Gourds to attract birds

mensplace · July 15, 2014

It used to be that in the country you could see tall poles with many crossties loaded with gourd birdhouses. With a little searching I was surprised to find how many art forms now seem to have replaced the simple birdhouses such as gorgeous painting, carving, engraving and many kinds of embellishments. Well, in walking through the kitchen I spotted a very old, rather small birdhouse style gourd, but found the walls to be fairly thin after drilling the hole. I understand that there is a considerable variety of different shapes, sizes, and even wall thickness; some up to an inch thick.

I love birds of all sizes and found that even larger owls will nest in the larger gourd varieties if a size that would allow a 5 inch hole were provided. Anyway, this all struck me as an interesting outlet that would serve the birds, the garden and even give me a positive outlet for my painting and carving. BEATS SITTING! I could even see combining some of my interest in studio/fine art B&W photography based on the curves , textures and contrasts. This may sound silly to some, but when you can't get around much an interesting outlet is a blessing. Too, I would just love to follow the nesting and raising of babies in the wide varieties of mid and large sized gourds. I hope its not to late this year to grow a few.

Has anybody out there ever pursued such? I made one birdhouse from the ten year old relic, but would love to find several of the range for larger or more interesting varieties and can't wait for next year's inhabitants. That gives me something to work towards and to look forward to.

Being a total newcomer to such, at least I can try to grow a few of each to provide seed for next year. Not sure if the site I read based upon THEIR gourds and other variables is really worth the significant cost of shipping boxes of pre-grown specimens is really necessary or worth the cost. Too, one gourd of each would provide ample seed for the future if the quality isn't really all that different, Could anyone out there offer a sanity check along these lines? Should I try the state's Ag Review for sources or is there another better source. It would seem that time would be a factor too. Other resources for seed and further learning. NOT trying to mooch seeds, as, unless I am wrong, these would seem to be rather specialized in terms of size, shape and wall thickness. I'm open to you ideas and suggestions. This is all new to me, but sounds like fun with the potential for lots of areas of experimentation. What I don't want to do is just order lots of seed only to waste a year I don't have.

July 15, 2014	#1
mensplace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: USA Posts: 1,013	Gourds to attract birds It used to be that in the country you could see tall poles with many crossties loaded with gourd birdhouses. With a little searching I was surprised to find how many art forms now seem to have replaced the simple birdhouses such as gorgeous painting, carving, engraving and many kinds of embellishments. Well, in walking through the kitchen I spotted a very old, rather small birdhouse style gourd, but found the walls to be fairly thin after drilling the hole. I understand that there is a considerable variety of different shapes, sizes, and even wall thickness; some up to an inch thick. I love birds of all sizes and found that even larger owls will nest in the larger gourd varieties if a size that would allow a 5 inch hole were provided. Anyway, this all struck me as an interesting outlet that would serve the birds, the garden and even give me a positive outlet for my painting and carving. BEATS SITTING! I could even see combining some of my interest in studio/fine art B&W photography based on the curves , textures and contrasts. This may sound silly to some, but when you can't get around much an interesting outlet is a blessing. Too, I would just love to follow the nesting and raising of babies in the wide varieties of mid and large sized gourds. I hope its not to late this year to grow a few. Has anybody out there ever pursued such? I made one birdhouse from the ten year old relic, but would love to find several of the range for larger or more interesting varieties and can't wait for next year's inhabitants. That gives me something to work towards and to look forward to. Being a total newcomer to such, at least I can try to grow a few of each to provide seed for next year. Not sure if the site I read based upon THEIR gourds and other variables is really worth the significant cost of shipping boxes of pre-grown specimens is really necessary or worth the cost. Too, one gourd of each would provide ample seed for the future if the quality isn't really all that different, Could anyone out there offer a sanity check along these lines? Should I try the state's Ag Review for sources or is there another better source. It would seem that time would be a factor too. Other resources for seed and further learning. NOT trying to mooch seeds, as, unless I am wrong, these would seem to be rather specialized in terms of size, shape and wall thickness. I'm open to you ideas and suggestions. This is all new to me, but sounds like fun with the potential for lots of areas of experimentation. What I don't want to do is just order lots of seed only to waste a year I don't have. Last edited by mensplace; July 16, 2014 at 08:42 AM.