Yes, clean them out...they should be cleaned after nesting season is over.

I clean mine out every year.

Speaking of birdhouses, a couple of years ago, I noticed something sticking out of one that I have on a high post. Upon closer inspection, it was a bird, on his back, half in and half out of the house, dead! Weirdest thing ever.

Yes, clean them out at least annually. Avian flu is a concern......

I forgot one season and wasps moved in and took up housekeeping. That was a situation that did not end well!

ded, the reasons for cleaning the bird house at least annually are diseases and parasites of many kinds. I would call it an essential chore.

Okay, im on it.

DH gets a ladder out and cleans them every year. We've mostly had chickadees nest and they build very dense and thick with moss and lichen. It's usually Fall when he gets to it as part of his lawn and leaf clean up chores.

I added one (new bird house) several weeks ago but haven't seen much attention paid to it. We always had swallows living just about 6 blocks from here and they've only nested with us once, same bird house, brought it with me, since we've moved. I enjoy the cheerful little chickadees but miss the swallows.

This is a perfect time to do it. Even the weather is cooperating. DS was here over the weekend so he got the ladder out and took them down, cleaned them and put them back up. DH 'supervised.' This afternoon we noticed the chickadees checking them out. And hummingbirds should be arriving here soon - mid April to early May

i have 2 eastern bluebird nest boxes. they get cleaned out after each brood. these nests, over the 2 weeks that the nestlings live in the boxes, get nasty with dead bugs that don't get eaten as well as the fecal sacks left behind the last couple of days before they fledge. the parents will rebuild a new nest for each clutch, usually 2-3 each year.

Maire, guess what! I saw my first hummingbird today. There is a red flowering plant inside a window and it came over to have a look.

Following everyone’s advice, I put on some plastic gloves and yanked the old nest out of the little door in the back of the birdhouse. I guess the fact that the birdhouse has a back door should have told me it was meant to be cleaned out. I cleaned up an old one that was in the eaves of the garage, too.

I was just thinking today about hummingbirds.....I think I'll put the feeder out in the next week or two.

I don't have bird houses, but I will be hanging 2 bat boxes this year in the hope of attracting bats. They're also supposed to be cleaned out every year, but I don't know how since I don't do ladders.....can I hire someone to do that for me? I will be getting the crew building me a garage to put them up in the first place, but they won't be around every year to get them down for me to clean.

aah - ded, the first hummingbird! Then spring is surely here......I haven't spotted them yet.

i love bats! i have an street lamp on my outside patio where my fire pit is. i often sit out on the deck during the summer months and watch the bats swooping in for insects.

i put a hummingbird feeder out today. it was this exact date last year when the first male showed up so i expect i'll be seeing one very soon.

@Toronto Veterinarian, maybe you could have the builders rig up a pulley and tie-off sytem that would allow you to lower the birdhouses to clean them, then raise them back up.

" rig up a pulley and tie-off sytem "

I don't know if that would work on something that has to stay still (like bird or bat houses), but it's a good idea for my problem about getting heavy things in and out of my basement!

In Minnestoa we recently lost an eagle's nest. They guesstimate it was well of 2000 lbs. Each year the eagle pair return to the same nest to raise it's chick. It adds to the old nest creating a concave bowl so the baby will be safe. As the baby grows the 'bowl' of the nest naturally fills with carcasses and excrement. By the time the eaglette is ready for flight the 'bowl' is gone and the nest is pretty flat. I have scores of birdhouses. Some squirrels moved into. Some have never had guests. Others well, year after year I watch birds return to them. So no I don't clean them out. We also don't feed seed eating birds in the summer when natural food is plentiful.