Should birdhouses be taken down in winter

Forget what you may of heard with birdhouses needed all year round, with winter being the most important time of the year it may well be used.

Birdhouses should not be taken down in winter as this is when birds re-purpose your birdhouse to roost in it over the bitterly cold winter months. In fact, they could roost in a birdhouse anytime of the year, but come winter its a matter of life and death. Take down birdhouses to clean once or twice a year only.

Bird houses are not just good for birds over the breeding season, come the colder months birds need a secure crevice to roost in to survive the bitterly cold weather.

Birdhouses can create this much needed home for any backyard bird to roost in, as such the box must be left out in the yard all year round.

Come the end of the nesting season you can use this time productively to clean out old nesting material, wash it over with soap and disinfect.

You can indeed take the birdhouse down to carry out this vital maintenance work, but believe there's really no other genuine reason to pull down a birdhouse.

Never pull down the birdhouse after or between this once or twice a year cleaning routine, as birds would now be ready to roost.

Less so would you see birds arrive in autumn, but late autumn into winter would be a time you could witness birds arrive at the entry hole of your birdhouse.

What you can do before wild birds arrive to roost, basically when it gets really cold out; is to winterize your birdhouse by using a little wood chippings to line the base.

And that is it, never take down your birdhouse in winter as its this time of year it could be used for roosting birds of any species.

One time you could think about pulling down your birdhouse temporary in winter - and when the birdhouse isn't currently occupied - would be to re-paint the birdhouse to help preserve it for longer, although its vitally important all paint fumes have faded away.

Never pull down birdhouse

Never ever take down a birdhouse in the winter for a few reasons, among them is birds can still use a birdhouse over the winter to roost.

Birdhouses are really not designed to be taken up and down as it can weaken the mount section in the rear. In that if its tampered with regularly the drilled holes or metal fixings will begin to weaken.

Result is a drilled hole for mounting loosening the more times its fiddled with.

Never pull down a birdhouse unless you need too commence your regular cleaning routine come the end of the nesting season.

This applies more if setting up a birdhouse on a tree trunk as its more hassle, while a birdhouse mounted on a 4x4 post would be easier to play around with, with the screw joints remaining nice and tight.

Come winter the wooden birdhouse and any corresponding wooden post or tree its mounted too would loosen up in the cold, whereas the heat can tighten the joints.

That is something to consider when removing the birdhouse in the winter, as it might not be so easy to put back up.

Birdhouses left up all year

As it is birdhouses are used every single day of the year, so to pull down the birdhouse for only a few weeks at a time can still be a bad idea.

Why that is because birds need to nest in a birdhouse in spring through early summertime - while a few late blooming will be leaving the nest later if they arrived late at the birdhouse.

Come the colder autumn, birds will be willing to roost in your box so it must remain in place.

In fact, it would be advisable to quickly pull down the birdhouse come October or September at the latest to clean out old nesting material, to put the birdhouse back up and in place for these birds arrive.

In December through February is when its really cold out with bitterly cold wind, so birds who don't intend to roost might need your birdhouse to rescue themselves.

Birdhouses must remain up on its fixed point around the clock to cater to nesters or roosters - while the occasional overnight stay would be possible 365 days of the year.

Birds roost in winter

I would say you can take down your birdhouses come winter to make room for nesting birds come spring, by getting ready for early March or before, through May.

Birds like to avoid the bitterly cold weather that is thrown at them outside of the nesting season, so a successful nesting box in your backyard can indeed become an essential home over the wintertime.

Without a birdhouse birds would simply seek out crevices or holes in buildings as such, to use as a nest.

Birdhouses are set to make up the shortfall for most birds as there's not always space made available, especially in the frosty, snow covered months.

Birdhouses kept up in the winter are sure to offer easy access to a nice warm home for the next few days or weeks.

What you can do in the meantime is line your birdhouse with an inch or so of wood chippings to create a soft base for one or more birds to pile up on.

This is what is known as winterizing your birdhouse, readying it for new arrivals to roost.

Take down to maintain

If you can help it never take down your birdhouse unless you can be sure the joint is mounted to or from, remains solid over the course of its lifetime.

Not a problem if not because you can simply relocate the birdhouse in a newer location.

To take down your birdhouse must only be reserved for after the nesting season, so come October or September the birdhouse can be maintained.

It would involve removing old nesting material while cleaning the birdhouse of dirt with a soapy wash, with the option to use a part bleach disinfectant solution.

Birdhouses cannot remain mounted up high as you carry at this work, so they can be taken down for an hour or so in the meantime.

Its unlikely you'll miss any potential birdhouse arrivals, but you don't want to do this work in the colder autumn and certainly not in sub-zero temperatures over wintertime.

Once the birdhouse is clean out early on, put up the birdhouse and allow it to sit until its used up for roosting birds.

Summarize

The only time you would need to remove a birdhouse off its secure mount point is to clean out old nesting material, wash it out and disinfect.

Then you'd put the birdhouse back up in place ready to be used come winter for roosting.

Birdhouses must be left up all year with no genuine reason to take it down when birds can simply use it as a safe and secure place to sleep in any time of the year.

In spring the backyard birds will nest, but come late autumn and into winter, the birdhouse is made into an essential roosting box for birds to avoid the atrocious weather.

If you pull down the birdhouse in this time you would of missed an amazing opportunity to help out your backyard birds. More importantly, birds could suffer if your birdhouse wasn't available when they most expected it to be.

Only pull down your birdhouses when its time to clean it out to put it back up with no time to spare.

Birdhouses should not be taken down in winter of all times, as birds will struggle to get through the bitter cold weather unless they can roost in a secure birdhouse if a suitable hole is not found in the wild.

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