Ask a foolish question.....dryer lint

Every year I wonder about this. Has anyone had any experience offering lint from the dryer to backyard birds during nesting season? It's soft and fluffy, so maybe they'd like it. if so, how would you keep it dry until they find it?

Is this taking recycling to a ridiculous extreme?

Julie

hey, it sounds like a terrific idea. Dunno if they'd like it, but if so, why not! I was just thinking today about putting some sort of soft material into the two little nesting boxes I have in the garden. If there is any knowledgable feedback from this, I may try to dryer lint :-) Thanks for the idea!

-Julie

Oh gracious YES!! ..
The birds will certainly use it! Of course, the wrens will stake claim and attempt to confiscate it all - and most quickly I may add!! .. hee ... Quite a few various nesting species will certainly seek, find and use it !!

Think the bigger secret tho' .. is to allow the dryer lint to 'air' .. and loose any fragrance and odors first tho'!
However, to the wrens .. it seems, that it don't really make a whole lot of difference to them. .. LOL ..

Many times, jes placing the collected stuff into tree branches works jes fine and dandy! However, I myself don't have too much of a hankerin' for going back out and pickin' the stuff up off the ground .. altho' is it biodegradable! .. hee .. Can sure put a body in a state of wonderment - should they forget some time .. and then can't quite get the stuff identified when finding it later!

Also, another tidbit .. is keep your familys' HAIR .. that you clean from hair brushes, etc. and put out for them to find. Pet fur, I have no true ideas about .. but it would seem jes as viable - if not more so .. than human hair! For animal hair of all sorts, would most assuredly seem far more plentiful 'in the wilds' .. and the neighborhoods! .. lol ..

Putting such into covered and protected places .. such as on a spot or shelf, under your porches or roof overhangs should be jes as good as spot as any. And should ensure it stays dry and 'ready' for use! Just well within site of the birds! But, even it not, they DO find it ... and most definitely do put it to use!

Even some hummer nests, have been documented to contain some dryer lint and hair ..

Happy 'bird nest' provisioning folks !!

- Magpye

I have heard that drier lint is not good to use because when it gets wet it pretty much dissappears. But lots of people like to put it out. I like to put out cat hair combings and the BEST stuff I ever put out is feathers. I bought a cheap feather pillow on sale one year and every year put some of the feathers out. (between the hair and the feathers it looks like there was a massacre in the yard - LOL) and don't forget egg shells. I'm starting with that already. Lots of birds look for calcium sources before and during egg-laying time.

Dog hair goes down a treat too. My Goldens usually chose nesting time to cast their thick winter underwear, so I took them out side and groomed it all out and left it around - 24 hours later not a trace left! Bet those nests were cosy - Golden undercoast is really soft stuff.

Animal hair is good, pieces of short nylon string is good, quilt batting is good, dry lint is bad. When it gets wet is stays wet and chills the babies and they die

JulieKane .. When it comes to birds - can one, actually .. carry things .. to any such 'ridiculous extreme'?
... Nahhhh, haint no way !! ...

Consider that our recycling .. IS .. for the birds! .. hee ..

Geez folks .. between the soft dryer lint, the critter hair, the human hair (and not to mention, the 'fuzzies' that accumulate on our hair brushes), and the feathers .. these birds'll living high on the hog and birthing and sleeping on down comforters!!! .. hee ..

Back in Louisiana .. especially the Prothonotary Warblers, Wrens, Tanagers, and the Mockingbirds .. were constantly rounding up the horse tail hair and carting it off to places unknown !! ..

For yet another lil tidbit for those folks that have and use paper shredders - keep a lil stash set aside for the birds come early Spring!!

- Magpye

Magpye, You don't know the HALF of it...In the winter I very often buy blueberries and chopped pecans JUST FOR THE BIRDS.
My DH says they eat better than HE does LOL!

Yes, we always put out our hair and dog hair for the birds. They also appreciate any kind of string you got!. I saw a couple of baltimore orioles put a string from a car cover next door last year. They had the entire hem of the cover unraveled and the birds had a heck of a ime pulling that long string across the driveway. They eventually accomplished it. Gues that is why that oriole nest is still firmly attached to our bare tree branches.

I put out dryerlint, short lenghths of seperated strands of yarn, and hair. I put in one of those berry boxes and tie down to 2x4 that is part of my shade house roof, helps to keep somewhat dry. I also buy a bag of feathers and a bag of cotton for the blue birds . The goldfinches especially like the cotton yarn, it is so neat to see them tugging away at pieces of cotton. Donna

Okay, another foolish question:

If I have 2 nesting boxes for the birds and, of course, I want them to use those boxes. Would it help to encourage the birds to use the boxes if I hung some of the cotton/hair/etc very near the nesting boxes themselves...sort of making it ultra-convenient to use the nesting boxes? Just a thought.

-Julie

Heck .. Juls .. I'd try providing the nesting materials .. any way one may would care to. Hee ..
Birding and viewing, is a .. 'to each his own' and/or, a .. 'whatever works' thing, don't you folks agree .. ? ..

I'd certainly have no doubt, that if'n a bird is a needin' and wantin' it - the 'convenience' Thrift Store .. would be 'jes the ticket' !! LOL

Besides, seems that a body jes may be settin' themselves up, mitey purtee .. fer some super jim-dandy photo opportunities also !!!

Hee .. It certainly doesn't employ much imagination either - - for I've seen them do it here! But, always seem to fall short of capturing any of it with my cam'ra !!! Jes picture the lil birds .. with the prospective mom and pop quickly dartin' their wee lil heads out of the nest box .. proclaiming such joy .. that the goodies were so lovingly provided and 'hand-delivered' .. to their 'front door' !!

My goofy imagination .. goes another step further .. to picture that it's their (albeit 'late' as humans think) - Christmas presents .. for them!!

For even after a few weeks, or what have you .. if they never took an interest in it, being RIGHT THERE - - one could always relocate the goodies.. right ?!? ..

Jes make yourself a good BIG NOTE, well in advance of your Spring nestiing time ... to put and keep the digital camera REAL CLOSE BY .. for any and all prospective wonderful shots .. of them stickin' their heads out and grabbin' the goodies ... and draggin' 'em back inside !!!

- Magpye

I got a birdnest in my gutter this year. After the babies fledged, I took the nest down (it was stopping up the whole gutter!) When I got the nest, I found it was lined in Newfoundland fur from my dogs! What a warm and fuzzy nest, and obviously water-proof too!

Thanks, all.

I personally would NEVER use hair. I've seen it get wrapped around their toes, and trap them to their nest to die, and have also even seen a baby sparrow hung to death by its neck, due to a piece of hair.

It seems innocent enough, but is very strong and is impossible for them to break free of...

If anyone uses hair, PLEASE cut it very short(1 inch strips). Any longer and it can and will get wrapped around them. You will notice the nesting material and nesting string you can buy at the pet store is cut VERY short. I seem to remember this same stauch warning on the box, too...

I am not only speaking from observation of some real birdie tragedies witnessed in my yard, but from personal experience. I have an aviary with hundreds of birds and have to be extremely careful not to let my own hair get in there via dryer lint(which they LOVE to use as the last topping layer of their nests).

Not trying to dampen anyones enthusiasm to help the birdies. I just want to protect them. I can get to the ones in my aviary and help them, if I find it in time, but birds in the wild are pretty helpless in this regard...

-T

Good advice, thanks!

Seedpicker, thank you very much for that very helpful advice. And just in the nick of time. I was about to put out some things for the birds whenthe kids get home from school today....and some of it is hair! I'll be sure to cut it very short and use your information to explain to the kids why. They'll be thrilled not only with helping the birds, but also in learning something new like this. Thank you!

-Julie

Seedpicker, that makes a lot of sense, but I never would have thought of it. Thanks! - Julie

Thank you so much for receiving it well...

I saw that there were updates on this thread this morning and winced! lol...

I opened this thread fully expecting to be slammed, but grateful, that you all took it as meant-->TO HELP!

...just by the way...I use my suet cages to offer birdies their nesting material. It is easy to refill, and easy for them to pull it out from the cage. Usually by the time you need the cage for material, you are about done using it for suet.

-T

Hee .. Ummmhmmmm .. You wuz spectin' trouble alright ... hee

Yep, you know'd you wuz due fer a good thrashin', 'ey ? ?
.. Fer failing to virtually ring our necks - long before now .. !! .. LOL

Excellent .. and a mitey VITAL dose of preventative medicine !!!

Thank you so very much miss T !!! .. ((huggeroonies))

- Magpye

Thanks Maggie-pie!
-T

Seedpicker, that's a great tip about the suet cage for nesting supplies too. Sure looks a lot more aesthetic than an onion bag....although I'll probably end up with the onion bag as I haven't found a suet feeder here LOL.

-Julie

From what you've mentioned here and on other posts, it seems Israel isn't exactly the Birding capital!
That is unfortunate that you cannot go out and buy a bird bath, or a suet cage! I just took for granted, that those are available any&every-where...

-T

The problem is that most people don't have a private garden as most people in the country live in apartment buildings. So there's nowhere to put a birdbath....thus no real market for them. The city we live in is a brand new city...only 7 years old. And planned from the beginning so that nearly every family would have either a private garden and/or a balcony. Of course, some don't as there are also people who don't want or need such. But our city is the greenest in Israel. There are other green areas, but they are small villages. The garden centers around our city are about the only ones I've ever seen nesting boxes in. And the local pet store does have bird feeders....but no nyger feeders. I do think that as our city grows (it is estimated that we'll grow by 5-7000 people per year for the next 10 years) the market for these types of things will grow and therefore will become more readily available. Until then, we have to be imaginative. I've got a great idea for a winter weather feeder....all from an idea someone else posted recently. I just have to get to the garden center this weekend (and the DIY store) to get the materials. When I get it together I'll post a pic :-).

I made my own bird bath by using a shallow plant bowl and sealing the hole with silicon. I put a larger rock in the center for them to stand on and smaller rocks to make the water more shallow. I have to fill it every day in the hottest weather. I've only had to clean it once...dunno why the water stays so clean....

-Julie

That's really interesting Julie. How is it that you have come to live in Israel? (If you don't mind telling, that is)

Sylvi, I am from Oklahoma and did my B.A. there. Then I went to Berlin for 2 years teaching English. After that I went to Calgary for 2 years to do my M.A. Once those 2 years were up, I looked at other places to go. I looked into several places to teach English again and Israel was one of them. It just happened to be the one I chose in the end. I've lived here since 1996.

-Julie

And have you been a bird watcher in all these locations? How interesting to see different parts of the world and different wildlife.

Nah, in Berlin I rarely got the chance to go out of the city as I was pretty poor. I did get to know the city itself very well though :-). The city is amazing and does have lots of large green areas with large ponds on most of them. But I was more into totally relaxing and bike riding on my free days while there. I don't remember a single bird from my 2 years there LOL. Well, that's not true. I do have one pic of me feeding some geese on one of my rare trips to the countryside. From my automatic point and shoot pocket 35mm days, so not the greatest of quality....but I'll post it anyway ;-).

In Canada I was studying every waking moment of every day! I only went to the mountains twice in my 2 years there (and one of those times was just a month before I left when my studies were already done). I wish I'd had more time to get to know the surrounding area, but I was there to study afterall and that seemed more pressing at the time. Looking back, my studies didn't gain me anything career wise, so I may as well have flunked out and spent my time doing more fun things ROTFL!

-Julie

Here's a late addition to the lint discussion. I am a spinner and weaver and came across an article about a woman who raises sheep. Her daughter found a bird's nest that had blown down in a storm. It was beautifully lined with wool. Now when they shear their sheep and don't sell all of the wool, she stuffs it into a netting bag and hangs it outside for the birds. She has started selling them as "Woolies". http://www.woolieco.com/ She has found that the birds approve.

Maybe better yet, poke around your neighborhood and seek out the spinners and weavers. (We are everywhere and very nice but fairly invisible.) I am sure they would share their leftover bounty or part with some of their stash and you could make your own. For a list of spinning guilds see http://www.interweave.com/spin/resources/spinning_guilds.asp

This message was edited Jan 14, 2005 1:51 PM

Great site, wonderful idea, CApoppy. Thanks!

Like Seedpicker, I, too, have seen baby and adult birds captured and strangled in their own nests by hair. In my case, it's been horse hair - specifically mane and tail hair that is very long and almost as strong as fishing line. I used to toss all the horse hair from grooming and shedding around the yard for the birds, but now I trash the mane and tail hair and leave only the shorter body hair for the birds.

Laurie

Julie-
When you originally posted your question, I"ll bet you had no idea that you'd get so much response over dryer lint! lol...
-T

Laurie that horse hair would be great in your compost pile if you have one - lotsa protein!!
Susan

laurief .. thank you, also .. for the additional support in the case/concerns .. of using/providing lengths of any type of hair .. for the birds' nesting materials. The birds seemed to always drop in and abscond with the stuff as quickly as it dropped, way years ago tho'.

lilyfantn .. the idea of tossing the horse (or human) hair in our compost pile back then .. had never crossed our wee minds! (duh, me .. I guess) But .. we were far more 'into' the horses, than gardening ... at that time.

- Magpye

What passes for a compost pile on this farm is a huge, old, ever-expanding manure pile into which is added plenty of horse hair every year during shedding season. It's actually a pretty decent mix of horse manure, pine sawdust, and sand. Unfortunately, my clay swallows it like candy with very little improvement showing over the long run.

Laurie

I've heard that hair does NOT decomopose... exhumed bodies still have their hair...

...gruesome detail, but this just goes to show you how strong and tough, hair really is...

Sorry...but I don't recommend it for the compost pile, either...

-T

I put my cat's hair in the compost pile and it dissappears. Horse hair is coarser though. Never one to miss an opportunity to show my hairy girls off, here they are in all their hairy glory.

Around this time of year they produce great gobs of hair for the pile (and for nests too!)

lilyfantn, such lovely kitties you have there. I bet their hair would make very soft and cozy lining for a nest :-)

-Julie

thanks Julie - It certainly makes a nice soft cover for our rugs, sofas, clothing, stairway, beds, furniture,...(etc, on into the night...)