• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Opened cage. (1 Viewer)

McCaw

Active member
Antarctica
I'm in Australia. My house is on the side of a hill, and the back boundary is a rock cliff about 12 feet high. Beyond that is light bushland going on up to the top of the hill. The bushes and trees that were planted in the yard years ago have flourished and now form many pleasant pockets of space that attract all the local birds.

I've set up two small bird baths against the back cliff, partly sheltered by overhanging branches. All the birds love it. Every day, I see magpies, crows, and a bird whose species I don't know the name of, coming to the baths and splashing around in them, and drinking from them. I also get beautiful lorikeets. It's an absolute treat and I'm thinking I'd like to try to attract even more birds.

At one time I thought of building a very large aviary, approx 12 feet square, against the cliff face, and stocking it with different birds that I could watch every day. I have unused area of land available for it.

But then I thought, why not build the aviary, but not enclose it? That is, put up four posts in a square, and just put a corrugated plastic roof over it, and then have various bits of dowel etc set in upright posts for birds to land. To top it off, a very large bath of water for them. (See the pic for a very rough plan. Think "greenhouse without walls). I would hang seed blocks from some of the small posts, placed so they can't get rained on.

So, what do you think? Would it work?
 

Attachments

  • cage.jpg
    cage.jpg
    57.1 KB · Views: 37
To clarify.

Just to clarify what I mean: I want to build an open space where birds can come and go as they please. To bring them, I want to hang food blocks and other attractants. There'll be no sides or back on the construction, but just a roof, which may or may not be opaque. Under the roof, there'll be various-sized pegs, dowels, tree branches, etc, rising from the ground, where they can alight, and then leave when they want. I also considered placing breeding boxes with various entries an exits, hard up under the roof. The whole structure would be about 8 feet high. Floor area would be about 12 feet X 12 feet. There'll be a large bowl, about one metre across, standing on a pedestal, in the middle of the room.

My main question is, would birds come to it? I've been told birds won't fly under building, (except Swallows), so would my local birds avoid this shelter or use it?

Anybody have any tips or hints?

Thanks.
 
Why do you need the roof? Why not just the feeders, pool etc?

I want to attract as many different local birds as possible, in order to photograph and video them. That's the goal. So I'll have to put food out. Seed blocks, as you probably know, expand and bloat if they get wet, and that's bad for birds, so I'm told. Hence the covering.

The bird bath I already have is positioned under an overhanging tree branch, not overly visible to high-flying birds. But the local birds know it and love it. They use it every day, but I notice they do so with one eye on the sky. I imagine this is normal behaviour for birds, which need to be continually aware of passing predators. I expect that, if the water bath is less conspicuous, the birds might spend more time there. Gives me time to frame my photos.

Yes, it's a problem, because if it's too well-disguised, no birds at all will find it, (except the ones which frequent my back yard already). And if it's not covered at all, I can't lure them with exposed food.
 
So, folks, can anybody tell me if I'd be wasting my time and money or not? Would birds be likely to fly in under a "roof", even one that was free-standing, and linger for a while on artificial perches. I've been advised that most birds avoid closed spaces, but I don't credit that because they'll all go into roosts and boxes, etc..

Any and all tips will be much appreciated.
 
I'm sure they'll go under the roof McCaw. You see many bird tables with roofs over the top.

I'd love to see the finished project and what birds you attract to it.
 
Hi McCaw,

I've been advised that most birds avoid closed spaces, but I don't credit that because they'll all go into roosts and boxes, etc.

From the design of popular bird feeders, it seems that it helps if the birds have a passage through the feeder, and if it doesn' block too much of their field of view when they're feeding.

With regard to the roof, I'm not sure what the purpose is. Do you mean to control the lighting? Then maybe a textile cover, like a light tarpaulin, is a better choice because it gives an even and soft light.

(Macro photographers like to use miniature tents to get the this effect. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the technical terms, unfortunately.)

Regards,

Henning
 
I'm sure they'll go under the roof McCaw. You see many bird tables with roofs over the top.

I'd love to see the finished project and what birds you attract to it.

I'll post pix of it here when it's up and running, Delia. Got a bit of excavating to do yet.
 
Hi McCaw,



From the design of popular bird feeders, it seems that it helps if the birds have a passage through the feeder, and if it doesn' block too much of their field of view when they're feeding.

With regard to the roof, I'm not sure what the purpose is. Do you mean to control the lighting? Then maybe a textile cover, like a light tarpaulin, is a better choice because it gives an even and soft light.

(Macro photographers like to use miniature tents to get the this effect. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the technical terms, unfortunately.)

Regards,

Henning

Yes, that's what I'm aiming for; a freely accessible "space" which will prompt birds to congregate in one area and to stay long enough to be photographed at leisure.

The point of the roof is simply to (a) provide concealment for birds that are nervous of predators, and (b) to provide shelter and waterproofing for the seed blocks that I'll have hanging from under the roof. I expect that, if the birds actually do venture in under a roof covering, the conditions there will make them want to stay for a while, long enough to get a variety of photos.

Of course, the roof material will have to be a compromise; opaque enough to camouflage the presence of birds beneath, but transparent enough to allow good light for photography.
 
Last edited:
... The point of the roof is simply to (a) provide concealment for birds that are nervous of predators, ...

The flip side is that birds which are nervous of predators may not like having a cover over them so that they cannot see the approach of a predator.
 
I think it will be fine.Whenever ive visited bird centers etc,i always see wild birds entering the bird enclosures to pinch food even if they have a roof.
 
The flip side is that birds which are nervous of predators may not like having a cover over them so that they cannot see the approach of a predator.

Yes, I wondered about that, too. Kits. But I don't have to make the roof very wide. Just enough to keep rain off the seed blocks and provide a bit of shade. Probably need a bit of experimenting.
 
I think it will be fine.Whenever ive visited bird centers etc,i always see wild birds entering the bird enclosures to pinch food even if they have a roof.

Yes, and all large aviaries have roofs, obviously, yet birds do get comfortable in them anyway.

In my yard, I often see a little bird (which is mistakenly called a Noisy Miner here), emerging quickly from a thick bush and dropping four feet or so to the bath for a quick wash, then flitting quickly back to the bush. I reason that a roof which hides the bath and them might be attractive.
 
I don't think a roof would be a problem at all McCaw. What the small birds like is to know that there's some cover to escape into if a Sparrowhawk (read your local similar species;)) comes in.... they come from the side, not above.

Birds overhead won't be able to see them in there.
 
I don't think a roof would be a problem at all McCaw. What the small birds like is to know that there's some cover to escape into if a Sparrowhawk (read your local similar species;)) comes in.... they come from the side, not above.

Birds overhead won't be able to see them in there.

Yes, I reckon you're right, Delia. We have Sparrowhawks here, although I can't say I've ever seen one. I have seen what look like predator birds flying very high over my suburb. They look like smallish falcons, although I can't be certain what they actually are.

Anyway, I'll make it and see what happens. |=)|

Thanks, everyone.
 
howya going with this? in central vic i had a long loggia affair with shade cloth rather than solid roof and as you know that is cheap in Oz. plenty of birds came in and out to the feeders, especially superb wrens but now and again a galah or even a white cockatoo would trash everything and crows and maggies and butcher birds would hang around and all the small birds would go quiet for hours. as you have probably found, many if not most small birds in Oz are very shy. in the end i found that natural shade and water did the best job. i had some trash wattles with various native shrubs like bottlebrush of different heights over and around an old bath sunk inground just in front of the verandah with rocks and logs almost filling it. after a few weeks it was always busy with smaller birds and the dense planting backdrop gave them courage to pop in and out. you really need lots if planting for many natives and laneways of planting away to bush or trees. many smaller birds i found dont fly ever in the open, only under and around and through the trees and bushes. mind you the kookas and butcher birds still came in sometimes but the galahs and cockatoos were wary of the cover and stayed back in the higher gums.
 
Birds come onto or fly through our covered porch all the time. I'm not sure why you are so concerned about suet. I buy all season and it is outside in all kinds of weather and I'm not aware of any problems. Am I missing something?
 
Birds come onto or fly through our covered porch all the time. I'm not sure why you are so concerned about suet. I buy all season and it is outside in all kinds of weather and I'm not aware of any problems. Am I missing something?
I don't think I mentioned "suet", snowy??
 
howya going with this? in central vic i had a long loggia affair with shade cloth rather than solid roof and as you know that is cheap in Oz. plenty of birds came in and out to the feeders, especially superb wrens but now and again a galah or even a white cockatoo would trash everything and crows and maggies and butcher birds would hang around and all the small birds would go quiet for hours. as you have probably found, many if not most small birds in Oz are very shy. in the end i found that natural shade and water did the best job. i had some trash wattles with various native shrubs like bottlebrush of different heights over and around an old bath sunk inground just in front of the verandah with rocks and logs almost filling it. after a few weeks it was always busy with smaller birds and the dense planting backdrop gave them courage to pop in and out. you really need lots if planting for many natives and laneways of planting away to bush or trees. many smaller birds i found dont fly ever in the open, only under and around and through the trees and bushes. mind you the kookas and butcher birds still came in sometimes but the galahs and cockatoos were wary of the cover and stayed back in the higher gums.
Been a bit slack lately, Jape. Clearing away the rubbish in the proposed area is a bit daunting and I keep putting it off. But your description of your setup provokes me to get cracking on it again. :)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top