The birds in the movie are Wood Ducks: they are *supposed* to jump from their nest holes in the forest and land in the leaves. The birds you have may be falling out or being *kicked* out for various reasons: 1). A Brown-headed Cowbird may have laid an egg in that nest and the *much* larger baby is booting out the smaller ones which belong to the host species. Brown-headed Cowbirds are 'nest parasites' and never build their own nests, but instead will parasitize the nests of everything from finches to bluebirds. 2). Occasionally, a parent bird's inexperience leads it to build a rather flimsy nest and the babies fall out too soon. 2)b).When it's time for a fledgling to leave the nest, however, it may plop down on the ground and find a low bush in which to hide while its parents teach them the fine arts of foraging and flying, all the while continuing to feed until such time as the baby is flying well. 3). Some predator might be knocking them out of the nest prematurely. 4). Some other *bird* might be knocking the babies out in order to usurp control of the nest. Look for House Sparrows and European Starlings, which seem to be the bigger culprits, but occasionally, Violet-Green Swallows will engage in this behavior as well. A way to circumvent #'s 3 & 4 is to provide extra nesting boxes spaced far enough apart so as to not encourage encroachment on the others' territories. In the case of the swallows, they are partial colony nesters (Violet-greens), but will also build several 'dummy' nests to ward off competitors (which is also the case with House Wrens). Trying to stop the nest parasitizm as seen in Brown-headed Cowbirds is detrimental all the way around. It would be helpful to know which species of birds you are personally dealing with. . .

Thanks, everyone! Gail, that's an incredibly interesting website. We never knew that house sparrows will enter another bird's house to destroy eggs and kill babies -- and we have tons of house sparrows around here. We've guarded against snakes, raccoons, and other birds such as crows, but the house sparrow threat is new to me. Thank you so much for recommending that website! Back to the drawing board! Attracting bluebirds was easy...we just put up a house and they found it. We've since put up several more around the property. How strange that your nest holds only one baby, Gail. One of the interesting things about bluebirds is that the first batch of babies each year hang around and help the parents feed the second batch of babies. I hope you have good luck! Sorry to hear about your babies, Natal. It's been a dramatic spring for our birds all around. Barn swallows had built a mud nest under the porch roof for years and this spring a phoebe took over that spot and built her nest there. (The mud nest collapsed last summer when the babies fledged by pushing off from the edge.) This morning I looked out and a barn swallow was asleep on a perch near the grass/moss phoebe nest, her head tucked into her wing. The turf wars continue, I guess.

How about a third choice?... a Lease Purchase? A LP forces the renters to have some skin in the game. A Lease Option only gives them the first right of refusal if they do decide to buy. A LP is nothing more than a signed RE contract that has a delayed closing, usually 12 months. Both parties sign a rental contract and the RE contract. If they close on the agreed upon date, then the deposit is credited towards the down payment and / or closing costs. If they do not close, they lose the deposit to you. A sales price is negotiated up front, an inspection is done up front, just like a normal sale. One possible glitch is that the home does not appraise to the agreed upon sales price after the rental term. Both parties need to agree that if this is the case, then both parties agree on the lender's appraised price. The rental term should be for market rate with nothing going towards the buyers down payment. Banks do not allow sellers to put anything towards a buyer's DP. The initial deposit should be in line with what the lender will charge them in 12 months... FHA is currently 3.5%. Make sure to hold this in an attorney's escrow account!!! That way both parties are made sure that it will be around when it comes time to either using it towards the DP, or to pocket it for the buyers not going to close. The BEST part of this scenario is that once explained to the potential buyers, you will know right away how serious they are towards cleaning up thier credit, and purchasing the home. Good luck.

Can you attach a cloth sling around it (like a hammock)? Or perhaps move nearby / nestle it into a crate, basket, or other container?