I would go ahead and put it up now. I live in the deep south and the chickadees, nuthatches and bluebird are already checking out real estate! Go to your local garden center or Lowes, etc. and purchase a few bags of dried green moss, Spanish moss and coconut fiber...very inexpensive. I have two wall planters outside near my patio and love to watch them pull out the material. Carolina wrens will also use this, but they usually don't begin building around here until mid to late April! And I do have a suet cage full as well. Have fun!

go to bing or google and search bird nesting materials and you should get numerous pages. they use about anything from grasses and hay to yarn string and bits of cloth to mosses and animal hair and plants stems and twigs according to what birds you get

I put out my dog's hair, after I use the furminator on her. I'm sure some birds must love using that fur!

Has anyone else witnessed this bizarre behavior: two years in a row, I have watched Baltimore orioles take dog fur from my suet holder, then while it is still in their beaks, they dig into the grape jelly, making a seemingly gooey mess of sticky fur in their beaks. Is there a logical explanation for this?

Sounds like a great way to glue the fur into a nest, as well as attract insects to nosh on for the babies.

I'm just guessing.

Claire

I happened to hear that Baltimore Oriole say to its mate as he left the nest, "Off to work, I'll likely stop for a snack on the way home after work."

Honest! I do live in MD.

This post was edited by saltidawg on Tue, Mar 11, 14 at 12:30

That is so funny! Thanks for your help!