extent of my knowledge.

Obviously I want to attract local birds, so I go online and do a search for birds of Washington. I get lots of results for Washington D.C. Then I type in Washington state, and all I get is a bunch of results for the Washington state bird. In a third attempt, I type in something about birds that nest in groups, and I get mostly references to Purple Martins. Most indications though are that it predominantly on the east coast, and when found on the west coast, they prefer natural housing rather than man made.

I guess they can be more selective here, since we probably have more trees.

So, I'm looking for some input on birds in Washington that nest in colonies, and any suggestions on the proper dimensions of a group house. I've seen some stuff online that had openings of multiple sizes, presumably to attract different birds. Would this be acceptable to the birds, or do they mostly segregate themselves from other species when nesting? Like I said above...zero knowledge here.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts, or links to some plans, or pics, if you have something handy.

Thanks a bunch
:t:

 

[SeattleDan]

Seattle Audobon has an online guide to the Birds of Washington State. This, all being fairly new to me, it's been an invaluable resource for identification and other information (feeding, nesting etc). http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/index.aspx

The neat thing about the "birds" section of bird web, is that while birds from all over are there, the top listed birds in each section are those that can be seen in Washington State in descending order of frequency, from year round to Winter only, or Summer only etc.

There is also a local Audubon Society Chapter with events, meetings and probably, a local newsletter for you. Every species is very different, so nesting information will be very helpful for you. I live in an apartment, but it's on the river and I do have feeders. I get so much bird traffic, I'm waiting for a formal complaint from my neighbors. So far, they all seem delighted.

I must say, this section doesn't get a lot of traffic. I'm sure other patches might be more frequently viewed. I suggest you peruse the Garden Section. There are many back yard birders with splendid advice, I'm sure. A bird is a bird, after all, whether it's in the UK or Seattle.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Ray1948]

HI-I'm in Olympia also. You will find Martin boxes at the head end of East Bay. The boxes on the pilings across from the new children's museum are single nest Martin boxes that were built and put up by the Dept of Wildlife. For some reason I haven't seen Martian apartment house boxes here. Martins nest over or on the edge of the water so you will need a place like that to be successful. Other Martin boxes are at Woodard Bay which is closed at the moment but they are the same ones as at East Bay. I don't know of any other birds that prefer group homes in this area. Martins are not endangered yet but are in decline everywhere not just here. Any help you can give our largest swallow will be appreciated. Martins begin showing up in mid to late April by the way.